Career

Smits was born in Eindhoven. He started playing basketball at age fourteen at PSV/Almonte in Eindhoven. Smits left for the United States in 1984, where he played for Marist College for four years. He got drafted 2nd overall in the 1988 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers.

With the Pacers, Smits originally backed up Steve Stipanovich, but when Stipanovich suffered a career-ending injury, Smits ended up starting 71 games in his rookie year, averaging 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and earning All-Rookie First Team honors. Smits continued to average double-digit point totals in every year of his career, but it wasn't until the 1993-94 NBA season that Smits really came into his own as a team leader.

Throughout the Pacers' playoff runs in the mid- and late-1990s, Smits was considered the number two player, behind Reggie Miller, on the deeply talented Pacers team. Smits' highest point-per-game average was in 1995-96 when he averaged 18.5 points per game, relatively modest by NBA "superstar" standards, but the Dutchman endeared himself to Pacers fans with outstanding playoff performances, most notably in Game 4 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals where he made a buzzer-beating shot to tie the series.

Smits was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team in 1998, delivering 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, including a spectacular behind-the-back pass to New Jersey Nets forward Jayson Williams who followed immediately with a slam dunk.

Smits developed nerve damage in his feet from wearing tight shoes as a teenager. Foot problems hobbled Smits for the majority of his career, and he retired at the conclusion of the Pacers' 1999-2000 season, after Indiana was defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals 4 games to 2.

After four surgeries to repair nerve damage to his feet, Smits underwent intensive back surgery in November 2009 to correct cracks in one joint that link his vertebrae. Smits has also undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and had bone chips removed from his left ankle.

Smits was selected to the Pacers' 40th Anniversary Team, which was chosen by the fans. He ended up with the fourth most votes, trailing only Reggie Miller, Mel Daniels and Jermaine O'Neal.

Smits became the most successful Dutch basketball player ever, as well as the country's best paid professional athlete of all time with an estimated accumulated capital of more than 125 million dollars.

Life after the NBA

In his retirement, Smits is devoting his time to collecting and racing vintage motocross motorcycles. On November 30, 2011, Smits was featured in Yahoo! Sports, about his formal participation in competitive motorcross racing. In 2008 Smits won the AHRMA Vintage National Premier 500 Intermediate Class riding a BSA 500.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1988-89	Indiana	82	71	24.9	.517	.000	.722	6.1	.9	0.4	1.8	11.7
1989-90	Indiana	82	82	29.3	.533	.000	.811	6.2	1.7	.6	2.1	15.5
1990-91	Indiana	76	38	22.2	.485	.000	.762	4.7	1.1	.3	1.5	10.9
1991-92	Indiana	74	55	23.9	.510	.000	.788	5.6	1.6	.4	1.4	13.8
1992-93	Indiana	81	81	25.6	.486	.000	.732	5.3	1.5	.3	.9	14.3
1993-94	Indiana	78	75	27.1	.534	.000	.793	6.2	2.0	.6	1.0	15.7
1994-95	Indiana	78	78	30.5	.526	.000	.753	7.7	1.4	.5	1.0	17.9
1995-96	Indiana	63	63	30.2	.521	.200	.788	6.9	1.7	.3	0.7	18.5
1996-97	Indiana	52	52	29.2	.486	.250	.797	6.9	1.3	.4	1.1	17.1
1997-98	Indiana	73	69	28.6	.495	.000	.783	6.9	1.4	.6	1.2	16.7
1998-99	Indiana	49	49	25.9	.490	.000	.818	5.6	1.1	.4	1.1	14.9
1999-2000	Indiana	79	79	23.4	.484	.000	.739	5.1	1.1	.2	1.3	12.9
Career		867	792	26.6	.507	.115	.773	6.1	1.4	.4	1.2	14.8
All-Star		1	0	21.0	.429	.000	1.000	7.0	4.0	.0	2.0	10.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1989-90	Indiana	3	3	32.0	.500	.000	.818	5.3	1.0	.7	1.3	12.3
1990-91	Indiana	5	0	17.6	.568	.000	.875	3.6	.4	.2	1.4	9.8
1991-92	Indiana	3	1	9.3	.364	.000	1.000	2.0	.0	.7	.3	3.3
1992-93	Indiana	4	4	35.8	.578	.000	.727	8.0	1.8	1.2	1.0	22.5
1993-94	Indiana	16	16	28.1	.472	.000	.806	5.3	1.9	.6	.6	16.0
1994-95	Indiana	17	17	32.1	.547	1.000	.804	7.0	2.0	0.3	0.8	20.1
1995-96	Indiana	5	5	33.2	.545	.000	.786	7.4	1.6	.4	.4	19.0
1997-98	Indiana	16	16	29.8	.502	.000	.859	5.3	1.3	.5	.9	16.6
1998-99	Indiana	13	13	22.5	.456	.000	.950	5.0	.7	.5	1.2	11.8
1999-00	Indiana	22	21	21.0	.498	.000	.875	3.5	1.0	.4	.9	11.0
Career		104	96	26.4	.507	.250	.829	5.2	1.3	.5	.9	14.8

Personal

Has a son named Derrik Smits who stands 7ft tall and is committed to Valparaiso University as a 2015 high school graduate.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]