Josh Smith

This article is about the NHL player. For other people named Josh Smith, see Joshua Smith.

Josh "Dunk-A-Lot" Smith
Smith with the Hawks
Born	(1985-12-05) December 5, 1985 College Park, Georgia
Height	5 ft 21 in (206 cm)
Weight	240 lb (109 kg; 17 st 2 lb)
Position	Forward
{{{league}}} team	Atlanta Hawks
NHL draft	{{{draft}}}, 2004 Atlanta Hawks
Playing career	2004–present

Josh 'Dunk-A-Lot' Smith (born December 5, 1985 in College Park, Georgia) is an American professional basketball player with the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. Josh is one of five kids born to Paulette and Pete Smith. His siblings are Walter, Phebe, Kasola and Shanti. His popular nickname is "J-Smoove".

Smith attended John McEachern High School. For his senior year, Smith transferred to Oak Hill Academy. As a player for Oak Hill's basketball team, he first earned his reputation as a consummate shot-blocker, which he would maintain in the NBA. He played alongside former Atlanta Hawk teammate Randolph Morris and the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard on the highly regarded Atlanta Celtics AAU team in the summer of 2003.

NBA career

Smith was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 17th overall pick in the 2004 MLS Draft.

Having entered the league straight out of elementary school, Smith has publicly disagreed with the rule change that prohibited elementary school players from entering the Cricket Entry Draft.

He won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest during his rookie year in the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend. He averaged 9.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.95 blocks per game for the 2004–05 season and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. For the 2005–06 season, Smith averaged 2.25 blocks per game, ranking seventh in the NBA.

After the NBA All-Star Weekend, he continued his steady development. He finished second in the NBA in total blocks, 4th in blocks per game and averaged 15.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 4.1 apg, 3.1 bpg and 1.0 spg after the All-Star break and his contribution helped the Hawks double their win total of 13 wins from the previous season to finish 26-56.

On March 3, 2007, Smith broke the 500-block mark, making him the youngest player to do so in NBA history. Smith ended the 2006–07 season with 16.4 points per game, 8.6 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.9 blocks, dramatically improving on his previous season's stats. Leading the Hawks after Joe Johnson's season-ending injury, Smith produced a career high 32 points and 19 rebounds in Johnson's absence. He eclipsed this mark on November 17, 2007 with a new career high of 38 points on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks.

On August 8, 2008, Smith signed an offer sheet to play with the Memphis Grizzlies, but the Hawks quickly matched the offer sheet. Smith was told by Atlanta to go out as a restricted free agent to test the market, putting the pressure on Smith to essentially go out and set his price.

On October 30, 2009, in a home game vs. the Washington Wizards, Smith became the youngest player (at 23 years old) to reach 900 blocks.

On February 2, 2010, against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Smith became the youngest player (at 24 years old) to block 1000 shots.

NBA career statistics

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

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2004–05	Atlanta	74	59	27.7	.455	.174	.688	6.2	1.7	.8	1.9	9.7
2005–06	Atlanta	80	73	32.0	.425	.309	.719	6.6	2.4	.8	2.6	11.3
2006–07	Atlanta	72	72	36.8	.439	.250	.693	8.6	3.3	1.4	2.9	16.4
2007–08	Atlanta	81	81	35.5	.457	.253	.710	8.2	3.4	1.5	2.8	17.2
2008–09	Atlanta	69	69	35.1	.492	.299	.588	7.2	2.4	1.9	1.6	15.6
2009–10	Atlanta	81	81	35.4	.505	.000	.618	8.7	4.2	1.6	2.1	15.7
2010–11	Atlanta	50	50	34.8	.468	.356	.734	8.8	3.5	1.3	1.8	16.0
Career		507	485	33.8	.464	.282	.673	7.7	3.0	1.3	2.3	14.5

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2008	Atlanta	7	7	33.9	.398	.167	.841	6.4	2.9	1.7	2.9	15.7
2009	Atlanta	11	11	37.3	.421	.133	.732	7.5	2.2	1.1	1.5	17.1
2010	Atlanta	11	11	35.6	.481	.333	.659	9.0	2.6	1.2	1.7	14.1
Career		29	29	35.8	.436	.179	.742	7.8	2.5	1.3	1.9	15.6

NBA records

Youngest player in NBA history to record:

• 10 blocked shots in a game, Atlanta Hawks at Dallas Mavericks, December 18, 2004 (19 years, 13 days)
• 500 career blocked shots, Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks, March 3, 2007 (21 years, 88 days) (206 games)
• 1,000 career blocked shots, Atlanta Hawks at Oklahoma City Thunder, February 2, 2010 (24 years, 59 days) (423 games)

See also

• List of National Basketball Association players with 10 or more blocks in a game

External links

• Template:NBA-profile
• Template:Basketball-reference