Doug Smith’s basketball success started when he was selected in his final year of high school to be part of the Parade All-American Fourth Team in 1987.
All-American College Career
Smith played collegiate basketball at the University of Missouri. He played four seasons at Mizzou. The Tigers made the NCAA Tournament his first three years there. Smith helped lead the #3 seed Mizzou Tigers to the Sweet 16 during his sophomore year in 1989. He led the team the following year where they were the #3 seed once again, but this time around they were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.
During his four years with the Tigers he averaged 17.1 points per game (PPG), 8.2 rebounds per game (RPG), 2.5 assists per game (APG), 1.4 steals per game (SPG), and 1.0 block per game (BPG). In his sophomore year, he was a consensus second-team All-American. He was named onto two All-Big Eight first-teams and won the Big Eight Player of the Year award twice, in his junior and senior year. In his final year of college, he was an Associated Press (AP) third-team All-American and a United Press International (UPI) second-team All-American.
He was part of the 1990 United States men’s national basketball team that won the bronze medal.
Welcome to Dallas
Smith was selected by the Dallas Mavericks 6th overall in the 1991 NBA Draft. In his first season, the power forward averaged 8.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG. 1.7 APG, and 0.8 SPG. He played in 76 games while starting in 32 of them.
The following season, Smith improved his stats and had the best season of his career. He averaged 10.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.7 APG, 0.8 SPG, and 0.9 BPG. He was used primarily in the starting rotation as he started in 42 out of his 61 games played for the season.
In his third season with the Mavericks, he continued to primarily be used as a starting big man, starting in 42 games out of the 79 he played in. He went back to scoring 8.8 PPG, while grabbing 4.4 RPG, getting 1.5 APG, and 1.0 SPG.
Post-Mavs Career
The 1994-1995 season was the beginning of the end of Smith’s time in Dallas. Smith averaged 5.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 0.7 APG, and 0.5 SPG. He came off the bench in all 63 games he played in, as the Mavericks started to transition into having Popeye Jones and Lorenzo Williams as the starting big men for the team.
During the 1995 off-season, Smith was drafted in the expansion draft by the new NBA team in the league, the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors however released him in the same off-season. He then signed with the Boston Celtics as a free agent. He played 17 games with them before getting waived the following off-season. His time in the NBA ended after that.
As part of the Mavericks, Smith averaged 8.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.8 SPG, and 0.5 BPG. He was used as a big man off the bench and as a starter when needed by the Mavericks. As time went on the Mavericks decided to move on from Smith when his stats began to go downwards and he wasn’t able to replicate the success he had in college.
Smith then went on to play in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the International Basketball League (IBL), and the American Basketball Association (ABA). In 1998 he was named to the All-CBA second-team as part of the Quad City Thunder.
Legacy
In 1996, the University of Missouri retired his No. 34 jersey. In 2017, Smith was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
Smith had his ups and downs while part of the Mavericks. Even though he wasn’t able to repeat the success he had in his college years he was still honored for what he was able to achieve during his collegiate and professional career.
Categories: Mavs Fans For Life
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