Mike Smith Announces Decision To End His Stellar Basketball Career
Van-Far’s most accomplished basketball star Mike Smith recently announced his retirement from playing the sport professionally. The following is the announcement he made on Facebook.
Due to medical exams pertaining to my heart I have officially retired from the game of basketball.
First off, I would like to thank the man upstairs for his many blessings I have encountered throughout my life. HUGE thank you to my wife, she has been my everything since we met and no way would I have been so successful playing in Europe without her. She has taken a back seat to her life and career so that I could continue to chase my dreams. The last couple years having you by my side have been nothing but amazing, we have traveled the world with our wonderful kids and experienced things our wildest dreams couldn’t of imagined. Thank you for pushing me to be the best player I could be, to helping me through bad games, keeping me humble during good games and for always encouraging me to work my tail off regardless of the situation. Thank you babe and I love you!
To Zander and Breklyn who gave me the motivation to continue to push forward, you guys where my everything! Thank you for your smiles from the stands. Win or lose you guys made me feel amazing after the games. It really showed me what mattered most.
To my parents who believed in me, who somehow always made things work. Thank you for inspiring me to be the best player/human being I could be. You guys always said if you want something you have to work for it and thats the motto I lived by. None of the success I have accomplished is even close to possible without you guys.
To Matt and Alicia, you guys have been supporting me since day one, I wouldn’t change you guys for the world! Thanks for pushing me and believing in me. I have looked up to you guys from the beginning as I will always. love you!
Now to the 1000 other people who have someway or another made an impact on my life I say thank you! I don’t want to name names because there are to many. Family, teammates, coaches, friends, teachers. THANK YOU!
To the game of basketball, thank you for giving me an outlet, and a opportunity to better myself, an opportunity to receive a college degree, an opportunity to meet some amazing people along the way. 8 years of professional basketball, approximately 30 different countries. The journey has been nothing short of amazing and I will never forget the memories my family and I have made. I have given my heart and soul to this game and will never forget the lessons I’ve learned. To whatever endeavor comes next, Ill be ready!
