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Joe Smith wears his status as elder statesman in the Hawks' locker room with pride.

The barbs from his younger teammates don't sting as much, considering they're all rooted in truth. And, no, he did not help Dr. Naismith hang the first peach basket.

"They love to tease me about being the old guy," a smiling Smith said while sitting at his locker after practice Thursday. "Young fella [rookie Jeff Teague, who lockers next to Smith] told me he was 6 when I got drafted and I was like, ‘Wow.' But that's reality. When you stick around a long time, you get a chance to see and do it all."

The Hawks have yet to unleash Smith in the preseason, preserving the veteran power forward's legs for what they hope will be a long season. He's yet to see the floor for a game and is held out of some drills in practice to keep his body fresh.

"We're just trying to be smart with it," said Smith, a spry 34-year-old with 27,405 minutes of game-time mileage on his body. "I don't want to burn myself out in the preseason. The plan is for me to play in two of the last three preseason games just to get some game rhythm under my belt so I can be ready for opening night."

Smith has nothing to prove to his teammates.

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