Katie Davidson
May 3, 2020
The Lynx players of the 2010s are often the players we think of
when reflecting on Minnesota’s basketball greats. And rightfully so — they’ve
done quite a bit for the sport in our state.
But before Sylvia Fowles was an MVP and Finals MVP; before Maya
Moore was known as one of the best basketball players of all time; before
Lindsay Whalen returned home to become one of Minnesota’s favorite athletes;
before Rebekkah Brunson became one of the fiercest defenders Target Center has
ever seen; and before Seimone Augustus became the face of the Lynx franchise,
there was Katie Smith.
Sunday, May 3, 2020,
marks 21 years since Smith was allocated to Minnesota prior to the franchise’s
inaugural season. Back then, in the beginning stages of the franchise, the Lynx
were desperate for relevancy. Smith gave it to them — and then some.
The 1999 season was the first since the folding of the American
Basketball League, and up to 40 players from the former league were allowed to
join the WNBA. Smith had played for Minnesota head coach Brian Agler for two
seasons with the ABL’s Columbus Quest and was his selection when the Lynx and
fellow expansionists Orlando Miracle were allocated one ABL player apiece the
day before the 1999 WNBA Draft.
Agler brought on Smith, a former Ohio State star
and a gold medalist with Team USA at the 1998 FIBA World Championship for Women, to join former
Stanford player Kristin Folkl as the team’s second allocated player despite her
recent knee surgery. Agler
believed Smith’s upside of steady scoring, strong ball-handling and
competitiveness outweighed any physical limitations she’d have while
recovering.
A 1999 Star Tribune article even compared Smith to
Celtics legend Larry Bird because “she excels in every offensive category.”
It’s unfair
to compare WNBA newcomers to Bird, but Smith didn’t disappoint once she arrived
in Minnesota.
In her seven seasons with the Lynx, Smith averaged
17.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists and never shot less than 33% from
3-point range. By 2004, she was shooting 43.2% from deep. Smith was the focal
point of the Lynx’s offense as she led the league in 3-pointers made in 2000
(88), 2001 (85) and 2003 (78). In addition, she set a WNBA single-season record
that still stands by making 246 free throws in 2001.
On July 8,
2001, she recorded a career-high 46 points in a loss at the Los Angeles Sparks,
which topped the league’s former single-game scoring record of 44 points set by
Houston’s Cynthia Cooper in 1997. Smith had recorded another 40-point game on
June 17, 2001 at Detroit.
Smith became an All-Star
in just her second season in the league and would go on to repeat in 2001,
2002, 2003 and 2005 but not just because of her offensive abilities. Smith
became Minnesota’s strongest defender after tapping into her work ethic and
grit that soared over most players. Her passion for the game — on both sides of
the court — enthused Minnesota fans and showed them what the WNBA was all
about.
Smith led
the Lynx to their first two playoff appearances in 2003 and 2004, but the team
was never able to make it past the Western Conference Semifinals and dealt
Smith and a second-round draft pick to the Detroit Shock for a first-round
draft pick, Chandi Jones and Stacey Thomas 23 games into the 2005 season.
At the time
of the trade, Smith had
become the first woman to score 5,000 points in a U.S. professional career,
reaching that milestone in the July 13, 2005 win vs. Detroit, and was an easy
poster selection for young basketball fans (I know from experience).
As we know, despite their efforts to rebuild, the Lynx wouldn’t
make it back to the playoffs until 2011. Who knows what would have happened had
Minnesota held on to Smith back in 2005 but had they neglected to part ways,
Smith would have never worked with current Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve who was
an assistant coach for Bill Laimbeer’s Shock.
In Detroit,
Reeve and Smith bonded over their winning mentalities and quickly grew respect
for one another.
“Since
then, (Reeve has) really been a mentor to me and a person I reach out to,” said
Smith in January. “She shoots it to me straight and is somebody who is a real
mentor to young coaches and women in the profession.”
Parting
ways with Smith in 2005 was difficult at the time, but the move may have
allowed for Smith to bring more greatness to the Lynx franchise in the distant
future — this time as an assistant coach.
Smith will
remain on the sidelines in her next endeavor with the Lynx and won’t be nailing
3s anywhere outside of the team’s practice facility. But no matter what her
title is, we’ll always
remember what she did for women’s basketball and the Lynx franchise in its
early years.
Larry Legend?
No. Lynx Legend? Forever.