Former Magic Player of the Month: Otis Smith

Otis Smith

I think we all know what happened to Otis Smith. But I think it's high time we had another Former Magic Player of the Month (formerly Week, and I have not done any in almost a year now).

Otis is of course our fearless leader and general manager. Smith literally constructed every piece of the current Magic roster and built the team that went to the NBA Finals last year. OK, he was just an assistant general manager when Jon Weisbrod drafted Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson, but we all tend to forget the Weisbrod year.

So clearly Smith has been doing a lot of fun stuff since leaving the Magic as a player after three seasons.

Otis was, of course, selected in the second round of the 1986 NBA Draft with the 41st overall pick by the Denver Nuggets. He averaged 8.8 points per game in just more than two seasons with the Nuggets before being traded to Golden State.

Smith was then selected by the Magic in the expansion draft and played the final three years of his career in Orlando. With the Magic, Smith averaged 11.4 points per game inlcuding a career-high 13.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in the 1990-91 season.

He is probably most famous as a player for his game-winning basket in a 110-109 victory over the Bulls in the Magic's inaugural season.

After his playing days he moved into the front office for the Warriors before moving back to Orlando as a community ambassador. He was named the general manager after Weisbrod's departure and was given the full role. He has been the general manager ever since, helping build a Magic team that has won three straight Southeast Division titles and an Eastern Conference Championship.

Image courtesy of jacksonville.com.

Former Magic Player of the Week: Brooks Thompson

Brooks Thompson

The Orlando Magic used their first round pick in 2004 on Oklahoma State product Brooks Thompson.

Thompson started his career at Texas A&M in 1989 and transferred after two seasons to Oklahoma State, where he made the Big Eight all-conference tournament team and was a member of the all-conference first team in 1994, playing alongside Vancouver Grizzlies great Bryant "Big Country" Reeves. He led the Cowboys in assists both seasons and averaged 16.9 points per game his senior year.

Thompson averaged 3.6 points per game in 71 appearances in two seasons with Orlando. He was part of the 1994-95 NBA Finals team, starting two games his rookie season.

The Magic traded him to the Jazz with Kenny Gattison and a future first round draft pick for Felton Spencer. Thompson played two games with Utah before going to Denver where he averaged a career high 6.8 points per game and got 16.1 minutes per game in 65 games.

He finished his playing career in 1998, playing for Phoenix and New York. He averaged 4.5 points per game in 10.2 minutes per game during his three-year career. Thompson's career high was a 26-point effort against the Suns in 1996 while with the Nuggets.

After retiring, Thompson went into coaching. In 2002 he took the jobe at Yavapi College in Prescott, Ariz., where he went 55-14 during two seasons there. He became an assistant coach with Arizona State in 2004 before accepting the head coaching job at University of Texas-San Antonio in April 2006.

Thompson led the Roadrunners to a tie for sixth place in the Southland Conference last season after going 13-17. He has a record of 20-29 overall entering his third season in San Antonio.

Image courtesy of orlandomagic.com.