lefty
06-06-2009, 10:20 PM
Smith played 906 consecutive games
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Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Randy Smith, a blindingly fast All-Star with the Buffalo Braves in the 1970s who once held the NBA record for consecutive games, died while working out on a treadmill. He was 60.
He had a massive heart attack Thursday while exercising at the Connecticut casino where he worked, son-in-law Lekan Bashua told The Associated Press on Friday.
Smith was pronounced dead at William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich. The Mohegan Sun Casino declined to comment on circumstances surrounding the death, citing medical confidentiality laws.
Jack Ramsay, Smith's coach in Buffalo, called the 6-foot-3 guard the best athlete he ever coached.
TrueHoop: Randy Smith Remembered
Randy Smith was a seventh-round pick from Buffalo State who had athletic ability, but was given little chance to stick in the NBA. Instead, he became a two-time All-Star and played in 906 straight games. TrueHoop (http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-41-30/Randy-Smith--Athlete-Turned-Baller.html)
"He had stamina, great speed and developed into a very good player," Ramsay said Friday from the NBA Finals in Los Angeles. "And was so fun to be around. There was not a bad day in Randy's life."
Smith was drafted by the Braves in the seventh round in 1971 and averaged more than 13 points in his rookie season. He went on to play 13 years in the NBA and appeared in 906 consecutive games from 1972-83. His mark was broken by A.C. Green in 1997.
"He played hurt, gave it 100 percent and took pride in that," said Durie Burns, a college teammate of Smith's at Buffalo State.
Smith was a good shooter and great jumper who wowed fans with reverse dunks. He was one of the most popular players in Braves history, and in teaming with scoring champion Bob McAdoo he helped make the Braves under Ramsay one of the league's exciting clubs.
"We could run," Ramsay said, "and nobody could keep up with Randy's sheer speed."
Smith spent seven seasons with the Braves before the franchise moved to San Diego. He also played for Cleveland, New York and Atlanta and retired in 1983.
"I always felt Randy was the heart of the team," Buffalo businessman and former Braves owner Paul Snyder said. "He was always happy. And he always had a positive outlook on life. His teammates loved him."
At the 1978 All-Star Game, Smith -- playing alongside the likes of Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Dave Cowens and Pete Maravich -- scored 27 points and was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
[+] Enlargehttp://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/0605/nba_g_rsmith1_200.jpg (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4233659#)Dick Raphael/NBAE/Getty ImagesRandy Smith, seen here in 1976 against the Celtics' Jo Jo White, was MVP of the 1978 All-Star Game.
He averaged 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists for his career. In one stretch, he averaged more than 20 points for four straight seasons. He finished with 16,262 points.
Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons played against Smith and remembered just how versatile a player he was.
"I can see Randy now running down the floor with that big Afro and going in for a dunk or pulling up and knocking down a jumper," Cleamons said. "He had hops I wish I could have had."
Snyder said Smith made an immediate impression as a rookie during the Braves' summer practices.
"Jack Ramsay turned and said, 'That kid is going to start with our team this year,' " Snyder said. "He just had so much talent. And he was so fast that Jack felt he really couldn't fail. And he didn't."
Smith usually guarded the opposing team's top player.
"Randy may have been the fastest player in the entire NBA at his peak and he was one of the really great guards," Snyder said. "We always had him play head to head with Walt Frazier and, in my judgment, Randy outplayed him almost every game. He could hold his own with anybody."
Smith is still remembered in Buffalo, where an inner-city youth basketball program is named after him. He also excelled at soccer and track at Buffalo State and was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
After his retirement, Smith worked as a host and greeter for the Mohegan Sun Casino.
"He was one of a kind and we will always remember him," said Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum, chairman of the Mohegan tribe.
