Russ Smith answers the phone around 11pm while in China. His team, Luoyang, of China's National Basketball League, had a game earlier in the evening in Beijing and he just recently returned to his hotel room. He's tired and wondering whether to join some teammates at a hookah lounge to celebrate one of their birthdays. He's still getting used to life in China and hasn't been out with them yet. Instead, he's been spending most of his off time in his room watching game film and movies.
Smith is a bit frustrated about how he played. "They were sending like two or three guys at me every time I got the ball," Smith said when asked about how he played. "I definitely lowered my scoring average. I did manage to squeeze out 46, though."
Entering his sixth contest in China, Smith had been averaging 61.0 points per game (that number has since dropped to 57.7 over 11 games, per Asia-Basket.com). The former Louisville star dropped 62 in his NBL debut. He followed that up with a 42-point game which seemed to be an off day for him. Then had a 56 point performance, after that he scored 64 points, following a video game-like 81 point game (shooting 10-of-17 from three).
For Smith, the Brooklyn native and former second-round pick, China has become the land of opportunity. Snubbed by the NBA and then declined by a headcoach in Turkey, Smith decided to head east to rediscover the approach that once transformed him into one of college basketball's most fascinating players. " I wanted to try something different. I got a great opportunity here, so I'm just trying to seize the moment," Smith said. "I'm completely locked in here; it's been dope."
Smith has never been one for cliched "humble athlete talk," and he then says: "I don't believe there are 400 guys in that league better than me. You want to name like 150? Fine. Maybe I'm not a rotation guy. I'll practice, show up to every game in a suit and cheer on my teammates. But I for damn sure belong on an NBA roster."