Exclusive Interview: Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks

ATLANTA, GA—I ended 2008 on a good note, on New Year's Eve I finally met Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks.  

Smith is a friend of a friend and I see him around town from time to time but have never bothered him or met him until now.

Josh Smith, out of Oak Hill Academy of Virginia and McEachern High School in Powder Springs, GA, is a very humble person.

He towers over most people, especially yours truly, a 5'7" Bleacher Report writer.

I asked him about his recent performance against the Pacers on December 30th, and how he tied his season-high in points with 24, he looked at me like he was surprised I knew his stats. 

The Hawks defeated the Indiana Pacers 110-106 for their sixth straight win and improved to 21-10 on the season.

Joe Johnson scored 27 against the Pacers and I asked him if there was some friendly competition going on since they are close friends and he just smiled with no comment.

Being the avid fantasy sports player that I am, I wanted to ask him if he could get his blocked shots up because they are way down from last season, but when you are standing next to a human skyscraper it is hard to be sarcastic.

I talked to him for a few minutes and had a picture taken as shown in my article photo.

I told him the city of Atlanta is really proud of him and the Hawks and to keep up the good work.

Josh Smith and the Atlanta Hawks travel to New Jersey on January 2nd to play the Nets and then return home to play Houston and Orlando.

For the first time in twenty seasons, the Hawks have reached the 20-win mark before New Years Day.  They are playing some great basketball right now and are arguably one of the best teams in the league. 

The Hawks are headed to a once unthinkable 50-win season...and possibly much more.