Donta Lamont Smith (born November 27, 1983 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American professional basketball player who formerly played in the NBA and Australian National Basketball League.
Smith played his high school ball at Oldham County High School (Buckner, KY), where he was a standout forward on the high school team and record-setting wide receiver on the football team. He also played on the Kentucky (high school) All-Stars in their annual two-game series against the Indiana All-Stars. After two years of junior college basketball at Southeastern Illinois College, Smith was rated as one of the top JUCO prospects and committed to play ball for Rick Pitino at the University of Louisville. But he backed out of the commitment and entered the 2004 NBA draft instead.
Smith was taken by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 2004 NBA Draft after playing college basketball at Southeastern Illinois College and has averaged 3.3 points per game for the Hawks during his career.
In January 2007, Smith signed a one-month contract with Bulgarian champions Academic Sofia, which could possibly be extended to five months. On December 24, 2008, Smith was signed by the Australian National Basketball League's South Dragons. He had previously been with the Chinese Basketball Association's Shanxi Zhongyu but was waived to make roster space available for Bonzi Wells.
In 2009, Smith went on to win the 2008/09 NBL Championship with the South Dragons, and was named Finals MVP after starring for the team in the 5-game series. After one season with the South Dragons, Smith would return to the Shanxi Zhongyu for the 2009-2010 season. In December 2010 he signed with the Liaoning Dinosaurs.
In 2011, Smith signed with Fuerza Regia in Mexico. He later played for the Indios de Mayaguez of Puerto Rico, and Maccabi Haifa B.C. of Israel.
Famous quotes containing the word smith:
“Heat, ma’am! It was so dreadful here that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones.”
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845)