Robert "Bingo" Smith (February 26, 1946 – October 26, 2023) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played for the San Diego Rockets, the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, and the San Diego Clippers.

College career

Smith played for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. It was there where he got his nickname of Bingo when Len Morton, the announcer, would yell "Bingo" each time he scored.

Playing career

With the sixth pick in the first round of the

1969 NBA draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college ba ...

, the San Diego Rockets selected Smith. A year later, he was drafted by the

in the 1970 Expansion Draft. In his first game with the team, he scored 21 points. He helped contribute to the Cavaliers winning the NBA Central Division title in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, and was part of the Miracle at Richfield, winning Game 2 of the Semifinals vs the Washington Bullets. In 11 seasons, Smith played in 865 games and logged 22,407 minutes. Smith was especially noted for his ability to hit jump shots from long range. His outside jump shots often were taken from today's 3 point range. For his career, he recorded a .449 field goal percentage (4,776 FGs made out of 10,642 attempts). Smith also had a .798 free throw rate (1,307-of-1,637) and also accounted for 3,630 total rebounds, 1,734 assists and 10,882 points. Smith was known for his rainbow jumper, now utilized by other forwards such as

Dirk Nowitzki Dirk Werner Nowitzki (; born June 19, 1978) is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at , he is widely regarded as one of the great ...

. His best season was in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, when he scored 15.9 points per game and had a .483 field goal percentage. Smith played the full 82 games in four of his seasons, but he also led the league in turnover percentage in his final three seasons. He scored his 10,000th point in the middle of the 1979 season. On October 27, 1979, he was traded for a 3rd round draft pick (used to pick Stuart House) to the San Diego Clippers. Oddly enough, the Cavaliers retired his number over a month later, while he was still playing with the Clippers. Fittingly, he ended his career in the same place it had started. After one season (the first year that the three point line was instituted), he was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 1980 Expansion Draft, but he never played for them, retiring at the age of 34. Bingo Smith Score

Smith was inducted into the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984. His number 7 has been retired by the

. Smith is third all time in games played with the Cavaliers, fifth in minutes played, sixth in points, third in field goals and field goal attempts, and third in turnover percentage. Smith was
member of the 2016 class
of th
Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame
In 2020, Tulsa retired Smith's number 32. He died on October 26, 2023.

Personal life and death

On April 1, 2009, Smith suffered a stroke. He was divorced, had five children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Smith died on October 26, 2023, at the age of 77.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

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Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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, 82 , , , , 33.3 , , .443 , , , , .795 , , 6.1 , , 3.0 , , , , , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , , , 14.6 , , .444 , , , , .790 , , 2.7 , , 1.5 , , , , , , 8.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , , , 31.9 , , .443 , , , , .822 , , 5.3 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 14.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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, 81 , , , , 28.9 , , .442 , , , , .816 , , 4.2 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .4 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , , , 26.4 , , .446 , , , , .818 , , 3.9 , , 1.9 , , .8 , , .4 , , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , , , 19.3 , , .439 , , , , .800 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .3 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , , , 22.9 , , .460 , , , , .783 , , 2.9 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .1 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", , style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , , , 16.9 , , .458 , , .200 , , .875 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , .4 , , .3 , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 70 , , , , 28.4 , , .430 , , .289 , , .869 , , 3.5 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , .2 , , 11.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 865 , , , , 25.9 , , .449 , , .284 , , .798 , , 4.2 , , 2.0 , , .8 , , .3 , , 12.6 , - class="sortbottom"

Playoffs

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, 3, , , , 19.0, , .231, , , , 1.000, , 2.7, , 1.3, , 1.0, , .3, , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

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, 2, , , , 17.0, , .615, , , , , , 1.5, , .5, , .5, , .0, , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 18 , , , , 26.1 , , .407 , , , , .893 , , 3.0 , , 1.9 , , .8 , , .2 , , 11.2

References

External links

Career Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bingo 1946 births 2023 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Memphis, Tennessee Cleveland Cavaliers expansion draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Dallas Mavericks expansion draft picks Los Angeles Stars draft picks NBA players with retired numbers San Diego Clippers players San Diego Rockets draft picks San Diego Rockets players Shooting guards Small forwards Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball players