By John DentonNov. 2, 2015
NEW ORLEANS – Alone in the car together back in August of 2013 just after their worlds had been completely shattered, Jason Smith tried giving close friend and teammate Ryan Anderson the one thing he had wanted most when he endured an unspeakable tragedy himself two years earlier.
Silence.
Not long after Anderson’s long-time girlfriend, Gia Allemand, was pronounced dead from suicide-related trauma on Aug. 14, 2013, Smith was there for support and to comfort his close friend on the New Orleans Pelicans at the time. Smith, who had suffered through the shocking death of his 67-year-old father two years earlier following a car wreck, drove Anderson home from New Orleans’ University Hospital that day. Stunned and saddened, the two loquacious and happy-go-lucky friends know to chatter for hours at a time said little to nothing at all to one anther. Instead, there were just knowing nods and tearful embraces.
“Being there with Ryan in that tough time, I just tried to give him a little bit of silence because everybody was trying to talk to him about what was going on,” recalled Smith, now a member of Anderson’s former team, the Orlando Magic. “I wanted to give him that little bit of silence to help him calm himself down. Ryan said it, his mom said it, his dad said it – nobody really knows how to handle a situation like that. Overall, I just wanted him to know that I was there for him regardless and I would be there whenever he needed me. I just wanted to do anything that I could to make sure he was OK because you never know how someone is going to react when something like that happens.”
Smith, 29, and Anderson, 27, will be rivals on Tuesday night when the Magic (0-3) face the Pelicans (0-3) at Smoothie King Center. But theirs is a friendship that breaks all the usual bounds of basketball, one that has remained strong even though they play in different cities and one that will endure long after their careers are over. And a big reason for that is because Smith – a sweet-shooting power forward just like Anderson – was there for his best friend in his greatest time of need.
A FRIEND BEING THERE FOR A FRIEND
Anderson had some of his best years in the NBA in Orlando (2009-12), but he left for New Orleans in the summer of 2012 via a sign-and-trade transaction as the Magic were re-tooling their roster. Once with the Hornets/Pelicans, Anderson and Smith first met on a commercial flight where they were coincidentally sitting close to one another and they talked and laughed for some three hours. And while playing together during the 2012-13 season, Anderson and Smith and their significant others all became quick friends and frequent dinner companions at New Orleans’ many restaurants.
But those happy vibes ended following that season when Anderson – responding to calls for help from his girlfriend’s mother and stepfather – found Allemand on the floor with a vacuum-cleaner cord wrapped around her neck. Allemand, a former model and reality-show star, battled eating disorders and depression for years and the occasional spats with Anderson caused her emotions to spray in wild patterns throughout their two-year relationship that began with the power forward was playing for the Magic. (They met while in the Bahamas while on separate vacations).
Anderson was so grief-stricken and devastated by the suicide that he wasn’t able to walk out of Allemand’s apartment after finding her body or out of the hospital after she was pronounced dead some 24 hours later. Anderson needed a wheel chair to get out of the hospital and Smith was there for the assist. Smith had run errands for Anderson and the family during the initial hospital stay and he was there to help Anderson get away from the madness at the hospital with his waiting car.
“It was the perfect timing in absolutely the worst situation. I got there just as they were leaving and coming out of the hospital room,” Smith recalled on Monday following the Magic’s practice for Tuesday night’s game. “It’s something that I’ll never forget. I don’t know if Ryan remembers it because everything just kind of goes into a blur because I have been through that situation before.”
A TRAGEDY OF HIS OWN
Two years before Anderson was forced to deal with the shocking death of his girlfriend, Smith received the horrible news that his father, Jack Smith, had died in an automobile accident back in Ault, Colo. According to the Colorado State Patrol, Jack Smith accidently failed to stop at an intersection and his mini-van was blindsided by another vehicle, killing Smith instantly.
In the weeks before the accident, Smith was back in his native Colorado because the NBA lockout had the 2011-12 season on hold. Always busy preparing for the next basketball season, Smith rarely had time in the late summer and early fall to spend back home with his father. Having the luxury of perspective now, Smith considers the days and weeks spent with his father before the car accident some of the best memories he possesses.
