Table Of Content
Smith would no longer be required to carry the offensive load, and averaged 14.9 points a game in 81 starts as the Trail Blazers secured the second best record in the Western Conference. Smith would increase his scoring average to 17.1 in the playoffs, as Portland would defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round before beating the Utah Jazz in the semifinals. Up next would be the league best Los Angeles Lakers, who took a 3–1 series lead over Portland before the Trail Blazers won game 5 on the road and game 6 at home as Smith scored 26 points to set up a game 7 matchup. Despite leading by double digits heading into the fourth quarter, the Lakers came back to win the game and advance to the NBA Finals where they would win the NBA Title. In 2002, Charlotte Smith joined the North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach. Smith would help lead the Tar Heels to four straight number one seeds in the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship from 2005 to 2008.
NBA Transactions
The Spurs featured superstars Tim Duncan and David Robinson, and were attempting to win another championship as they had in 1999. Smith would be utilized as the team's starting shooting guard, averaging 11.6 points a game in 76 starts while leading in the league in three-point shooting at 47 percent for the season. Smith would average double figure scoring in the Spurs' first round win over the Seattle SuperSonics, including 17 points in a game 1 victory, but struggled against the defending champion L.A. Steven Delano Smith (born March 31, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who is a basketball analyst for Turner Sports. He won a championship with the Spurs in 2003.Smith was widely regarded as an excellent three-point shooter, and is one of three players to make seven 3-pointers in a quarter.
Regular Season
Still, few schools had contacted her about basketball before Hatchell attended a game early in Smith's junior year. "I saw her jump center and pull down one rebound before I said, 'I'll take her!' " says Hatchell, whose Tar Heels had gone 1-13 in the ACC the previous season. Dr. Beth Miller, who oversaw the women’s basketball program in 1994, told goheels.com that the shot “remains one of the greatest game-winners in college sports history. Lawrence slung a pass to a wide-open Smith, who became the second No. 23 to hit a huge shot in a national championship game.
Post-NBA career
The following season would feature another career high scoring average (20.1) for Smith, as he continued to serve as the Hawks' main option on offense. Smith played well against Detroit and held his own against Michael Jordan and the defending champion Chicago Bulls, who defeated the Hawks in 5 games in the semifinals. The following season would be similar to Smith as he once again averaged 20.1 points a game, but this time managed to be named an NBA All-Star as he scored 14 points in 16 minutes of action in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game. The Hawks would disappoint in the playoffs yet again however, this time losing to the Charlotte Hornets 3 games to 1 in the conference semifinals despite a 24.8 ppg scoring average by Smith for the series. Which is one reason why no one in the North Carolina huddle blinked when, during the timeout with .7 remaining and the Tar Heels trailing Louisiana Tech 59-57, coach Sylvia Hatchell appointed Smith to deliver them from their nearly hopeless situation. So what if there was barely enough time for a sharp intake of breath?
By creating an account, you acknowledge that PBS may share your information with our member stations and our respective service providers, and that you have read and understand the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. No portion of WNBA.com may be duplicated, redistributed or manipulated in any form. "There were so many women before my time that simply didn't have the opportunity. Anytime you have opportunity, it open doors, a lot of times to the unimaginable." Opportunity and exposure, Smith says, are keys to pushing women's sports into the future.
Playing career
Smith said taking over at Elon has helped her appreciate Hatchell even more. The Phoenix are 7-2 thus far, with losses to Iowa of the Big Ten and Wake Forest of the ACC. Elon has defeated SEC foe Alabama and is coming off a victory over fellow mid-major Davidson on Wednesday. The Phoenix took that mindset into the NCAA tournament's first round against West Virginia, the Big 12 tournament champion, before falling 75-62. Her jersey hangs in the rafters at Carmichael Auditorium as the first UNC Women's player to have her number retired.
Smith also earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from UNC in 1999. The Trail Blazers entered the 2000–01 season with high expectations, but struggled to repeat the success of the previous season, as injuries took their toll and new additions and trades hurt team chemistry. Smith only started in 36 of 81 games, but still managed to 13.6 points a game.
And after an All-America career for the Tar Heels, which saw her hit the buzzer-beater to lift the Tar Heels to a victory over Louisiana Tech for the 1994 NCAA crown, her jersey was retired, just like Mike’s was. She also joined him – and her uncle — in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. "We had enough talent to have two gold-medal teams at the Olympics. We're not growing the game with the level of the talent that we have. We need more opportunities," she said, adding that she'd like to see another WNBA team in Charlotte. Smith spent most of her 8-year WNBA career with the Charlotte Sting, playing close to home in front of an adoring fan base, with teammates like NC State playmaker Andrea Stinson and current South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. The ABL folded after two seasons, but the WNBA is still around, with 12 franchises and plenty of chatter about expansion. The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy.
