Predicting the LA Clippers’ All-Time Team for NBA 2k18
By Noah Shatzer
All-Time Team Starting Shooting Guard: Randy Smith
Randy Smith, who played for the Buffalo Braves and the San Diego Clippers, earns the starting shooting guard spot for the Clippers’ All-Time team. Smith is the Clippers’ franchise leader in games (715), minutes (24,393), points (12,735), steals (1072), and trails only Chris Paul in total assists in a Clippers’ uniform (3498). Standing just 6’3, Smith was assigned to play forward for the Braves in his rookie season and averaged 16.7 points, 4.6 assists and 1.7 steals for his career.
Smith’s play revolved around his speed, quickness, and leaping ability and fit perfectly in the offensive styles of the late 1970s and early 1980s. In his nine seasons with the Braves and Clippers, the wing player only attempted 16 total threes yet managed to score 12,735 points. Smith was an All-Star with the Braves in two seasons. His first was in 1976 when he also made the All-NBA Second team after averaging 21.8 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 49 percent from the floor and also producing 1.9 steals per game. Smith also made the Western Conference All-Star team 1978, winning the All-Star Game MVP after coming off the Western Conference bench to lead all scorers with 27 points.
From 1972-82, Smith played in every single NBA game, 82 games a season, over 10 seasons, a streak that remains one of the long iron man streaks in the league today. Only A.C. Green, who appeared in 1,192 consecutive games over 14 seasons in the NBA, has managed to surpass Smith’s streak of 906 straight games. Smith passed away at the age of 60 in 2009, but will forever live on in the Clippers’ history.
Here’s some grainy footage of Smith with the Braves in 1976 that showcases the wing’s old school play style: