He is the author of multiple articles and books, including The New York Times bestseller, The Jordan Rules.
Smith attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn and Pace University in New York City, graduating with a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1970.
He worked two years on the auditing staff of Arthur Young & Co. and then earned a master's degree in journalism from Ball State University.
[1] Smith started at the Tribune as a political/general assignment writer, writing on the city news and national staffs, the business department, and Sunday magazine, before moving to sports full-time in 1983.
[1] His grandfather Samuel Pritzker was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi from Ukraine who emigrated to the U.S. from Holovanivsk on August 13, 1925 with his wife and two children, including Smith's mother Betty.