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He would go on to average a then career-high 18.1 points a game in 80 starts in the 1995–96 season, forming a formidable backcourt one-two punch with Mookie Blaylock. The team under head coach Lenny Wilkens would win 46 games and defeat the Indiana Pacers in the first round in 5 games. The next round, while facing the Orlando Magic, Smith led all scorers in a Game 4 win with 35 points, before Atlanta lost the series 4 games to 1.[4] Smith averaged 21.7 points in 10 playoff games that postseason.
R.L. Bynum, co-host of the weekly “Bleav in Heels Hoops” podcast, spent 27 years in the newspaper industry in sports and news. Read his insights about running (he’s run 53 marathons) on the Running Commentary blog. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @RL_Bynum and on Threads @r.l.bynum. Smith said that the team, which included future Olympic star Marion Jones, had plenty of chemistry from the start of that season. Home game against William & Mary, so she’ll likely arrive at Carmichael Arena early in the Tar Heels’ game against the Cavaliers. She looks forward to seeing all of her teammates, although they talk often.
Charlotte Smith has already become Elon University’s all-time winningest women’s basketball coach in just 12 seasons at the helm there, but she joins several other outstanding women’s coaches who are enshrined in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. “When she said that I was gonna take the shot, my heart really sank because it’s a lot of pressure — national championship game, everything hanging in the balance off of a shot,” said Smith, admitting that she’d never been more nervous in a game. Following the ABL's cessation of operations in 1999, Smith participated in the 1999 WNBA Draft, where the Charlotte Sting chose her with the 33rd overall pick. During offseasons, she interned with the Sting's front office, worked with US Sport Management, Inc., played a second winter season in Italy in 1999–2000, and served as an UNC women's basketball assistant coach for several seasons.
Charlotte FC hires Dean Smith as next head coach - Axios
Charlotte FC hires Dean Smith as next head coach.
Posted: Tue, 12 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Smith earned Most Outstanding Player after collecting with 20 points and 23 rebounds in the championship game. The Tar Heels trailed Louisiana Tech by two points in the 1994 NCAA championship game in Richmond with 0.7 of a second left. In the huddle, legendary Hall of Fame coach Sylvia Hatchell diagrammed a play for Smith — one of the most decorated players in program history — to win it with a 3-pointer. Portland was a loaded team that had reached the Western Conference Finals in the 1999 playoffs and featured star forward Rasheed Wallace as well as the newly acquired Scottie Pippen.
One of them was Cynthia Cooper, who would become a four-time WNBA Finals MVP. Smith is well known for his charitable pursuits, including a US$2.5 million gift in 1997 to his alma mater, Michigan State University, where he was a star guard under coach Jud Heathcote. Smith's donation helped to fund the Clara Bell Smith Student Athlete Academic Center, which is named for his mother. This was the largest single donation by a professional athlete to his former school in history.[10]Smith also has a close philanthropic relationship with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta where he has hosted fundraising events for the pediatric hospital. Does that mean that this year she will finally move up and join that great fraternity above the rim? "Maybe even on the last play of the championship game. After all, I've got to have something to top last year's finish."
When she visited Thompson and his family in Charlotte this summer, Smith got a tour of his trophy collection and found she and her uncle had some honors in common, including first team all-ACC and Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. "He told me the one I really ought to get is the Naismith award for national player of the year," says Smith, who is a preseason candidate for the prize. His Airness might not have spoken to the Tar Heel of the moment, but another member of the order—the charter member, in fact—did. David Thompson, Tobacco Road's premier aerialist, who felled Bill Walton and UCLA while leading North Carolina State to the 1974 NCAA crown, sent Smith flowers and candy immediately after her big shot and called a few days later. But then, he's her uncle, the youngest brother of Smith's mother, Etta.
Her teams were ACC regular season champions in 2005, 2006 and 2008 and claimed the ACC Tournament title in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Smith was a part of two Final Four teams while on the North Carolina staff. For all her competitive spirit and promising genes, Charlotte's future as a basketball player looked bleak at the outset. Her parents, who were both good players in high school, laugh when they recall her first games in junior high. But Charlotte worked hard on her shooting, camped out in the high school's weight room and was soon scoring about 80% of her team's points.
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