About Wee Willie Smith
Lived 1911 – 1992 (aged 80). Wee Willie Smith was an American basketball player.
William T. "Wee Willie" Smith (April 22, 1911 – March 14, 1992) was an American professional basketball player.
Career Smith played for several semi-professional leagues in the Cleveland, Ohio area before being signed by the New York Renaissance, an all-black professional team, in 1932. From 1932 to 1936, Smith and his six teammates won over 400 games, including an 88-game winning streak from January 1, 1933, to March 27, 1933. The entire 1932–33 Renaissance team was collectively inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1963. Smith played for several other professional teams, including the Cleveland Chase Brassmen of the National Basketball League. He was one of the few black players in the history of the NBL.
In 1945, one year after previously playing for the Cleveland Chase Brassmen for the National Basketball League, Smith would be a second team member of what was deemed the "All-Time Stars of Professional Basketball", which consisted of votes from the six general managers from the teams playing in the 1944–45 NBL season. Smith would end up being the only African American player to be considered for such an honor by the people who voted for the players in question to be on the listed honored teams. He would be joined alongside two former Original Celtics and Cleveland Rosenblums players in Joe Lapchick and Nat Hickey (the latter of whom was playing for the Pittsburgh Raiders at the time despite him being the oldest player in the NBL by this point in time) and two Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons players in Jerry Bush and Buddy Jeannette from the NBL.
After retiring from professional basketball, he worked as a custodian in the Cleveland Public Schools and operated a beverage shop. He was inducted into the Harlem Hall of Fame and the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame in 1977.
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Important facts
People in Wee Willie Smith's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Wee Willie Smith's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Wee Willie Smith?
American basketball player (1911-1992)
When was Wee Willie Smith born?
Wee Willie Smith was born on 22 April 1911 in Montgomery.
When did Wee Willie Smith die?
Wee Willie Smith died on 14 March 1992 in Cleveland.
What was Wee Willie Smith's occupation?
Wee Willie Smith was a basketball player.
What nationality was Wee Willie Smith?
Wee Willie Smith was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Wee Willie Smith. https://biography.guide/wee-willie-smith-basketball-player/
MLA: "Wee Willie Smith." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/wee-willie-smith-basketball-player/.
Chicago: "Wee Willie Smith." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/wee-willie-smith-basketball-player/.
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