Steve Smith was an assassin.

A fourteen year NBA vet and now an analyst on Turner Network, back in his hey-day, dude could shoot the lights out.

As much as folks rave about the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry getting just about any shot on the court, I’d place my hand on the Bible, Torah and the Quran and would testify that Steve Smith had the green light in his playing career too. He put up solid numbers during the 997-98 season: 20 points and 4 assists to be exact. That 50-32 Atlanta Hawks team, led by head coach Lenny Wilkens was a force to be reckoned. The NBA’s Most Improved player that year, Alan Henderson along with Christian Laettner, Mookie Blaylock, Tyrone Corbin and Eldridge Recasner would lose 3-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Charlotte Hornets.

Check Out Steve Smith sharing anecdotes on Scoop B Radio on athletes becoming college grads, his mentor during his NBA playing days and more on Scoop B Radio 

During his NBA career, Smith would win the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship would go on to win a championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2003. An NBA player respected in the highest regard and now on television, Smith is impressed with the NBA’s current stock of players, particularly, Curry and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James. “My uncle use to say: ‘He gets it, those two get it,’” Smith said of Curry and James.

Smith is also philanthropic. He donated 2.5 million to his alma mater, Michigan State in 1997 to fund the Clara Bell Smith Student Athlete Academic Center. The academic center, named after his mother, is the largest single donation by a professional athlete to his former school in history. Part of his $2.5 million was dedicated to create the Steve Smith Scholarship for Academic Achievement. In 2001, Smith donated another $600,000 to fully endow the scholarship, which provides a four-year academic scholarship to one student per year from Smith’s former high school, Pershing High School in Detroit, Michigan.

Enjoy the podcast and also check out the Scoop with Brandon Robinson CBS recap on Steve Smith in it’s entirety.

Also Check Out Steve Smith While In The League 

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