Smith is survived by his wife, Angela Crayton-Smith, a daughter, two sons and his mother.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Pres
Randy Smith: Athlete Turned Baller (http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-41-30/Randy-Smith--Athlete-Turned-Baller.html) http://assets.espn.go.com/profile/i/trans/icon_report_hi.gif (http://myespn.go.com/profile/violation?ou=truehoopadmin&at=7&vid=1244213949134)
June 5, 2009 1:45 PM
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz
Obscurity has been one of the hallmarks of the NBA franchise born as the Buffalo Braves in 1970, which later became the Clippers. No player personified that anonymity more than Braves star Randy Smith (http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smithra01.html), who died Thursday from an apparent heart attack at his home in Connecticut.
http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/0605/nba_g_rsmith1_200.jpgRandy Smith: Buffalo Soldier (Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) Smith was drafted in 1971 by the Braves out of nearby Buffalo State, where he starred not only in hoops -- but soccer and track and field. He was the 104th overall pick (to find Smith's name, scroll down, then scroll down some more (http://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Leagues/NBA/drafts/1971.html)). Although Smith was regarded as a top-flight athlete, the expectations that he would ever develop enough of a pro game to stick around in the NBA were low.
Author Tim Wendell has just written a comprehensive history of the Braves titled "Buffalo: Home of the Braves (http://stores.sunbearpress.com/StoreFront.bok)," filled with tons of interviews and anecdotes. Wendell describes the early conventional wisdom on Smith, and the improbability that he'd ever amount to anything in the pro game:
At first glance it was easy to underestimate Smith. Despite his athletic ability, he was so soft-spoken that his manner often bordered upon the laconic. Even though he was considered the greatest athlete in Buffalo State history, the school wasn't a stop with many scouts. In fact, Smith won national honors for his soccer ability rather than his basketball play.
... During his senior year at Buffalo State, Smith didn't show as well as in his junior year. Most of his scores came on drives to the basket, which most scouts didn't think would happen with any regularity in either professional league – the NBA or the rival ABA ...
How does an underestimated seventh-round pick give himself a chance to make it? He works his butt off:
Most scouts felt Smith lacked a dependable jump shot. So, in the weeks before the Braves' training camp at Paul Snyder's resort in Darien Lake, New York, Smith worked to develop more confidence in it. He realized he was releasing the ball well after he jumped in the air -- too often on the way back down the floor. Before attending the Indiana Pacers' rookie camp, one of the few invitations he received from the rival league, he reworked the mechanics of his shot. After that Smith started to let the ball go on the way up. Right away Smith saw his jumper had better arc and rotation.
One of the recurring themes of Smith's career was a tireless devotion to refining his raw game. Hall of Fame coach Dr. Jack Ramsay was a formative influence for Smith. Ramsay joined the Braves as the expansion franchise's third coach in two years. Initially, Ramsay didn't have much of a roster to work with, but he instantly recognized Smith's potential.
"He was a great athlete who became a great ballplayer," Ramsay said. "He was a player with rough skills, great athleticism, could run like the wind, and jump."
Ramsay recounted one of his favorite anecdotes that captured Smith's gifts:
We had an out-of-bounds play after an opposing team's free throw where one of our big forwards, Garfield Heard, would take the ball out of the net. Randy would position himself near halfcourt, start back as if to receive the ball, foul line extended at that end of the floor. When [Smith's] man came, took one step, Randy would take off. Garfield would throw the ball. I'd say, "Garfield, you throw it and Randy will catch it." Randy would always catch up with the ball. Sometimes the ball would seem to be ahead of him, and he'd go an get it. He was an incredible athlete.
Molding that athleticism was one of Ramsay's many achievements in Buffalo. In one practice, Ramsay, a coach's coach, demanded that the right-handed-dominant Smith use only his left hand. "He gradually became skilled at using his left hand and became a more versatile player," said Ramsay. According to Ramsay, Walt Frazier once told him, "I hate playing against that guy."
With his confidence brimming as he settled in as a pillar of the Braves' much-improved squad, Smith -- never known for his handle -- actually begged Ramsay to let him run the break:
Randy wanted to handle the ball more, and I said, "No. [Braves point guard] Ernie DiGregorio (http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/digreer01.html) handles the ball." Randy would come to me and say, "Coach, I can make the play!" I said, "Randy, look, if you're me, and you're getting a fast break going ... think of it this way: If we're on the fast break, do you want Ernie DiGregorio on the wing, or Randy Smith?" Smith said, "Well, I think Randy Smith." I said, "Right! Ernie can make the pass, and you can make the pass, too. But Ernie can't finish on the fast break like you can." I would pump him up and say, "Nobody runs the fast break like you do." And Randy would say, "You're right coach."
One of the reasons Smith was characterized as soft-spoken was that he had to overcome a stammer in his youth. Smith once told Ramsay that he got hit a lot as a kid. Ironically, Smith ultimately overcame that stammer by hitting himself in the leg whenever he'd struggle to get the words out. "That would get him going," said Ramsay.
