Rashard Lewis

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Rashard Lewis
Lewis with the Washington Wizards in 2011
Personal information
Born (1979-08-08) August 8, 1979 (age 44)
Pineville, Louisiana, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High schoolAlief Elsik (Houston, Texas)
NBA draft1998: 2nd round, 32nd overall pick
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career1998–2014
PositionSmall forward / power forward
Number7, 9
Career history
19982007Seattle SuperSonics
20072010Orlando Magic
20102012Washington Wizards
20122014Miami Heat
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points15,579 (14.9 ppg)
Rebounds5,433 (5.2 rpg)
Steals1,115 (1.1 spg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men’s basketball
Representing  United States
Goodwill Games
Gold medal – first place 2001 Brisbane National team

Rashard Quovon Lewis (born August 8, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. Lewis entered the NBA directly from Alief Elsik High School. He rose to prominence in the NBA as a scorer with the Seattle SuperSonics, and was later a member of the Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat. He garnered two NBA All-Star selections, one with Seattle and another with Orlando. Lewis reached the NBA Finals three times, winning an NBA championship in 2013 as a member of the Heat.

High school[edit]

Lewis attended and played basketball for Alief Elsik High School, where he was elevated to the school's varsity squad in his freshman year.[1]

NBA career[edit]

Seattle SuperSonics (1998–2007)[edit]

Despite being recruited by Florida State, Kansas and Houston, Lewis bypassed college and opted for the 1998 NBA draft, wherein he was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 32nd overall pick.[2] At the time of his selection, he was the last player remaining in the "green room", where fifteen of the top draft prospects sit until their selection.[3] He and teammate Ray Allen made Seattle a contender during the early 2000s.[4]

In 2001, Lewis was selected to play for the United States Basketball Team in the Goodwill Games, in which they won the gold medal. On October 31, 2003, Lewis scored a career-high 50 points to lead the Seattle SuperSonics to a 124–105 win over the Los Angeles Clippers to close out a two-game series in Saitama, Japan.[5] Lewis was named an All-Star in 2004–05. Lewis holds the SuperSonics' record for most three-pointers made, having passed Dale Ellis for second place on November 22, 2005, and Gary Payton for first place on March 13, 2007, when Lewis made his 918th three-pointer in a game against the Detroit Pistons.[6]

Orlando Magic (2007–2010)[edit]

After playing his first nine seasons for the Seattle SuperSonics, Lewis joined the Orlando Magic in July 2007, as he agreed to a six-year sign-and-trade deal worth $118 million.[7][8] In his first season with the Magic, Lewis was moved from his usual small forward position to power forward. That year, he made 53 more three-pointers than his previous single-season record (173, 2004–05). During the playoffs, the Magic reached the second round, with Lewis contributing a 33-point performance against the Detroit Pistons in Orlando's only win of the series.[9] Lewis was the Magic's top scorer in the playoffs and set personal records in points, rebounds, and assists.

Lewis started the 2008–09 season as the team's second leading scorer, earning an appearance in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. In the 2009 NBA playoffs, Lewis hit a game-winning shot in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, what he called the biggest shot of his career. The Magic won the series and advanced to the NBA Finals, where they were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.

On August 6, 2009, Lewis was suspended without pay for the first ten games of the 2009–10 season after testing positive for a banned substance that he had taken during the 2008–09 NBA season. He was tested for it during the 2009 NBA Finals. The over-the-counter supplement he was taking contained Dehydroepiandrosterone which is frequently used to combat fatigue.[10]

Washington Wizards (2010–2012)[edit]

On December 18, 2010, Lewis was traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Gilbert Arenas.[11] In 60 games for the Wizards over two seasons, Lewis averaged 9.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

New Orleans Hornets (2012)[edit]

On June 20, 2012, Lewis was traded, along with the 46th pick in the 2012 NBA draft, to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor.[12] On June 30, 2012, the Hornets agreed to buyout terms with Lewis and waived him.[13]

Miami Heat (2012–2014)[edit]

On July 11, 2012, Lewis signed a two-year deal with the Miami Heat.[14] The move reunited him with former Seattle teammate Ray Allen. The Heat finished the 2012–13 season with a league-best 66–16 record. Lewis won his first NBA championship with the Heat's Finals series victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Lewis earned rave reviews from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra for the way he defended in Game 3 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, even though he finished without a single point, rebound, assist or steal. Lewis worked his way into the starting lineup during the series, earning notoriety for helping the team despite a lack of impressive box score statistics in games 3 and 4.[15][16] In Game 5 of the series, Lewis started again, and scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from behind the three-point line. In Game 6, Lewis started and scored 13 points as the Heat advanced to the NBA Finals. The Heat went on to lose the Finals to the San Antonio Spurs in five games.

