Randy Smith (1948-2009)

And just like that, another icon of Buffalo sports passes on. First Jack Kemp, now this. Randy Smith, dead at the age of 60.

The man that Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsay once called “the greatest athlete I ever coached.” is gone.

The first cornerstone of those outstanding Braves clubs of the mid-seventies is also the first to pass on…way too soon.

He was taken by the Braves in the seventh round of the 1971 NBA draft. The club took a passing flyer on the amazing athlete who had made a big name for himself in three sports(hoops, track, soccer) in college just a stone’s throw away at Buffalo State. A longshot, it would seem to take someone at the D-III level. But as an expansion team that had entered the league a year earlier, why not?

Randy would surprise everyone and become a superb NBA player. Smith played in twelve NBA seasons, seven of them in Buffalo(1971-78) and appeared in two All-Star Games. He was a key cog in the Braves teams of 1974-1976 that put up ferocious postseason battles with the Boston Celtics and Washington Bullets. And he provided Braves fans with the club’s last glimmer of glory by winning the MVP of the 1978 All-Star Game, torching the West for 27 points in a 133-125 OT victory. I’m a tad too young to remember him, but this moment is my earliest memory of the NBA.

He is also known for being the man who held the NBA’s consecutive games played streak at 906 games upon his retirement in 1983. The record would hold for another fourteen years until A.C. Green eclisped the mark.

Smith pretty much owns the Braves record book, leading in most points, assists, games played, and steals. And even though it’s been thirty one years since the Braves left town he still owns the franchise(Braves and Clippers) records in these categories.

He would leave for San Diego with the Braves following the 1978 season and played some more solid seasons with the Cavaliers and Knicks before playing out the string in Atlanta. But make no mistake, he was a Buffalo guy all the way through.

-pjf