http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2000/1228/977722.html ----------------------- Thursday, December 28, 2000 Bickerstaff says Smith didn't work out ---------------------- Associated Press ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Another basketball team has given up on Leon Smith. Leon Smith had been working on returning to the NBA. The one-time first-round NBA pick has been released by the St. Louis Swarm of the International Basketball League. Smith, a 6-foot-10 forward-center, averaged seven points and nearly eight rebounds per game in three games with the Swarm (3-1) this season. Though the release was announced Wednesday, the team said Smith was let go following the Swarm's 110-91 win over Cincinnati on Saturday. Smith did not play in that game for what was listed as personal reasons. "It just didn't work out," coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. "He's a nice young man with a lot of skill and we wish him well. But at some point, you have to be willing to take responsibility for yourself. There were times when he really worked to fit in here. But he wasn't able to sustain it." Smith, 20, tried to make the jump from Martin Luther King High in Chicago to the NBA last year. He was a first-round draft pick, 29th overall, by the San Antonio Spurs, and was then traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Smith never played for the Mavericks and was cut on Feb. 1 after they agreed to pay him the $1.45 million he was guaranteed by being a first-round pick. Smith, who was raised in a series of group and foster homes in Chicago, had run-ins with Mavericks coaches and officials during the summer of 1999. He later attempted suicide by swallowing more than 200 aspirins. In May, he was sentenced to 18 months of probation for severely damaging the car of his ex-girlfriend's mother. "Off the court, you're concerned about the individual, but on the court, it has to be about the team," Bickerstaff said. "I think the guys here realized what we were trying to do by giving Leon a chance. "But if you're going to have a team and maintain any kind of control, everyone has to play by the same rules." Smith was voted the 1999 Illinois Player of the Year by USA Today after averaging 25.5 points and 14.5 rebounds during his senior season in high school. ----------------- That's sad. Dude just couldn't deal with his personal problems. BTW, hasn't Bernie Bickerstaff coached in the NBA before? ------------------ Francis out top, 9 seconds on the clock, he gives a no look pass to Cuttino Mobley, 4 seconds left, Mobley passes to an open Langhi in the corner with 1 second left! Langhi at the buzzer.......YES!!! How Sweet It Is!!
Wow, cut by an IBL team. That is the first time i have heard of a former NBA player being cut by a minor league team. I always thought that former NBA players were treated like gods in those leagues.(Chris Childs was the MVP of the league a couple years ago, he is now playing back up point guard for the Knicks)
Sounds like another lifetime playground player. ------------------ President of the Moochie Norris Fan Club - est. 99-00
