NBA point guard, Ish Smith, who broke into the league with the Houston Rockets, is currently a player for the Detroit Pistons after signing a three-year contract with the team in 2010. He is also known to have played four years of college basketball at Wake Forest and finished with more than 1,000 career points and 600 career assists, but went undrafted. Upon being drafted into NBA He played for ten different teams in his first six years in NBA.
Although Smith did not find it easy to stabilize in the NBA, he is no doubt a skilled player that has attracted lots of interest. Let’s take a look at all there is to know about this NBA star.
Ish Smith’s Biography
Ish Smith was born with the full name Ishmael Larry Smith to Gwen and Larry Smith on July 5, 1988, California, USA. He is of African-American ethnicity and holds American nationality.
He attended the Central Cabarrus High School in Concord, North Carolina and later went to Wake Forest for his college education where he played basketball all through the four years in school finishing with an average of 5.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.26 steals in 121 games.
Professional Career in the NBA
Despite his successful college basketball career, Smith was not drafted into the 2010 NBA draft rather he was signed by the Houston Rockets on August 23, 2010. 0n February 24 the subsequent year he was traded to Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Hasheem Thabeet and DeMarre Carroll. He made a total of 15 appearances for the Grizzlies and was waived off by the team on December 14th, 2010.
After two days of being waived, the Golden State Warriors claimed him, and on the 28 of December 2010 and he made his debut for the Warriors in their winning game against the New York Knicks where he recorded 11 points, 4 assists, and 6 rebounds. The Warriors also waived him on January 13, 2012, and he signed with Orlando Magic on February 2nd of that same year and later to traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.
In August 2012, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Caron Butler and he stayed with them till 2014. He made a tremendous career-high of 15 points in a 106–85 win over the San Antonio Spurs on February 21, 2014. He was waived by the Phoenix five months later and was re-signed by the Houston Rockets on July 19, 2014.
He appeared in six pre-season matches for the Rockets and was waived again in October. He signed for the Oklahoma City Thunder in November of that same year after which he was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans on February 19, 2015, who waived on the same day.
Two days later, he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers and his form improved as his stats with them was his all-time career best. Later on, Smith signed for the Washington Wizards but he was later waived by the Wizards on October 24 after appearing in five preseason games. The New Orleans Pelicans on 26 October 2015 acquired him and traded him back to the Philadelphia 76ers on December 24 but in July 2016, the NBA journeyman signed a three-year contract with the Detroit Pistons, where he still plays to date.
Ish Smith Earnings & Salary
The professional basketball player has amassed a huge amount of money from his career. He signed a three years contract with the Detroit Pistons with an average salary of $6,000,000 annually and $18,000,000 guaranteed.
Basically, he earns a base salary with a cap hit and dead cap value of $6,000,000 and according to the 2018 Financial Ranking, he made the 38th position as a Point Guard, 6th in Detroit Piston’s list, and 186th on NBA’s ranking.
Other Facts To Know About Ish Smith
A closer look into his love life shows that Ish Smith is not gay although he is still single. Ish has, however, kept his romantic life or affairs private.
Smith is a hunk gallantly built up with a height of 6 feet 0 inches or 1.83 meters and has a weight of 79 kg or 175 lbs.
He has been awarded some honors to his credit which include Murray Greason Award and the Team Assists Leader award. He was the only player in college basketball history to record 1,000 points and 600 assists.
It is worth knowing that Ish Smith is a devout Christian and he reveals that reads the Bible regularly. He is also often seen praying before every match and in addition to that, he has a degree in Religion.
