Thought of the Week: Leon Smith's Story

Thought of the Week: Leon Smith's Tragedy

High school star, arrested twice, attempts suicide; do the Mavs, NBPA, care?

Dallas, December 5, 1999 -- Leon Smith's saga has become the National Basketball Association's nightmare and the National Basketball Players' Association's embarrassment..

Smith is 19 years of age, almost seven feet tall, with the talent of being a fine professional basketball player. He also is parentless and in trouble with the law. Last summer Smith jumped from high school in Chicago straight into the world of the NBA. He was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs and quickly traded to the Dallas Mavericks.

Smith, a ward of the state for 14 years, seized the opportunity of a lifetime. He signed a $1.4 million dollar contract. Since then he has had nothing but trouble. He was arrested and charged with criminal mischief after he reportedly smashed the rear window of a friend's sports utility vehicle. Barely a day later, on December 2, he was arrested after allegedly threatening his ex-girlfriend with a gun. Smith was held overnight and released after posting $100 bail.

Smith has been isolated from the team and has refused suggestions that he spend time playing overseas or in a developmental league. The Mavericks did not believe that he was ready for the NBA and wanted him to further develop his skills. Upon arrival at the Mavericks' rookie camp, he clashed with assistant coach Don Nelson and then refused to follow instructions

The only person in the Chicago court to support Smith was his mother, who gave him up to the state of Illinois when he was five. No representative of the Dallas Maverick appeared. Nor did anyone from the National Basketball Players Association, the organization which bent over backwards to give Latrell Sprewell the best representation money so that an arbitrator could reinstate his contract following the well-known assault on coach P.J. Carlisimo. Furthermore, no lawyer showed up to represent him at his bond hearing. Judge Nicholas Ford commented " with all these people and all of the millions of dollars that he has made, I am amazed that there is not an attorney present."

This case details the story of a troubled young man. And it shows the cold hard facts of the sports business. The Mavs made a lucrative, but questionable contract for someone to young, and when Smith's life was unraveling, no one from the team came to the Chicago Court. For the NBPA, their inaction is even more outrageous.