Smith, Howard's history goes deep

"Both of them were competitive," said Dwight Howard Sr., father of the Magic  star. "They always had to fight about who was going to be at the end of the line because they were both about the same height."

In that sense, not much has changed. Howard and Smith have gone at each other in the series, now 3-0 in Orlando's favor, with Game 4 on Monday night at Philips Arena. Smith scores in transition, takes charges and swat shots; Howard controls the paint, throws down vicious dunks and drops in shots from the post.

"God has blessed them to play in the NBA," said Pete Smith, Josh's father. "We're humble and grateful for the experience."

They're a long way from field trips to the zoo and circus, excursions that both fathers chaperoned. A long way, too, from their AAU days, when they were racing vans and skirting curfews when they weren't dominating games.

"It was just fun," Morris said. "You remember it for the rest of your life because that was back in the day when playing basketball wasn't business. It was just, go out there and play the game you love."

Morris was the first to join the Celtics, one of the more recognizable AAU teams in the country. Smith and Howard followed early in their high school careers.

"My first impression of them was how amazingly talented both of them were at such a young age, along with Randolph Morris, too," said Corey "Hulio" Smith, the Celtics general manager and then an assistant coach. "The three of them, they were just unbelievable."

Going into their senior year, they won the Big Time tournament in Las Vegas, something of a national championship for club teams, setting a tournament scoring record in the process. Remarkably, they beat teams built around Hawks Marvin Williams and Al Horford in the semifinals and finals, respectively. Another Celtic was Javaris Crittenton, the former Georgia Tech star, who was suspended for the season by the NBA in March for his involvement in a gun incident with a Washington Wizards teammate.

"That was one of the most loaded travel summer teams ever, having front-line guys like that," recruiting guru Bob Gibbons said.

They were not immune from mischief. At tournaments, while coaches met in their hotel rooms, the players climbed into rental vans to go eat, racing to the restaurant and back. Morris made an impression on Smith for his skill at peeling out.

Said Smith, "I didn't know how to do that [stuff]."

On one Las Vegas trip, Smith's father recalled coming back from a dinner on the Strip with parents only to see their sons trying to sneak back into the hotel at the same time.

As his son recalled, they were on the Strip themselves, just looking around, when they realized they were up against curfew, and started running back.

"It was hot," Smith said. "We took our shirts off. Everybody probably wanted to figure out what we were doing."

Smith and Howard have remained close, as have their families. Smith said Howard is like a brother to him. They have kept ties with the Celtics, as well, paying visits and helping with travel funds for current teams.

Their success does not surprise Karl McCray, the Celtics president, who was coach of Howard, Smith and Randolph's team.

"We all knew that those three kids could be NBA players," he said. "We've been doing this a long time. You can kind of tell the kids coming through who really have a legitimate chance."

Evidently, they weren't the only ones.

Said Howard, "We all would just sit down and talk about going to the NBA and making that jump and just trying to be the pride of Atlanta.”