THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 28, 1995 TAG: 9506280607
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TORONTO LENGTH: Long : 159 lines
In Joe Smith's ever-changing world, he holds fast to some ways of the past.
He remains, for example, a discerning shopper when he's at the mall with friends.
``I'll go into a store and say, `This is too high, I can't afford this,' '' Smith said. ``It really hasn't kicked in, how much money I'm going to be making.''
He's got an idea, though. Smith has picked up a few classy suits, some nice shoes and other amenities that wouldn't fit the budget of the average 19-year-old from a modest upbringing. And he already bought - then wrecked - a Mercedes. More on that later.
Smith is no average Joe. He is expected to be the Golden State Warriors' first pick in the NBA draft tonight in SkyDome.
With the draft, a new world opens up for Smith. But Greg ``Spanky'' Johnson, Smith's best friend from their days together at Norfolk's Maury High, said, for the most part, Joe continues to live by the old rules.
``For a person who has basically unlimited credit, he doesn't go out flashing it all the time,'' Johnson said.
Smith boarded his flight to Toronto early Tuesday morning wearing an untucked NBA T-shirt, baggy gym shorts and a pair of basketball shoes.
Those would be Nike shoes.
``The shoe is just so comfortable,'' Smith said.
According to sources, he'll be paid almost $5 million over the next five years by Nike to wear and pitch the company's products, which makes it even more comfortable. If the shoe fits . . . pitch it.
Smith spent about eight hours last weekend signing 3,000 items - 700 basketballs, 2,000 cards and 300 photos - as part of a deal he has with a memorabilia company.
``It's a good thing I have a short name,'' Smith said.
Tonight, he's hoping for a short wait in the Green Room, where he will sit with family members and other players until NBA commissioner David Stern calls his name. The official Smith traveling party in Toronto includes his mother, two sisters, two brothers, four uncles, three aunts, two nephews and a neighbor's daughter.
Just a few short months ago, it seemed everyone in and around college basketball was waiting to hear Smith's decision on whether he would leave Maryland after his sophomore season to enter the draft. Now he's the one waiting impatiently.
Smith visited each of the first four teams in the draft - Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia and Washington - to work out and undergo a barrage of interviews. He was sent on his way with encouraging words, but no hints of who might draft him.
The closest thing Smith has to a guarantee was an unattributed report out of the Bay Area that, barring a trade, Smith is Golden State's No. 1 guy.
Smith spoke in a press conference here Tuesday of his mounting nerves. Then he was asked how he will feel when Stern approaches the microphone to announce the first pick.
``I'm quite sure that's when my heart will drop,'' Smith said. ``That's when all the nerves will be sitting there in my stomach. A lot of people want to be the first pick. He'll be like, `And the Golden State Warriors choose . . heart drop.''
Smith's heart, not to mention several other people's, skipped a few beats when he was driving home from Maryland May 26. Smith and three friends, including Terps teammate Johnny Rhodes, were traveling south on I-95 in Spotsylvania County at about 6:30 p.m. when the potential No. 1 pick in the draft nearly became a Memorial Day weekend traffic statistic.
According to the police report, Smith was driving his Mercedes in the left lane when a car traveling at a high rate of speed sideswiped him. The other car then swerved into a tractor-trailer, regained control and sped away.
Smith and his companions, meanwhile, careened out of control into the median. Smith's vehicle flipped over a couple of times and landed right-side up on the embankment.
Amazingly, no one was hurt.
The police report said Smith was not at fault and did not appear to be speeding. The only damages were to the Mercedes, which is still undergoing repairs.
``I was kind of upset the lady didn't even stop to see if anyone was hurt,'' Smith said.
``It's a sobering idea,'' said Smith's agent, Len Elmore, noting that much more than a promising NBA career was on the cusp of disaster for Smith and his friends.
Strangely, the accident is a source of strength for Smith in one regard. Smith has played twice recently in the Hampton Roads Pro-Am League, creating fodder for second-guessers who said he was taking a foolish risk right before the draft. Smith and Elmore pooh-poohed such talk.
``I'm just trying to get myself ready,'' Smith said. ``I'm not going out and doing anything stupid. If you watch the games, you know I'm not going full tilt.
``You can't worry about getting hurt. If God had meant for me to be hurt, it could have happened right there with the accident.''
Elmore shrugs off the critics.
``You have to play,'' he said. ``He's got disability insurance that's more than adequate. You can't be frightened of competing, you have to work on your skills.''
Smith has demonstrated that for a man 6-foot-9 1/2 and 220 pounds, he has good shooting range, mobility and ballhandling ability. Everyone saw at Maryland what a force he could be inside.
The teams know all they need to about Joe. Now he wants to know where his future begins.
``Joe's handled things well,'' his mother, Letha Smith, said. ``He's been pretty calm. I have asked him, `Baby, are you frightened?' He admitted he is frightened some.''
Who wouldn't be, with the Clippers picking second?
The NBA has its draft order, and Smith has his personal order of preference as well. It's unfathomable he'll fall below the first four picks, so here is his wish list:
1. Golden State; 2. Philadelphia; 3. Los Angeles Clippers; 4. Washington.
Working backward in that list, Smith wants to get away from the Beltway because the Bullets have ample young talent at his power forward position in Chris Webber and Juwan Howard. ``It would be tough for me to get in and play right away,'' he said.
As for the Clippers, well, who ever wants to go there? Smith could lose more games in one season with the Clips than he did in four years of high school and two years of college combined.
Smith likes the 76ers and their chances to turn things around fairly quickly with coach John Lucas.
Golden State, that would be, well, golden.
The Warriors slipped to 26-56 last season partly because of infighting and a plethora of injuries. They have good talent, including Chris Mullin, Latrell Sprewell, Tim Hardaway and Rony Seikaly. Smith conceivably could compete for the starting power-forward job with Chris Gatling and Carlos Rogers.
``Of the top four teams, I feel they would have the best chance of winning, because they really have good personnel there,'' Smith said. ``I'd be very comfortable there.''
The Warriors, according to general manager Dave Twardzik, were impressed with Smith.
``Even though he's 19, he has a maturity level that exceeds that,'' Twardzik said.
Soon, Smith will have an income that exceeds his wildest expectations. With it comes good and bad.
``Right now I'm coming up with cousins out the woodwork,'' Smith said.
Being the top pick in last year's draft was worth a 10-year, $68.15 million deal for Milwaukee's Glenn Robinson. Enough to go 'round for all the cousins.
Smith's immediate earning power, however, could be dramatically reduced. Included in the collective-bargaining agreement under negotiation is a rookie salary cap that would limit the dollars and number of years of a rookie's contract.
``Len keeps me informed on all that,'' Smith said. ``Rookies, we really have no say-so. It's kind of upsetting.
``No matter what happens, I just have to go out and prove myself and raise my stock so after one, two or three years - whatever that period is - I can renegotiate my contract and get a lot more. I'll still be making a lot of money, but it's just a lot less than I would have been making.''
He'll have plenty to go on a shopping spree after the draft. Joe, you can afford it. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Joe Smith on commissioner David Stern's announcement: ``He'll be
like, `And the Golden State Warriors choose . . .' and then have
that pause. That will make not just mine, but everybody's heart
drop.''
by CNB