Smith finished his career with 14,218 points and is the Braves/Clippers' all-time franchise leader in points (by a mile), games played, steals, and assists. But his most notable achievement in NBA history is his consecutive games streak. Between 1972 and 1983, Smith played in 906 consecutive games, a record he held for 14 years until it was bested by A.C. Green in 1997.
The other lasting achievement in Smith's career was his special place as a hero in Buffalo. On Wendell's blog, "Buffalo Nation," he describes that unique relationship between man and city (http://buffalonation.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/remembering-randy/):
Some players only see the world through a prism of their own statistics and accomplishments. Others have no choice but to be a part of team – to be a spokesman for something larger than themselves.
That's how it was with Randy Smith, who died unexpectedly last night of a heart attack. He was the spokesman for the old Buffalo Braves. He not only realized that but came to embrace that role.
"Sometimes I felt like I was the last of the Mohicans,” Smith told me during the writing of "Buffalo, Home of the Braves." "But I was the guy who was there pretty much from the beginning to the end. I guess you could say I became the institutional memory of that team.”
Nobody loved the Braves and nobody loved Buffalo more than Smith. After starring as a soccer player at Buffalo State, the basketball Braves drafted him in the seventh round of 1971 draft. After working on his jump shot and then thrilling fans with his two-handed slam dunks in the preseason, he surprisingly made the NBA team.
The Clippers have no jerseys hanging from the rafters in Staples Center. With Smith's passing, it might be time for the franchise to sew some baby blue threads with a big number 9 to commemorate their most enduring star.
Additional Links:
"The Legend of Randy Smith (http://davebyers.net/br003.html)," by Jim Baker of the now-defunct Buffalo Courier-Express
SunBear Press (http://stores.sunbearpress.com/StoreFront.bok), publisher of "Buffalo: Home of the Braves"
The NBA's official Buffalo Braves page (http://www.nba.com/clippers/history/braves.html)
The Buffalo News' obit (http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/693131.html), by Milt Northrup
Comment (http://myespn.go.com/conversation/story?id=4233659) Email (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4233659#) Print (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=4233659&type=story) Share (javascript:void(0);)
Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Randy Smith, a blindingly fast All-Star with the Buffalo Braves in the 1970s who once held the NBA record for consecutive games, died while working out on a treadmill. He was 60.
He had a massive heart attack Thursday while exercising at the Connecticut casino where he worked, son-in-law Lekan Bashua told The Associated Press on Friday.
Smith was pronounced dead at William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich. The Mohegan Sun Casino declined to comment on circumstances surrounding the death, citing medical confidentiality laws.
Jack Ramsay, Smith's coach in Buffalo, called the 6-foot-3 guard the best athlete he ever coached.
TrueHoop: Randy Smith Remembered
Randy Smith was a seventh-round pick from Buffalo State who had athletic ability, but was given little chance to stick in the NBA. Instead, he became a two-time All-Star and played in 906 straight games. TrueHoop (http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-41-30/Randy-Smith--Athlete-Turned-Baller.html)
"He had stamina, great speed and developed into a very good player," Ramsay said Friday from the NBA Finals in Los Angeles. "And was so fun to be around. There was not a bad day in Randy's life."
Smith was drafted by the Braves in the seventh round in 1971 and averaged more than 13 points in his rookie season. He went on to play 13 years in the NBA and appeared in 906 consecutive games from 1972-83. His mark was broken by A.C. Green in 1997.
"He played hurt, gave it 100 percent and took pride in that," said Durie Burns, a college teammate of Smith's at Buffalo State.
Smith was a good shooter and great jumper who wowed fans with reverse dunks. He was one of the most popular players in Braves history, and in teaming with scoring champion Bob McAdoo he helped make the Braves under Ramsay one of the league's exciting clubs.
"We could run," Ramsay said, "and nobody could keep up with Randy's sheer speed."
Smith spent seven seasons with the Braves before the franchise moved to San Diego. He also played for Cleveland, New York and Atlanta and retired in 1983.
"I always felt Randy was the heart of the team," Buffalo businessman and former Braves owner Paul Snyder said. "He was always happy. And he always had a positive outlook on life. His teammates loved him."
