Retired Players I Loved To Watch #5 (He had the worst nickname ever: "Tricky")

Steve Smith

He was kinda overlooked for the majority of his career. There were so many other flashier and high-flying players at his position -- Jordan, Kobe, Iverson, Latrell Sprewell, Eddie Jones, Jerry Stackhoue, etc., etc. -- that people tended to forget about him. But Steve Smith was a smooth ball player. His game was really understated, really low key. He wasn't the fastest player from end court to end court, didn't possess blistering athleticism (this probably had to do with the knee injury he sustained his rookie season), and he spent more time playing below the basket instead of above it. But despite all that, everything else about him was so calm, cool, and effortless. Basketball looked easy for him. Because of his height, he was hyped up as the next Magic Johnson coming out of MSU. But once he quit with trying to be a point guard (he was never that great at it anyway) and settled into his more natural position of shooting guard, he took off. Whenever anyone thinks of the best shooters of the past 15 or so years, the typical names that come up are always Glen Rice, Dell Curry, Dale Ellis, Mark Price, and Ray Allen. But Steve's marksmanship was nearly as good as all of theirs. He had textbook form, from the bending of the knees, to the lift, to the follow-through.

And Steve's patented go-to move is one that I still use at the playground today: pin your defender on your back, receive the ball on either low block, hold onto the ball and let defenders clear, head-fake as if you're going one way, spin-move the other way, then go up for uncontested layup (Note: I'm right-handed and my left-handed layup is a little weak, so I prefer to head-fake right and then spin-move left.) It's a good move because it relies mostly on guile. It takes a limited amount of athleticism and explosion, with just a rudimentary grasp of ball-handling skills. You can usually count on it working at least once in a pick-up game. After that, defenders will wise up, backing up and cutting off your driving lanes.