Miami Heat add former Kings coach Keith Smart to staff
By Phil Watson
The Miami Heat announced a number of coaching/front office moves Wednesday, including promoting David Fizdale to assistant head coach and hiring former Sacramento Kings coach Keith Smart as an assistant coach.
The Heat also named Juwan Howard an assistant coach and hired Chris Quinn as assistant coach for player development, according to a press release.
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Fizdale, 40, has been on the Heat staff since 2008 after previously working as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks. He was also an assistant at the collegiate level at San Diego and Fresno State.
Smart, who will be 50 on Sunday, is best known for making the game-winning shot for Indiana in the 1987 NCAA tournament championship game against Syracuse.
Smart played professionally in the Philippines, France and Venezuela as well as serving time in the World Basketball League and Continental Basketball Association.
His NBA experience was just two games with the San Antonio Spurs in 1988-89.
He has served two stints as an interim coach in the NBA, going 9-31 with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002-03 (the year before they drafted some high-school kid named LeBron James) and for the 2010-11 season with the Golden State Warriors, who were 36-46 after he took over following the resignation of Don Nelson during training camp.
He replaced Paul Westphal seven games into the 2011-12 season in Sacramento and led the team to a 20-39 mark before the Kings were 28-54 under his tutelage in 2012-13.
He has a career head-coaching record in the NBA of 93-170.
Smart was also coach of the CBA’s Fort Wayne Fury for three seasons from 1997-2000.
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