Wikipedia

Larry Smith (basketball, born 1958)

For other people named Larry Smith, see Larry Smith (disambiguation).

Larry Smith (born January 18, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'8" forward/center from Alcorn State University, Smith spent 13 seasons (1980–1993) in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs. Smith, nicknamed "Mr. Mean", received NBA All-Rookie Team Honors in 1981, and would become one of the best rebounders of the 1980s. He had career averages of 9.2 rebounds and 25.9 minutes per game. Smith was affectionally nicknamed and known as "Mr. Mean" throughout his career, especially during his time with the Warriors, due to the stark contrast between him being nice and soft-spoken off the court but always with a serious demeanor and angry scowl on the court while grabbing a rebound.[1][2] Smith's popularity in Golden State and Houston led to local fan clubs who would attend games wearing hard hats holding up a sign saying "Larry's Local 13".[3] At the end of his career, Smith earned praise from the Houston Rockets coaching staff and fanbase for adequately covering for an injured Hakeem Olajuwon.[3]

Larry Smith
Smith with the Golden State Warriors during the 1987-88 season
Personal information
Born (1958-01-18) January 18, 1958 (age 66)
Rolling Fork, Mississippi, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolSimmons (Hollandale, Mississippi)
CollegeAlcorn State (1976–1980)
NBA draft1980: 2nd round, 24th overall pick
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Playing career1980–1993
PositionPower forward
Number13, 2
Coaching career1993–2011
Career history
As player:
1980–1989Golden State Warriors
1989–1992Houston Rockets
1992–1993San Antonio Spurs
As coach:
1993–2003Houston Rockets (assistant)
2003–2004Atlanta Hawks (assistant)
2004–2005Los Angeles Lakers (assistant)
2005–2006Albuquerque Thunderbirds (assistant)
2006–2007Anaheim Arsenal
2007Austin Toros (assistant)
2008Los Angeles Sparks (assistant)
2008–2011Alcorn State
Career highlights and awards
As player

As assistant coach:

Career statistics
Points5,904 (6.7 ppg)
Rebounds8,125 (9.2 rpg)
Assists941 (1.1 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

He worked as an assistant coach for Rudy Tomjanovich with the Rockets from 1993 until 2002, helping them capture their back-to-back NBA titles in 1993-94 and 1994-95.[4] After ten years with the Rockets, Smith was hired as the assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks in 2003. In 2004, he was hired by the Los Angeles Lakers to be the assistant coach for Tomjanovich. However, Tomjanovich resigned after 41 games into the 2004–05 season. Smith remained as an assistant coach for interim head coach Frank Hamblen until the end of the season.

After serving as an assistant coach of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds,[5] as the head coach of the Anaheim Arsenal, and as an assistant coach for the Austin Toros in the NBA D-League, Smith was hired to be an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for the 2008 season.[6]

On May 8, 2008, officials made the announcement during a news conference in Vicksburg, Mississippi that Smith has been named as the head basketball coach for Alcorn State University. In 2011, Smith was moved from this position to become director of athletic development for the school.

He holds the NBA joint record for the most offensive rebounds in a quarter with 11, versus the Denver Nuggets on March 23 1986, tied with Charles Barkley.

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
*Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1980–81 Golden State 82 – 31.4 .512 – .588 12.1 1.1 0.9 0.8 9.6
1981–82 Golden State 74 55 29.9 .534 .000 .553 11.0 1.1 0.9 0.7 7.1
1982–83 Golden State 49 41 29.2 .588 – .535 9.9 0.9 0.7 0.4 8.4
1983–84 Golden State 75 63 29.2 .560 – .560 9.0 1.0 0.8 0.3 7.8
1984–85 Golden State 80 78 31.2 .530 – .605 10.9 1.2 1.0 0.7 11.1
1985–86 Golden State 77 74 31.7 .536 .000 .493 11.1 1.2 0.8 0.6 9.6
1986–87 Golden State 80 78 29.7 .546 .000 .574 11.5 1.2 0.9 0.7 8.8
1987–88 Golden State 20 10 25.0 .472 .000 .407 9.1 1.3 0.6 0.6 6.4
1988–89 Golden State 80 78 23.7 .552 – .310 8.2 1.5 0.8 0.7 5.7
1989–90 Houston 74 0 17.6 .474 .000 .364 6.1 0.9 0.8 0.4 3.0
1990–91 Houston 81 28 23.7 .487 – .240 8.8 1.1 1.0 0.3 3.3
1991–92 Houston 45 7 17.8 .543 .000 .364 5.7 0.7 0.5 0.2 2.3
1992–93 San Antonio 66 13 12.6 .437 – .409 4.1 0.4 0.3 0.2 1.3
Career 883 525 25.9 .531 .000 .531 9.2 1.1 0.8 0.5 6.7

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1987 Golden State 10 10 32.9 .531 – .708 13.7* 1.7 1.2 0.6 10.3
1989 Golden State 8 8 18.5 .250 – – 5.0 2.0 0.8 1.4 1.0
1990 Houston 4 0 18.3 .750 – – 3.3 1.3 1.0 0.0 3.0
1991 Houston 3 0 19.0 .250 .000 .000 4.3 1.3 0.3 0.3 0.7
1993 San Antonio 6 0 8.3 .667 – .750 2.7 0.2 0.7 0.3 1.2

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Larry Smith".
  2. ^ "Larry Smith - Director of Athletic Development - Staff Directory".
  3. ^ a b "He Rules the Boards With a Mean Streak - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. March 4, 1991.
  4. ^ "NBA.com Larry Smith coach profile". NBA.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005. Retrieved August 29, 2007.
  5. ^ Larry Smith, Thunderbirds Assistant Coach[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ Press release on joining the Los Angeles Sparks
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