This Is No Average Joe : Pro basketball: The NBA’s No. 1 draft pick has a unique roommate, his mother Letha Smith, who moved to the Bay Area to live with her son for one year so he would ‘have somebody to come home to and to talk to.’

OAKLAND —  Letha Smith has always protected her baby, guiding his social and emotional development as he grew into a man.

They played Scrabble for hours, keeping him off the trouble-infested streets of Norfolk, Va. She provided solace, advice and love when he called from college at 3 a.m.

Joe Smith is now 6-foot-10 and will earn about $8.53 million during the next three years with Golden State.

But he’s still her baby.

So when the Warriors made Joe Smith the No. 1 pick in the 1995 NBA draft, they actually got a package deal. Letha Smith told her youngest child she would live with him--and watch over him--during his NBA rookie year.

“I came out here as his mom and all moms want their children to go in the right direction, but I could do that from home,” she says. “I came out here so he wouldn’t be alone. I want him to have somebody to come home to and to talk to.”

Joe remembers his 9 p.m. weekday curfew in high school, and how he’d stare out the window at other kids playing while he was forced to study. He also remembers developing a deep respect for his mom.

So, though he initially was surprised at her plan to become his roommate again, Joe quickly agreed to the deal.

“I understand the purpose of her coming out here, to make sure I don’t get caught up in the wrong crowd,” he says. “And it will be nice when we come back from a long road trip and she’ll be there for me. She’s not just my mom, she’s my friend.”

Letha had six kids in a dozen years before getting divorced in the mid-1960s. Joe was born 12 years later. Letha never married Joe’s father, who sees his son once or twice a year.

With six significantly older siblings, Joe had plenty of guidance. His sisters checked out his girlfriends, usually deciding they were not good enough for Joe. His brothers acted as bodyguards and role models.

“Joe had a whole bunch of mamas and daddies,” Letha says.

The move to the Bay area is a major change for Letha, who lived in the same Norfolk home for 18 years. She misses her children and grandchildren, but feels her place now is with Joe.

“I never left home before. I’ve always lived in Norfolk. And now I’m going to the other side of the world,” she says. “I’m a mother who’s always done for her son. My life has been surrounded by my children. I don’t have any other life.”

Golden State Coach Rick Adelman says Joe Smith is different than most NBA rookies because “he’s not full of himself.” The No. 1 pick’s good attitude can be traced to his upbringing, Adelman says.

Smith, the college player of the year last season when he averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds per game, has been one of the Warriors’ top scorers during preseason despite occasional foul trouble. His high of 21 points came against New Jersey in his home debut.

Though Smith has said he will concentrate on rebounding and blocking shots this season, and his long arms often force opponents to alter shots, Adelman wants him to think more about shooting 10-12 foot jumpers.

Many rookies, and even some more seasoned players, adopt their coach as a parent figure. But life in the NBA can be lonely and draining, especially for a guy such as Smith--who would be in his junior year in college now.

“This is a very difficult situation for a young guy like Joe Smith and he’s going to have some tough times,” Adelman says. “This way he goes home to security. He doesn’t have to go home to an empty house. Having someone here is really going to help him.”

Joe is 20. Letha is 58. Though that’s a considerable generation gap, the Smiths say they have few disagreements.

Letha has even succeeded in weaning Joe to a certain degree off rap music and into appreciating the Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder songs she enjoys. Joe has gotten his mom to tolerate reggae.

That’s not to say their musical tastes have always coincided.

“When I was younger, I’d hear that jazz music on Saturday mornings when she was cleaning up and I’d run out of the house,” Joe says. “I’d hide out at my sister’s all day.”

There is one non-negotiable rule in the Smith household--Joe had to agree to eventually get his college degree before Letha would let him come out two years early from Maryland. Letha has not set a deadline on when he graduates.

“Just as long as I’m alive,” she laughs, “so I will know.”

Letha resigned from her government job to move in with Joe. She watches over his business affairs, a role she’ll continue to play even after she moves back to Virginia after his rookie season.

She worked as a maid for years to feed her kids, watching her pennies and looking for sales. She’s not about to change her style, even if her baby has become an instant millionaire.

“It’s his job and his money,” she says. “And I always have my retirement to fall back on.”

Though they’ll be living together, Letha insists her son is not a mama’s boy. She doesn’t pick his girlfriends or tell him what to do all the time.

“I’m just here for him, he’s not clinging on me and I’m not clinging on him. He’s not ashamed of being around his mom,” she says. “I don’t think it’s a big deal with him. He knows I’m not going to stay on. If he thought I was going to be here longer, it might be different.”

For Joe, it seems like a normal living arrangement.

“When you’re 20 years old, you’re either in school or living at home. I have a job and I’m just still living with my mother,” he says.

“It’s for one year. I’ll be 21 and then it’s over. We’ll still be close and she’ll still be Mom, but she’ll be in Virginia.”