Profile

Michael is best known for his work with the Los Angeles Clippers. He was the television analyst for all Clippers’ telecasts, a position he held for 20 years. Of the 30 local television teams in the NBA, Michael was ranked the #1 analyst in 2013. He also received an Emmy for his work. He currently works for the Utah Jazz broadcasting for the last 3 years. Mike and Rod Hundley are the only two ever to play in the NBA and do radio “play-by-play” for the NBA!

Sports has always taken a major part in Michael’s life. He had an illustrious high school career at Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights as an All-American in football, basketball, and volleyball, while acting as the Student Body President and maintaining a 3.98 GPA. Mike led his football team “quarterbacking” them to the California CIF Championship and a perfect season. The Dial Corporation named him Male High School Athlete of the Year for 1983, and he was California’s Athlete of the Year in all 3 sports.

He attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and a minor in Communications, with an emphasis on Broadcasting. He continued to play sports but focused primarily on basketball and volleyball. In basketball, he was a two-time All-American and finished his career as the #2 scorer in the history of the Western Athletic Conference. His senior year he averaged over 26 points per game and led the entire nation in foul shooting at .925. In volleyball he was invited twice to participate on the United States Olympic team. His academics didn’t suffer at the college level, as he was named First Team Academic All-American 3 years in a row and chosen the “one” Academic All-American of the Year in both his sophomore and junior years.

Following college, Michael was drafted by the Boston Celtics as the 13th pick in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft. He played 4 years in the NBA and another 5 years in Europe before non-cooperating knees and a young family’s duties began to make it clear he needed a career move. He received votes for the all-rookie team in 1989-1990 and twice led the Spanish “A” league in scoring and free throw percentage. He ended his basketball career with Magic Johnson’s Traveling All-Star Team and toured the world.

Mike is married to his sweetheart, Debra Petitt, and they have 10 children — 5 boys and 5 girls. He is president of 7th Tee, Inc., a marketing company, through which he runs his current day consulting businesses. He is also part owner of Mountain Mike’s Pizza, located in both Utah and Arizona. He created “Ghostcast,” the first all audio social media platform, and he is a strategic advisor and presenter for Spearhead Consulting, Inc. Smith has coached the “OC Celtics,” an AAU basketball team in Orange County, CA. He has run basketball camps in Orange County for young athletes and spoken at over 600 events focusing on youth and their values. He is fluent in Spanish and Italian and conversational in Croatian. Mike’s hobbies include fitness and all sports, especially golf, where Mike is not only a scratch player but a historian of the game. You can often find him with his family on the slopes of Utah and the beaches of California.

Follow Mike on LinkedIn.