Mike is the color commentator for the Clippers television broadcasts, and what a blast that is! We love the team and love being a part of such a wonderful franchise. On occasion, Debbie has had the privilege of flying with Mike and the team to some of the ball games. She loves going to New York and Chicago, and, since most of her family lives in Florida, she tries to head east whenever the team plays Orlando. Boston and Utah are also fun stops, but it is hard to get away for very long with this large family. There are also those pre-season, international trips which have taken the Clippers to Japan, Mexico, and Russia. With a big family, the season can be tricky. Mike travels with the team, and wherever they go, he goes. His hours are also a bit crazy because before he even heads off to work, he has to spend several hours studying up on the opposing teams and be ready with all the latest statistics and current happenings of all the players. Then he hits the road by 3:30 pm, arrives at the arena, and immediately hits the ground running: interviewing coaches and players, putting together graphics, and going over the show with his producer. Because Mike is fluent in Spanish, he has also started doing a Spanish broadcast during half-time. By the time he walks in the door at night, it’s close to midnight.
Regardless of the off hours and continual travel, he absolutely loves his job and feels blessed to still be an integral part of the NBA. Needless to say, during the season, Debbie and the kids miss their “conductor,” but the off season is fantastic!! Mike is a devoted father and husband, and Debbie is blessed to finally have him around when the season comes to an end. The off season brings tons of trips to the beach, barbeques, family projects, movie and game nights, and an occasional vacation, just to name a few. We all agree, since we live in the best place in the world, why leave?
This concludes the second part of the story. The third section will follow shortly.
Meet the Smiths - Part 1
By The Smith Family
Have you ever been to Penn Station? It is a huge hub of activity with tracks leading everywhere and in every direction. This would describe the Smith home, a whirlwind of activity with plenty of love to spread around. To say that we are busy would be the world’s biggest understatement. We have 10 children in all and a nanny who is our right hand man or, in this case, our right hand woman. We have a combined family with children ranging in age from 21 down to 3. The youngest are twins, a little boy and a little girl, and are the glue in this “yours, mine, and ours” family. They are just adored by all the kids and are blessed to have been born into this combined family, chalk full of love, and with a ready made support system. It does take masterful planning and organization to set this family in motion and see the days end in success. Blessed with great kids, and with each other, we somehow make it work.
If you came into our home, one of the many things you would see is this huge calendar full of events. This calendar posts all our “times and destinations,” where to go and when to be there. If you don’t check it in the morning, there are bound to be cancellations and delays! One deviation can set the whole day astray, but the family works together, each one looking after the other. We are a team, and there is no “I” in team. Our motto is, “Nobody’s done till everybody’s done.” We have a wonderful nanny named Sawyer who is from Utah. She is full of love and has enormous patience. She is incredibly loyal and is a true friend to anyone who knows her. She is going to Saddleback in the fall and is excited about pursuing her education in the health sciences. She has been a blessing to us all and is liter- ally part of our family. With her help, we are able to pull it all together. Just driving alone is a full time job with this large family; basketball practice, cheerleading practice, volleyball practice, golf practice, church activities, it never ends!
Mike is the conductor of this family and the backbone of our home. He is currently the television broadcaster for the Los Angeles Clippers and has been for the past 14 years, but his history with basketball has spanned over many decades. He was recruited by every major college out of high school to play foot- ball, basketball or volleyball. He chose Brigham Young University. There he pursued a double major in zoology and Spanish and was an All-American in the classroom and on the court. He was named conference player of the year two times and led the conference in scoring three years in a row. He even led the nation in free throw percentages. He was planning on going to medical school, but the NBA came calling and, upon graduation, he was drafted by the Boston Celtics; 13th pick in the first round of the 1989 draft. He later played with the Clippers and also in Europe for four years. During his time at BYU, he also served a church mission which sent him to Argentina for two years. That mission taught him the importance of family and helped shape this remarkable man.
This concludes the first part of the story. Stay tuned for more….
The Next Few Posts are a story written by Mike Smith and his family
Mike Smith and his family wrote a story for their neighborhood newsletter. You might already know this - Mike and his wife have 10 children. The story they wrote is extremely interesting and empowering.
The complete story will be spread across 4 posts.The Title of the article is “Meet the Smith Family”.
Clippers Mike Smith Offered Assistant Coaching Job With Golden State Warriors
Just received confirmation that current Clippers announcer Mike Smith was offered an assistant coaching job by Mark Jackson with the Golden State Warriors.
After considering the offer, Mike Smith decided to stay with the L.A. Clippers as an announcer.
Is this an indication that Mike Smith in convinced the Clippers are going to be really good this year? Maybe the thought of watching Blake again is too much to pass up.
There is major optimism in Clipper Land.
Let’s get the NBA labor problems solved and start the season on time! Please!
Clippers Mike Smith interviews Miami Heat Guard Carlos Arroya in Spanish.
An indepth interview that covers the arrival of the Big 3 and Arroya’s play for the Puerto Rico National Team.
Cliippers announcers Ralph Lawler and Mike Smith preview the Lakers and Clippers from the Staples Center. Former Clippers player Mike Smith compares Kobe Bryant and Eric Gordon and calls each the most consistent scorers currently in the NBA. Of course having two of the leading rebounders in the NBA, Blake Griffin and Pau Gasol, adds interest to the game.
Mike Smith makes an interesting point, is Pau Gasol a center or power forward? Mike answers his own question - It doesn’t matter what you call him - he is good.
