
Smith has the genes for basketball. His dad is Joe Smith, who was the No. 1 NBA draft pick in 1995. Father and son are building their relationship now, but Amir grew up watching basketball clips of his dad on Google and YouTube. While Joe did financially support him, Amir has memories of being with his father in person just a handful of times. Bowie and Joe were in a relationship during his rookie season with Golden State. After their relationship ended shortly after Amir was born, Bowie stayed close with Joe’s family, particularly his mother, who passed away from cancer in 2007. But Joe and Amir were never together. “It was hard to know I had a dad who accomplished all these great things in the sport I love,” Amir said. “But to not be able to just go outside and actually be able to play with him and learn from him. That was tough.”