Donta Smith

Donta Lamont Smith ( born November 27, 1983 in Louisville, Kentucky ) is an American- Venezuelan basketball player. Smith was, which is relatively unusual, selected 2004 directly from the junior college for the most heavily doped professional league NBA. Here, however, he could not fully convince in the next two years and then played for professional teams in Africa to almost all parts of the world, especially in China, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, where he was naturalized in 2013 and international. In the NBL Australasia, he became the " Finals MVP " 2009 championship with the Melbourne South Dragons and Lukoil Akademik with twice the Bulgarian Double. In addition to a Venezuelan Marinos de Anzoategui championship with the 2012 he also won a championship in the BSN Puerto Rico. Since 2012 he plays in the Israeli Ligat ha Al Maccabi Haifa, which surprisingly were able to dethrone the otherwise nationally belonged to Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2013 and won the championship for the first time.

Career

Smith had to go to the school in 2002 initially to study at the Southeastern Illinois Community College in Carmi (Illinois), where he played for the college team Falcons in the " National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association " ( NJCAA ). After two years, he had achieved the academic requirements for a postgraduate degree and was a new addition to the University of Louisville is located in his hometown, where he would have played for the Cardinal under the famous coach Rick Pitino. After interest became known to his person in the NBA Draft, but he volunteered to " Entry Draft " of the doped at the highest professional league NBA and was selected 34th position of the Atlanta Hawks. This was a fairly unusual choice, as players are possibly already selected earlier usually after four seasons in the NCAA or. But so-called " junior college " ( juco ) players have to prove a rule, their talent once again in the NCAA before they are chosen because of the talent detection is not deemed juco player higher in practice than in high school.

After Smith had been in the NBA 2004/ 05 by the Hawks in 38 missions still good ten minutes operating time per game, fell in the NBA 2005/ 06 his playing time and he was on the " farm team " Arkansas RimRockers in the NBA Development League ( D -League ) yet, but stood at the end of the season the Hawks back in the squad. Finally released him after the season end of his contract and Smith could reach no contract for another NBA club. In January 2007 he went to Europe and played for the Bulgarian champion Lukoil Akademik in the capital Sofia, where he was allowed to participate in the " All-Star Game," the national league after nearly two months, and in addition to the victory in the " Slam Dunk Contest was " as" Most Valuable Player " ( MVP ) of the match award. Lukoil Akademik could defend his titles in 2007 and 2008 in the national league and cup competition and Smith twice won the Double in Bulgaria.

For the 2008/09 season was Smith, a return to the NBA in the summer failed again, then a contract in the Chinese Basketball Association in Shanxi Zhongyu from. However, in December 2008, he had already make room in the squad for the former NBA star Bonzi Wells and Smith went into the NBL Australasia to South Dragons from Melbourne. With these he first won the championship in this league and was named MVP of the finals series. Then Smith was briefly in summer 2009 for the first time in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN ) to Puerto Rico for the former runner-up Gigantes of Carolina active. While the South Dragons have had to suspend their gaming operations in the NBL already again after the championship win, Smith was brought from the Shanxi Zhongyu back to the CBA. In March 2010, he then moved to Venezuela for the first time to the Marinos from Anzoategui, who lost as the defending champion in the LPB, the final series for the championship against the Cocodrilos from Caracas. After he had contracted in summer 2010 at the Bayamón Vaqueros from the BSN in Puerto Rico, he played at the beginning of the 2010/ 11 first again in Venezuela in the LNB for the Espartanos from Isla Margarita. In December 2010, Dinosaurs from Liaoning brought him back to the CBA.

In March 2011, Smith returned to the Marinos to Venezuela, with whom he is in the final series bringing back against defending Cocodrilos the championship. In the last final match he was " top scorer ". In the 2011/12 season Smith played for Fuerza Regia Monterrey in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional in Mexico. After they had finished the main round in second place, they lost the play-off semi-final series against the defending champion Toros of Nuevo Laredo in just seven games. Right after Smith returned to the BSN Puerto Rico, where he this time with the Indians from Mayagüez won the championship of the BSN. For the 2012/13 season Smith then got a contract with Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli Ligat ha Al connected gaming operations FIBA Europe. In addition to Smith undertook Maccabi still the Mexicans Paul Stoll was honored as another player who had previously been active in the LNBP and as the best Mexican players in the LNBP 2011/12. In the previous year in eleventh or Table of the highest Israeli league, which was played in that game time without relegated Maccabi reached in 2013 after four years the first time in the final game to the Israeli championship. There they defeated surprisingly the team from defending champion Maccabi Tel Aviv, who had previously won since 1954 50 of 59 league titles, and won the championship for the first time.

After the end of the season, Smith was won in 2013 by the Venezuelan Association for the national and naturalized in the short term. In the Americas Cup in 2013 on home soil in Caracas, he was then also internal team top scorer of the national team. Nevertheless, it was enough just to not qualifying for the finals of the 2014 World Cup. After failing to qualify in the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Venezuela a year ago, this meant another disappointment for the national team, which since 2006 had not had for a global finals to qualify. For the 2013/14 season, Smith returned to Maccabi Haifa, which replaced Stoll by his team-mate David Cubillan. Was in the Eurocup 2013/14 they reached the second round in which Smith on matchday as the most effective player on the " Player of the Week " named after this award was given to him in the preliminary round on Matchday.