Former Clipper players Mike Smith and Don McLean preview the last San Antonio - L.A. Clippers game of the 2010 - 2011 season. Smith and McLean show how the Spurs were able to force Blake Griffin to take difficult shots in the first meeting and the adjustments the Clippers had made in their subsequent games to get Blake the ball in better positions. Clipper color analyst Mike Smith describes how this Spurs team plays different than previous teams and how Manu Ginoboli is their catalyst and has been a winner at every level.
L.A. Clippers Announcer Mike Smith gets on the court and demonstrates how these two rebounding leaders can dominate games. Mike Smith shows how Love and Griffin are similar and different. Similar in their thirst for offensive rebounds. Blake does it with power and speed and Love does it with angles and instinct. Both will not be denied. Also they both are quick off their feet. They are different in how they operate in their teams’ offense. Love starts at the Pinch Post in the Triangle offense. He plays a two man game with Michael Beasley, sets a pick and gets the ball. Instead of immediately driving to the hoop, like Blake, Love will either shoot a short jumper or ball fake and then drive. Blake Griffin gets the ball lower in the post than K Love. Instead of working the two man game he usually will get the ball and either drive to the hoop or fake left and get off an UNSTOPPABLE right handed jump hook with his body blocking the ball. So quick off his feet that no one can block it.
Clippers announcer Mike Smith describes Tim Duncan as the best power forward in the history of the game in his pregame analysis of the Clippers and Spurs. Mike Smith (correctly) calls Clippers power forward Blake Griffin the current power forward that is revolutionizing the power forward position through his athleticism. Even though these two players’ styles are completely different, Mike Smith makes some great points that they are extremely similar in their results and character. Tim is known for his IQ and Blake for his dedication and work ethic. They both are model citizens.
Clippers Announcers on Fox SportsWest Mike Smith and Ralph Lawler breakdown the pre-game match ups between the Clippers and Nuggets. This was one of Carmelo’s last games as a Nugget. With him and Chauncey Billups the Nuggets were a completely different team than in the second half of the season.
L.A. Clippers color man Mike Smith, a former BYU superstar basketball player, diagrams and explains the Jerry Sloan offense. It is a guard emphasized offense with Deron Williams involved on almost every play. Either running a two man game with pick and roll or stopping and popping, the guards play an important role in the offense.
Mike gives an honest assessment and breakdown of the Clippers season. It is refreshing to hear analysis that is accurate and not just the corporate message.
Here is an excerpt of the podcast:
The team had a brand new coach, with a brand new team, with two brand new superstars that all happened to collide at the beginning, and that also coincided with Chris Kaman, your All Star Center going down, Baron Davis, your former All-Star point guard being injured and out of shape and those things, and thus the team struggled out the gate. Started 1-13, then 5-21, but basically from that 5-21 mark they were almost a .500 team. ….
Those are all things that normally would disrupt chemistry and rhythm. Now granted they didn’t have a lot of chemistry and rhythm because of the things that I just mentioned, but I’ve never been so excited about a 32-50 team as I am about THIS team, because you when have legitimate, all-star quality players at four of your five positions you really and truly have a chance to be a playoff team the following year.
This is an excellent article by Kevin Arnovitz on ESPN’s website that describes Ralph Lawler, the Clippers Play by Play announcer. The article also explains how Mike Smith became a Clippers announcer and how Ralph instructed him on how to be a better broadcaster.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
In the summer of 1998, Clippers color commentator Mike Smith was under Lawler’s tutelage. Following his career as a professional player in the NBA and Europe, Smith had spent a few seasons working as an announcer for his alma mater, Brigham Young University. He and Lawler knew each other as neighbors in Orange County. While in Salt Lake City with the Clippers, Lawler turned on the television in his hotel room and heard Smith calling a BYU game. Lawler was impressed, and when the Clippers’ radio play-by-play job opened up a few months later, he encouraged Smith to pursue broadcasting as a full-time trade.
“It was a real learning process for Mike, and Mike is a very bright human being,” Lawler said. “We spent that summer working and he became really good.”
Smith credits Lawler for that improvement. A few times a week, the two would meet at Lawler’s home where Lawler would give Smith a battery of drills and exercises — like doing play-by-play on the 405. Every waking moment offered an opportunity to tell a story and illustrate a picture. For Lawler, the game on the court is merely an extension of the world we live in.
Mike Smith Clippers Broadcaster Discusses BYU’s Honor Code
The story of BYU dismissing Brandon Davies from our basketball team for an Honor Code violation was in the national news for several weeks. It still gets some air time on sports talk shows and probably had a major impact on the Cougars’ NCAA tournament.
The controversy over the Honor Code and how it is implemented for ALL students (including athletes) was hard to understand for people who did not experience a strict honor code. High profile student athletes at BYU lived with this life-style and the media asked them to try and explain it.
Does anyone else want to comment on this? It seems obvious to me that BYU handled the difficult situation properly but I heard many people in the media who thought it was wrong that Brandon was dismissed from the team.
The best shooter in BYU basketball history was Mike Smith who graduated in 1988. No offense to the awesome Jimmer Fredette, but Smitty had the all-around game and shot that allowed him to be the Number 1 draft pick, 13th overall, of the Boston Celtics in 1989.
Mike Smith finished his Cougar career as the second leading scorer of all time with 2319 points. He set BYU career records in rebounds (922), games played (122), free-throw percentage (.878), three-point percentage (.430), three-point field goals made (116), and three-point field goals attempted (270).
Mike Smith was an Academic All-American three times and in 1988 was the one player is selected as the GTE Academic All-American of the Year.
