Having done little to distinguish himself on an NBA court in almost three years, Charles Smith had just finished celebrating his 10-point coming-out party in front of Michael Jordan and 30,000 fans when he phoned home to see if his father also was among the witnesses.

He missed it," said Smith, a third-generation Charles. "He went to watch my little brother play instead."

Big Charles was again watching Andre, a senior guard at Fort Worth Dunbar, three nights later when Little Charles went for a career-high 20 points against Philadelphia. Friday night, after hanging 19 points on Phoenix, Smith didn't even have to ask if his dad had watched on television.

"I know he didn't," Smith said. "Dunbar was playing Dallas Lincoln. That was a big game.

"It's a little harder for him to keep up with both of us now."

That's quite a contrast from two weeks ago, when Smith seemed destined only to star in "When NBA Players Sit." These days, Charles II has just enough time after Andre's high-school games to catch Charles III's exploits on "SportsCenter."

After appearing for a scant 17 minutes in the Spurs' first 15 games, Smith has become the team's biggest surprise. He has played in five of the past six games, averaging 14.0 points while making 10 of 21 3-pointers (47.6 percent).