At the 1978 All-Star Game, Smith -- playing alongside the likes of Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Dave Cowens and Pete Maravich -- scored 27 points and was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
[+] Enlargehttp://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/0605/nba_g_rsmith1_200.jpg (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4233659#)Dick Raphael/NBAE/Getty ImagesRandy Smith, seen here in 1976 against the Celtics' Jo Jo White, was MVP of the 1978 All-Star Game.
He averaged 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists for his career. In one stretch, he averaged more than 20 points for four straight seasons. He finished with 16,262 points.
Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons played against Smith and remembered just how versatile a player he was.
"I can see Randy now running down the floor with that big Afro and going in for a dunk or pulling up and knocking down a jumper," Cleamons said. "He had hops I wish I could have had."
Snyder said Smith made an immediate impression as a rookie during the Braves' summer practices.
"Jack Ramsay turned and said, 'That kid is going to start with our team this year,' " Snyder said. "He just had so much talent. And he was so fast that Jack felt he really couldn't fail. And he didn't."
Smith usually guarded the opposing team's top player.
"Randy may have been the fastest player in the entire NBA at his peak and he was one of the really great guards," Snyder said. "We always had him play head to head with Walt Frazier and, in my judgment, Randy outplayed him almost every game. He could hold his own with anybody."
Smith is still remembered in Buffalo, where an inner-city youth basketball program is named after him. He also excelled at soccer and track at Buffalo State and was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
After his retirement, Smith worked as a host and greeter for the Mohegan Sun Casino.
"He was one of a kind and we will always remember him," said Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum, chairman of the Mohegan tribe.
Smith is survived by his wife, Angela Crayton-Smith, a daughter, two sons and his mother.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Pres
Randy Smith: Athlete Turned Baller (http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-41-30/Randy-Smith--Athlete-Turned-Baller.html) http://assets.espn.go.com/profile/i/trans/icon_report_hi.gif (http://myespn.go.com/profile/violation?ou=truehoopadmin&at=7&vid=1244213949134)
June 5, 2009 1:45 PM
Posted by Kevin Arnovitz
Obscurity has been one of the hallmarks of the NBA franchise born as the Buffalo Braves in 1970, which later became the Clippers. No player personified that anonymity more than Braves star Randy Smith (http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smithra01.html), who died Thursday from an apparent heart attack at his home in Connecticut.
http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/0605/nba_g_rsmith1_200.jpgRandy Smith: Buffalo Soldier (Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) Smith was drafted in 1971 by the Braves out of nearby Buffalo State, where he starred not only in hoops -- but soccer and track and field. He was the 104th overall pick (to find Smith's name, scroll down, then scroll down some more (http://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Leagues/NBA/drafts/1971.html)). Although Smith was regarded as a top-flight athlete, the expectations that he would ever develop enough of a pro game to stick around in the NBA were low.
Author Tim Wendell has just written a comprehensive history of the Braves titled "Buffalo: Home of the Braves (http://stores.sunbearpress.com/StoreFront.bok)," filled with tons of interviews and anecdotes. Wendell describes the early conventional wisdom on Smith, and the improbability that he'd ever amount to anything in the pro game:
At first glance it was easy to underestimate Smith. Despite his athletic ability, he was so soft-spoken that his manner often bordered upon the laconic. Even though he was considered the greatest athlete in Buffalo State history, the school wasn't a stop with many scouts. In fact, Smith won national honors for his soccer ability rather than his basketball play.
... During his senior year at Buffalo State, Smith didn't show as well as in his junior year. Most of his scores came on drives to the basket, which most scouts didn't think would happen with any regularity in either professional league – the NBA or the rival ABA ...
How does an underestimated seventh-round pick give himself a chance to make it? He works his butt off:
Most scouts felt Smith lacked a dependable jump shot. So, in the weeks before the Braves' training camp at Paul Snyder's resort in Darien Lake, New York, Smith worked to develop more confidence in it. He realized he was releasing the ball well after he jumped in the air -- too often on the way back down the floor. Before attending the Indiana Pacers' rookie camp, one of the few invitations he received from the rival league, he reworked the mechanics of his shot. After that Smith started to let the ball go on the way up. Right away Smith saw his jumper had better arc and rotation.
