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| Point guard/shooting guard | |
| Born | August 18, 1960 Pine Bluff, Arkansas |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| College | Arizona State |
| Draft | 11th overall, 1982 Portland Trail Blazers |
| Pro career | 1982–1994 |
| Former teams | Portland Trail Blazers (1982-1984) Denver Nuggets (1984-1990) Dallas Mavericks (1990-1994) |
Lafayette "Fat" Lever (born August 18, 1960 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA. He is currently the director of player development for the Sacramento Kings.
Lever was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers as the 11th pick in the 1982 NBA Draft out of Arizona State and was considered one of the NBA's best point guards in the late 1980s while playing for the Denver Nuggets.[1] Despite his size (6 feet 3 inches) he regularly led the Nuggets in rebounding. In 1987-88, he produced a memorable performance against the Chicago Bulls, with 31 points, 20 assists, 16 rebounds and 6 steals.
While not well-known by many current NBA fans, Lever is one of a handful of NBA players to nearly average a triple-double over the course of an entire season, with 19.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists in the 1988-89 season. [2]
Lever was traded by the Nuggets to the Dallas Mavericks in 1990 for the Mavs' #9 pick in the 1990 NBA Draft plus Dallas' first-round pick in the following one. The Nuggets subsequently traded the #9 pick and their own #15 pick to the Miami Heat for the Heat's #3 pick in the 1990 Draft, with Denver sending the Mavs' 1991 first rounder (which was originally the Detroit Pistons' pick they acquired in the Mark Aguirre/Adrian Dantley trade) to the Washington Bullets along with Michael Adams, for the Bullets' first round pick in the 1991 Draft.
Lever did not play one second during the 1992-93 season due to injury, and finished his career in 1994, with career averages of 13.9 points, six rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.22 steals per game. He is also the Nuggets' franchise leader in all-time steals and second in career assists, and is one of only three players in NBA history to record 15 plus points, rebounds and assists in a single playoff game (the others being Jason Kidd and Wilt Chamberlain). Among Lever's career achievements were making two NBA All-Star teams, an All-NBA Second Team in 1987 and an All-Defensive Second Team in 1988.
Career stats
| Season | Team | GP | MPG | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982-83 | Trail Blazers | 81 | 24.9 | 2.8 | 5.3 | 7.8 |
| 1983-84 | Trail Blazers | 81 | 24.8 | 2.7 | 4.6 | 9.7 |
| 1984-85 | Nuggets | 82 | 31.2 | 5.0 | 7.5 | 12.8 |
| 1985-86 | Nuggets | 78 | 33.5 | 5.4 | 7.5 | 13.8 |
| 1986-87 | Nuggets | 82 | 37.2 | 8.9 | 8.0 | 18.9 |
| 1987-88 | Nuggets | 82 | 37.3 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 18.9 |
| 1988-89 | Nuggets | 71 | 38.7 | 9.3 | 7.9 | 19.8 |
| 1989-90 | Nuggets | 79 | 35.8 | 9.3 | 6.5 | 18.3 |
| 1990-91 | Mavericks | 4 | 21.5 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 7.3 |
| 1991-92 | Mavericks | 31 | 28.5 | 5.2 | 3.5 | 11.2 |
| 1993-94 | Mavericks | 81 | 24.0 | 3.5 | 2.6 | 6.9 |
| Career | 11 Seasons | 752 | 31.7 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 13.9 |
References
External links
- College & NBA stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
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