On Thursday, legendary Chicago Bulls writer Sam Smith was recognized as a recipient of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2012 Curt Gowdy Media Award. It's been 40 years since he started his writing career that spanned many important moments in Chicago Bulls history, including the Michael Jordan-centric dynasty of the 1990s.
As the piece on NBA.com notes, Smith has never enjoyed being the story. He only liked to be the one to tell the story. But he recognized the honor for the huge accomplishment that it is, and we've got a quote on it below:
It's a wonderful honor. I'm so proud to be mentioned along with some of the great newspapers writers I followed growing up, like Leonard Koppett and Leonard Lewin, and to be mentioned along with writers who created modern NBA writing, like Peter Vecsey and Bob Ryan. There are so many talented and deserving writers. To be included in such a special group is beyond your dreams.
Those definitely are some strong names to be in company with. Smith's contributions have been so excellent and so many that there were plenty on-hand with him when he received the award, including Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, President and COO Michael Reinsdorf and General Manager Gar Forman.
If you want some real knowledge on Smith and his accomplishments, don't look any further than Kelly Dwyer's piece on Ball Don't Lie with Yahoo Sports. It does a great job of outlining the career of Smith and why he was so good at what he did. It's well worth a read.
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