One of the recurring themes of Smith's career was a tireless devotion to refining his raw game. Hall of Fame coach Dr. Jack Ramsay was a formative influence for Smith. Ramsay joined the Braves as the expansion franchise's third coach in two years. Initially, Ramsay didn't have much of a roster to work with, but he instantly recognized Smith's potential.
"He was a great athlete who became a great ballplayer," Ramsay said. "He was a player with rough skills, great athleticism, could run like the wind, and jump."
Ramsay recounted one of his favorite anecdotes that captured Smith's gifts:
We had an out-of-bounds play after an opposing team's free throw where one of our big forwards, Garfield Heard, would take the ball out of the net. Randy would position himself near halfcourt, start back as if to receive the ball, foul line extended at that end of the floor. When [Smith's] man came, took one step, Randy would take off. Garfield would throw the ball. I'd say, "Garfield, you throw it and Randy will catch it." Randy would always catch up with the ball. Sometimes the ball would seem to be ahead of him, and he'd go an get it. He was an incredible athlete.
Molding that athleticism was one of Ramsay's many achievements in Buffalo. In one practice, Ramsay, a coach's coach, demanded that the right-handed-dominant Smith use only his left hand. "He gradually became skilled at using his left hand and became a more versatile player," said Ramsay. According to Ramsay, Walt Frazier once told him, "I hate playing against that guy."
With his confidence brimming as he settled in as a pillar of the Braves' much-improved squad, Smith -- never known for his handle -- actually begged Ramsay to let him run the break:
Randy wanted to handle the ball more, and I said, "No. [Braves point guard] Ernie DiGregorio (http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/digreer01.html) handles the ball." Randy would come to me and say, "Coach, I can make the play!" I said, "Randy, look, if you're me, and you're getting a fast break going ... think of it this way: If we're on the fast break, do you want Ernie DiGregorio on the wing, or Randy Smith?" Smith said, "Well, I think Randy Smith." I said, "Right! Ernie can make the pass, and you can make the pass, too. But Ernie can't finish on the fast break like you can." I would pump him up and say, "Nobody runs the fast break like you do." And Randy would say, "You're right coach."
One of the reasons Smith was characterized as soft-spoken was that he had to overcome a stammer in his youth. Smith once told Ramsay that he got hit a lot as a kid. Ironically, Smith ultimately overcame that stammer by hitting himself in the leg whenever he'd struggle to get the words out. "That would get him going," said Ramsay.
Smith finished his career with 14,218 points and is the Braves/Clippers' all-time franchise leader in points (by a mile), games played, steals, and assists. But his most notable achievement in NBA history is his consecutive games streak. Between 1972 and 1983, Smith played in 906 consecutive games, a record he held for 14 years until it was bested by A.C. Green in 1997.
The other lasting achievement in Smith's career was his special place as a hero in Buffalo. On Wendell's blog, "Buffalo Nation," he describes that unique relationship between man and city (http://buffalonation.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/remembering-randy/):
Some players only see the world through a prism of their own statistics and accomplishments. Others have no choice but to be a part of team – to be a spokesman for something larger than themselves.
That's how it was with Randy Smith, who died unexpectedly last night of a heart attack. He was the spokesman for the old Buffalo Braves. He not only realized that but came to embrace that role.
"Sometimes I felt like I was the last of the Mohicans,” Smith told me during the writing of "Buffalo, Home of the Braves." "But I was the guy who was there pretty much from the beginning to the end. I guess you could say I became the institutional memory of that team.”
Nobody loved the Braves and nobody loved Buffalo more than Smith. After starring as a soccer player at Buffalo State, the basketball Braves drafted him in the seventh round of 1971 draft. After working on his jump shot and then thrilling fans with his two-handed slam dunks in the preseason, he surprisingly made the NBA team.
The Clippers have no jerseys hanging from the rafters in Staples Center. With Smith's passing, it might be time for the franchise to sew some baby blue threads with a big number 9 to commemorate their most enduring star.
Additional Links:
"The Legend of Randy Smith (http://davebyers.net/br003.html)," by Jim Baker of the now-defunct Buffalo Courier-Express
SunBear Press (http://stores.sunbearpress.com/StoreFront.bok), publisher of "Buffalo: Home of the Braves"
The NBA's official Buffalo Braves page (http://www.nba.com/clippers/history/braves.html)
The Buffalo News' obit (http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/693131.html), by Milt Northrup