Dallas Mavericks (2014)[edit]

On July 19, 2014, Lewis signed with the Dallas Mavericks.[17] However, just four days later, his contract was voided by the Mavericks after he failed his physical when it was discovered that his right knee required surgery.[18]

BIG3 career[edit]

3 Headed Monsters (2017–present)[edit]

In 2017, Rashard joined the 3 Headed Monsters of the BIG3 basketball league, a team that included NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton as the head coach, and teammates such as Jason Williams, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Kwame Brown.[19] The 3 Headed Monsters went 7-1, reaching the Championship game, where they lost to undefeated Trilogy. Lewis was awarded MVP for the season.[20]

NBA career statistics[edit]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998–99 Seattle 20 7 7.3 .365 .167 .571 1.3 .2 .4 .1 2.4
1999–2000 Seattle 82 8 19.2 .486 .333 .683 4.1 .9 .8 .4 8.2
2000–01 Seattle 78 78 34.9 .480 .432 .826 6.9 1.6 1.2 .6 14.8
2001–02 Seattle 71 70 36.4 .468 .389 .810 7.0 1.7 1.5 .6 16.8
2002–03 Seattle 77 77 39.5 .452 .346 .820 6.5 1.7 1.3 .5 18.1
2003–04 Seattle 80 80 36.6 .435 .376 .763 6.5 2.2 1.2 .7 17.8
2004–05 Seattle 71 71 38.0 .462 .400 .777 5.5 1.3 1.1 .9 20.5
2005–06 Seattle 78 77 36.9 .467 .384 .818 5.0 2.3 1.3 .6 20.1
2006–07 Seattle 60 60 39.1 .461 .390 .841 6.6 2.4 1.1 .7 22.4
2007–08 Orlando 81 81 38.0 .455 .409 .838 5.4 2.4 1.2 .5 18.2
2008–09 Orlando 79 79 36.2 .439 .397 .836 5.7 2.6 1.0 .6 17.7
2009–10 Orlando 72 72 32.9 .435 .397 .806 4.4 1.5 1.1 .4 14.1
2010–11 Orlando 25 25 32.4 .419 .367 .756 4.2 1.2 .9 .4 12.2
2010–11 Washington 32 27 31.7 .446 .347 .843 5.8 2.0 .9 .6 11.4
2011–12 Washington 28 15 26.0 .385 .239 .838 3.9 1.0 .8 .4 7.8
2012–13 Miami 55 9 14.4 .414 .389 .622 2.2 .5 .4 .3 5.2
2013–14 Miami 60 6 16.2 .415 .343 .788 1.8 1.0 .9 .1 4.5
Career 1,049 842 32 .452 .386 .805 5.2 1.7 1.1 .5 14.9
All-Star 2 0 17.5 .308 .167 .500 5.0 .5 .5 .0 5.0

Playoffs[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2000 Seattle 5 5 31.4 .441 .474 .800 6.2 .6 1.0 .6 15.4
2002 Seattle 3 2 26.3 .375 .167 1.000 3.7 .7 .3 .0 12.7
2005 Seattle 8 8 39.0 .406 .200 .880 5.4 1.6 .4 .4 16.9
2008 Orlando 10 10 41.7 .436 .309 .821 7.2 3.4 1.1 .5 19.5
2009 Orlando 24 24 41.1 .448 .394 .784 6.4 2.9 1.0 .5 19.0
2010 Orlando 14 14 36.6 .462 .373 .800 5.6 2.3 1.1 .7 12.9
2013 Miami 11 0 4.3 .400 .000 .500 .6 .4 .2 .2 1.5
2014 Miami 18 8 17.7 .412 .373 .750 2.1 .3 .4 .3 5.3
Career 93 71 30.4 .436 .356 .818 4.7 1.8 .7 .5 12.8

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Abrams, Jonathan (May 21, 2009). "Magic's Lewis Is Working on the Art of Expectation". New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  2. ^ Peay, Carla (December 23, 2011). "Wizards' Rashard Lewis knows what it takes to survive a lockout-shortened season". The Washington Times. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  3. ^ "Preliminary list of players invited to NBA Draft green room". CBS Sports. June 24, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  4. ^ Augustyn, Adam, ed. (2011). The Britannica Guide to Basketball. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 94. ISBN 9781615305773.
  5. ^ PRO BASKETBALL -- ROUNDUP: N.B.A.; Lewis Scores Career-High 50 Points As the Sonics Prevail Again in Japan
  6. ^ Allen, Percy (March 14, 2007). "Notebook: Lewis takes team record for threes from Payton". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  7. ^ "Magic Acquire Rashard Lewis is a Sign-and-Trade Deal with Seattle". NBA.com. July 11, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  8. ^ Washburn, Gary (July 11, 2007). "Sign-and-trade deal for Lewis brings Sonics hefty trade exception". seattlepi.com. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  9. ^ "Rashard Lewis scores 33 for 111-86 win over Pistons". The Seattle Times via Associated Press. Orlando, Florida. May 8, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  10. ^ "Lewis suspended 10 games by NBA". ESPN. August 6, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  11. ^ "Wizards Acquire Rashard Lewis From Magic". NBA.com. December 18, 2010. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  12. ^ "HORNETS ACQUIRE RASHARD LEWIS AND DRAFT PICK". NBA.com. June 20, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  13. ^ New Orleans Hornets buyout and waive Rashard Lewis
  14. ^ "HEAT Signs Rashard Lewis". NBA.com. July 11, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  15. ^ "Andersen inactive, Lewis starts Game 4 for Heat". NBA.com. May 26, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  16. ^ Partnow, Seth (May 28, 2014). "Despite a gaudy plus/minus rating, is Rashard Lewis really helping the Heat win?". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  17. ^ "Mavericks Sign Rashard Lewis". mavs.com. July 19, 2014. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  18. ^ Caplan, Jeff (July 23, 2014). "NEEDING SURGERY, LEWIS OUT IN DALLAS". NBA.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014.
  19. ^ "Rashard Lewis". BIG3. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  20. ^ Nathan, Alec. "BIG3 Awards Announced: Rashard Lewis Wins MVP, James White Wins DPOY". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 29, 2022.

External links[edit]