Randy Smith, a speedy, high-scoring guard who set a National Basketball Association record by playing in 906 consecutive games over 12 seasons, died on Thursday in Norwich, Conneticut. He was 60.
He had a heart attack while on a treadmill at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, where he worked in promotion, his son-in-law, Lekan Bashua, told reporters.
The Buffalo Braves are long gone, but in the NBA of the mid-1970s, they were an eye-catching team. They were led by the 190cm Smith, who would race down court and have the versatility to pull up for jumpers or drive for dunks, and the Hall of Fame forward Bob McAdoo, the league’s scoring leader for three consecutive seasons.
Smith’s consecutive-game streak began in February 1972, during his rookie season with the Braves, and ran until March 1983, when he was placed on waivers in his second stint with the Braves’ successor franchise, the San Diego Clippers, now the Los Angeles Clippers. Smith had asked for his release so he could join a playoff-caliber team and signed with the Atlanta Hawks soon afterward.
His record was eclipsed by A.C. Green of the Dallas Mavericks in November 1997.
For all of Smith’s durability, his greatest moment had nothing to do with his record-setting streak. It came at the 1978 All-Star Game in Atlanta, where he scored 27 points in 29 minutes for the East, with seven rebounds and six assists, and was named most valuable player.
Smith, who grew up in Bellport on Long Island, was drafted by the Braves out of Buffalo State. It might have seemed a nod to a local favorite, but he went on to average at least 20 points a game in four consecutive seasons, with Buffalo and San Diego.
He was a two-time All-Star and had a career scoring average of 16.7 points a game, playing for the Braves, the Clippers, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Knicks and the Hawks.
Smith, who lived in Norwich, is survived by his wife, Angela, two sons, a daughter and his mother, reports said.
When Smith played in his 845th consecutive game — a Clippers loss to the 76ers in Philadelphia in November 1982 — he broke the NBA-record streak held by center Johnny Kerr.
Having played for the Sixers late in his career, Kerr was flown in by the team to congratulate Smith, and the 76ers presented Smith with golf irons, signifying his iron man status. It was a welcome though modest recognition.
When Green broke Smith’s consecutive-game streak 15 years later, McAdoo said that Smith was “one of the best athletes ever to play this game.”
But as McAdoo told Newsday at the time: “Nobody ever talks about him. Nobody even remembers Buffalo was in the NBA.”
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