“For me, it was a very tough situation, but I take the positives out of it,” Smith said. “It was the lockout and I was home and I got to spend so many good moments with my dad. He loved to go fishin’ and I got to go fishin’ with him a couple of times. If it was during the season I would have never gotten that opportunity. It’s a tough thing to go through as a person.”
Little did Smith know it at the time, but learning how to cope with the tragedy of losing his father helped him assist Anderson in his friend’s greatest time of need.
`A NEAR AND DEAR FRIEND’
Following Allemand’s suicide, Anderson retreated to his native Northern California where he moved back in with his parents. Anderson, one of the game’s best power forwards because of his ability to both shoot 3-pointers and rebound in traffic, contemplated sitting out the season or retiring from the NBA all together.
Anderson said recently when back in Orlando to face the Magic that he considers Smith to be one of the best friends that he’s ever made in life. The two of them have shared so much together – both in good times and bad – that their bond will always be strong. He credits Smith for being one of the people who helped bring him back to the NBA and help him get through that rocky first season following the loss of his girlfriend.
“For me, Jason will forever be one of those guys who is a near and dear friend,” said Anderson, 27, who is averaging 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 37.5 percent from 3-point range in three games so far this season. “He’s been there for me in the great times and the not-so-great times. He’s just been a great, supportive guy – one of the best teammates that I’ve ever had. He’s a guy you could call at 2 in the morning and he’d help you with anything. He’s a genuine friend and a good teammate.”
Upon rejoining the Pelicans following his time away from basketball to grieve, the usually affable Anderson was petrified about facing anyone aware of his situation – teammates, coaches, media members and fans who can sometimes say the cruelest of things to players on opposing teams. That ran counter to the usual chatty persona of Anderson, who has been known to hold in-depth conversations with everyone from the bellman at a hotel to the janitor at a NBA arena.
THERE FOR ANDERSON AGAIN
When Anderson rejoined the Pelicans in late September of 2013, Smith rarely went more than a few hours without checking in with his friend. He said he always kept the ringer of his cell phone on the loudest setting possible so that he wouldn’t miss Anderson’s call or text message – and there were plenty of them that came in at the oddest of hours after midnight.
When the Pelicans were about to play their first preseason game that October, the team travelled to Houston and bunkered down at a hotel the night before the game. That night, Smith received a message from Anderson asking if he’d be OK if Anderson had a roll-away bed brought to his room and he slept not too far away, roommate-style. It was then that Smith realized that it was the first time that Anderson had been fully alone after staying with his parents and then-Pelicans coach Monty Williams most nights following the tragedy.
Smith instead offered to come to Anderson’s room and keep him company there so that his friend could get a good night’s sleep.
“I could sense (the apprehension); I not sure if any of the other teammates could, but I knew what was going on,” said Smith, referring to Anderson’s aversion to being all alone. “I just hung out with him in his room and he finally got to the point where he was so tired that he fell asleep. I just let myself out.
“Yet again, you never know how to handle those situations, but I just tried to be there for him whenever he needed me,” Smith continued. “Regardless if I got two hours of sleep, I wanted to be there for him and give him somebody to talk to if he needed it. We weren’t even talking about (Allemand’s death). It was, `Where’s your favorite place to travel? What do you think about this bar?’ Anything, really, just to talk and keep his mind focused on something else.
“I can’t say that he’s over it, but he’s a great person again and he’s back to being the same fun-loving guy he was before,” said Smith, who left New Orleans to play for New York last season and Orlando this season. “He’s always trying to find a new restaurant, he always has a smile on his face and he can talk for days.”
Smith was there with Anderson the first time he met with the media, placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder when he started to tear up while discussing his love for Allemand. In addition to advising Anderson to talk about his efforts in helping those who have contemplated suicide, Smith also taught his friend that sometimes silence is the best answer. Just like when they were in that car together on the way home from the hospital and not a word was uttered, Smith at times would give his buddy a knowing nod, a tight hug or a pat on the back and let him know he was thinking of him without ever saying anything.
“It was an incredibly tough time because at some point, even with your best friend, you don’t know what to say or talk about,” an introspective Smith said. “But at the same time, silence can sometimes be the best thing for a friend, too. Some people tell you to act like nothing ever happened, but it’s hard to do that, especially when it’s your best friend. I was just there for him when things were going good and also when things were not going so good. I tried to treat him the same way and be there for him regardless. That’s what friends do.”
