Donta Lamont Smith (born November 27, 1983) is an American-Venezuelan 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 for

Trotamundos de Carabobo Trotamundos B.B.C. (), also known as Trotamundos de Carabobo, is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, located in the Venezuelan Carabobo State. The team currently plays in the Venezuelan SuperLiga. The team has won the Venezuelan cham ...

of the

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...

(SPB). Playing for

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

, he was named the 2014

Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP The Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, or Israeli Basketball Super League MVP, is an annual basketball award that is presented to the most valuable player in a given season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is the top-tier level ...

High school

Smith played his high school basketball at

Oldham County High School Oldham County High School (OCHS) is a public high school in Buckner, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1953 and has a student body of approximately 1,600 students in grades 9–12. OCHS was given the National Blue Ribbon School of Excell ...

, in

Buckner, Kentucky Buckner is a census-designated place (CDP) in Oldham County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 5,837 at the 2020 census. Oldham County High School is located in Buckner. The town and the school were hit by an EF2 tornado on April 2, ...

, where he was a standout forward on the high school team, and also a record-setting

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

on the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team. He also played on the Kentucky (high school) All-Stars in their annual two-game series against the Indiana All-Stars.

College career

After two years of playing junior

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

Southeastern Illinois College Southeastern Illinois College is a public community college between Harrisburg and Equality in Saline County, Illinois. The college was founded in 1960 and offers associate degrees. A secondary campus, the David L. Stanley White County Center, i ...

, Smith was rated as one of the top

JUCO A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, acc ...

prospects, and he committed to play

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

college basketball for

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (; born September 18, 1952) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at St. John's University (New York City), St. John's University. He was also the head coach of Greece national basketball t ...

at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

, with the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

. However, Smith backed out of the commitment, and entered the

2004 NBA draft The 2004 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2004, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ( EDT). In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur colle ...

instead.

Professional career

Smith was taken by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

in the second round of the

, after playing

, and he averaged 3.3 points per game for the Hawks during his two-season stint. On December 2, 2005, the Hawks assigned Smith to their

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

affiliate, the

Arkansas RimRockers The Arkansas RimRockers were a minor league basketball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas, which played in the American Basketball Association and the NBA Development League. Season by season Franchise history The RimRockers began play ...

. In January 2007, Smith signed a one-month contract with Bulgarian champions Academic Sofia, which could possibly be extended to five months. On December 24, 2008, Smith signed with the

South Dragons The South Dragons was an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). It debuted in the 2006/07 season and played its final season in 2008/09. The club was based at MSAC in Melbourne's inner south-east ...

of the Australian National Basketball League. He had previously been with the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

Shanxi Zhongyu The Shanxi Loongs, also known as Shanxi SDIC Raptors Club or Shanxi Fenjiu Shares are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Taiyuan, Shanxi, which plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). The Shanxi Fen ...

but was waived to make roster space available for

Bonzi Wells Gawen DeAngelo "Bonzi" Wells (born September 28, 1976) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is currently an assistant coach at Georgia Tech and previously was head coach at LeMoyne-Owen. He played college ba ...

. In 2009, Smith went on to win the 2009 NBL championship with the

, and was named Finals MVP after starring for the team in the 5-game series. After one season with the

, Smith would return to the

for the 2009–10 season. In December 2010 he signed with the

Liaoning Dinosaurs The Liaoning Flying Leopards (), also known as the Liaoning Shenyang Sansheng Flying Leopard Club or Liaoning Bengang (), are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Hunnan District, Shenyang, Liaoning, which plays in the Northern Divisi ...

. In 2011, Smith signed with

Fuerza Regia The Fuerza Regia de Monterrey (''Monterrey Royal Force'' in English) is a Mexican professional basketball team based in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico playing in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). They currently play their home g ...

in Mexico. He later played for the Indios de Mayaguez of Puerto Rico, and

of Israel. Smith led Haifa to its first Israeli Super League title ever during the 2012–13 season, his first with his team, along with teammate

Gal Mekel Gal Mekel (, pronounced ; born March 4, 1988) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He played for the Dallas Mavericks and spent time in Europe and Israel. He played college basketball for two years at Wichita State University. He ...

. In the following season, 2013–14, Smith was awarded the Israeli Basketball League's Most Valuable Player Award, after leading Haifa to the finals for the second time in a row. Haifa, however, could not win the title again, after losing the finals to

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

superpower

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

. In 2014, he was chosen the MVP of the Israeli All-Star game. In June 2014, after two successful seasons with Haifa, Smith signed a three-year contract with Israeli team

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's lead ...

. In his first season with the team, he was instrumental in its winning its first ever national championship. He left Hapoel Jerusalem in July 2016 after losing the opportunity for a second title to Maccabi Rishon LeZion BC. On November 23, 2017, Smith signed with

New Basket Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Valtur Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. They compete in Serie A2 (basketball), Serie A2, second level of Italian basketball system. F ...

for the rest of the

2017–18 LBA season The 2017–18 Lega Basket Serie A, was the 96th season of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), known for sponsorship reasons as the Serie A PosteMobile, which is highest-tier level professional basketball league in Italy. The regular season started on ...

. On June 4, 2018, Smith signed with

Santeros de Aguada Santeros de Aguada is a Puerto Rican professional basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. The team was originally based in Aguada, Puerto Rico, and although the team moved to Fajardo in 2021, even changing their name and re-branding ...

for the rest of the 2018 BSN Season. On July 9, 2018, Smith signed with the French team

Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in Dublin, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the London Stock Exchange as ELN. ...

for the 2018–19 season. On August 31, 2019, he has signed 3-months deal with

Levallois Metropolitans Metropolitans 92 is a French professional basketball club that is based in Levallois-Perret, in the Paris metropolitan area. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the highest-tier level in French basketball. The club was established in 2007 ...

of the

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

. Smith averaged 8.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. On July 15, 2020, he signed with

of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

. On March 8, 2021, he was released by the team. In 2020-21 he was third in the Israel Basketball Premier League in three-point field goal percentage (46.0 per cent), but third in turnovers per game (3.0). On September 23, 2021, Smith signed with Cangrejeros de Santurce of the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

National team career

In August 2013, Smith was naturalized as a Venezuelan, in order for him to be able to play with the Venezuelan national basketball team. He played with Venezuela at the

2013 FIBA Americas Championship The 2013 FIBA Americas Championship for Men, later known as the FIBA AmeriCup, was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Americas, for the 2014 FIBA World Cup, in Spain. This FIBA AmeriCup tournament was held in Caracas, Venezuela, from August 30, to ...

References

External links