Damion Lee facts for kids
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Lee with the Phoenix Suns in 2022
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| Free agent | |
|---|---|
| Shooting guard / small forward | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | October 21, 1992 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| High school |
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| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College |
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| NBA Draft | 2016 / Undrafted |
| Pro career | 2016–present |
| Career history | |
| 2016–2017 | Maine Red Claws |
| 2017–2018 | Santa Cruz Warriors |
| 2018 | Atlanta Hawks |
| 2018–2020 | →Santa Cruz Warriors |
| 2018–2022 | Golden State Warriors |
| 2022–2025 | Phoenix Suns |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Damion Lee is an American professional basketball player. He was born on October 21, 1992. He last played for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Lee played college basketball for four years at Drexel University. He then transferred to Louisville for his final year. After not being chosen in the 2016 NBA draft, Lee played in the G League. He later signed with the Atlanta Hawks in March 2018. The next season, he joined the Golden State Warriors. He won an NBA championship with the Warriors in 2022.
Contents
High School Basketball Journey
Damion Lee finished high school at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, Maryland. In his last year there, he was named Second-Team Baltimore Sun All-Metro. He also made the First-Team All-Baltimore Catholic League.
Lee then went to a prep school called St. Thomas More. This school is in Oakdale, Connecticut. During the 2010–11 season, he averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. He was chosen for the First Team All-New England Preparatory School Athletic Council. His team had a great record of 30 wins and 7 losses. They also won the National Prep School Championship.
College Basketball Career
Playing for Drexel Dragons
As a freshman in the 2011–12 season, Lee started as a point guard for the Drexel Dragons. He averaged 12 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Because of his strong start, he was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Year.
Lee also made the CAA All-Tournament team. He averaged over 15 points in Drexel's three tournament games. In the CAA championship game, Drexel lost to Virginia Commonwealth University by a score of 59–56. Drexel did not get invited to the NCAA Tournament. Instead, they played in the 2012 National Invitation Tournament. They won against Central Florida and Northern Iowa. However, they lost to the University of Massachusetts in the regional final.
In his second season, Lee was named to the Second-Team All-CAA. He led Drexel in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game. This was the third-highest in the CAA. He also had the second-best free throw percentage in the CAA at 82.9%. Lee scored a career-high 34 points in a game against Old Dominion.
During his third season at Drexel, Lee faced a challenge. He tore his ACL in a game against Arizona. This injury meant he had to miss the entire season. He used this time to redshirt his junior year.
Before his redshirt junior season, Lee was again named to the Preseason CAA All-Conference First Team. He also made the Charleston Classic All-Tournament team. On February 21, 2015, Lee broke his right hand during a game against Northeastern. This injury ended his season early.
Lee averaged 21.4 points per game that season. This ranked him fourth in the nation and first in the CAA. His free throw percentage was 88.7%, which was 14th in the nation. He also averaged 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Lee led his team in steals (1.5 per game), field goal percentage (43.8%), and three-point percentage (38.5%). He was almost named CAA Player of the Year. However, he did win awards for CAA All-Conference First Team, CAA All-Defensive Team, and CAA All-Academic Team.
On March 30, 2015, Lee announced he would leave Drexel University. He wanted to play his fifth and final college season elsewhere. ESPN considered him the top transfer player in college basketball.
Playing for Louisville Cardinals
On April 23, 2015, Lee decided to play his final college season at Louisville. He played under head coach Rick Pitino. Other schools he thought about included Arizona and Maryland. Lee said he loved the Louisville community.
By December 2015, Lee was Louisville's top scorer. He was named to the 35-man watchlist for the Naismith Trophy on February 11, 2016. On Senior Night, Lee scored his 2,000th career point. Louisville was ranked 13th in the country with 10 games left. However, the team announced they would not play in the postseason. This was due to an ongoing NCAA investigation. They finished the regular season ranked 16th with a 23–8 record. They did not play in the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament.
Professional Basketball Career
Maine Red Claws (2016–2017)
After the 2016 NBA draft, Damion Lee was not chosen by any team. He then joined the Miami Heat for the 2016 NBA Summer League. On September 26, 2016, he signed with the Boston Celtics. However, the Celtics released him on October 20 after two preseason games.
On October 31, he joined the Maine Red Claws in the NBA Development League. He was an affiliate player for the Celtics. On January 10, 2017, the Red Claws released him due to a season-ending injury. In 16 games, he averaged 17.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals.
Santa Cruz Warriors (2017–2018)
On August 24, 2017, Lee was traded to the Santa Cruz Warriors. This team is also part of the NBA G League.
Atlanta Hawks (2018)
On March 13, 2018, Lee signed a 10-day contract with the Atlanta Hawks. He signed a second 10-day contract on March 23. On April 2, the Atlanta Hawks signed Lee for the rest of the season.
Golden State Warriors (2018–2022)
On July 14, 2018, Lee signed a two-way contract with the Golden State Warriors. This meant he would also play for the Santa Cruz Warriors.
On July 31, 2019, the Golden State Warriors signed Lee to another two-way contract. On October 28, Lee had a great game against the New Orleans Pelicans. He scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. On December 25, Lee had another strong performance. He scored 22 points and had a career-high 15 rebounds against the Houston Rockets.
Lee played a lot because many Warriors players were injured. He used up his 45 days with the NBA team on his two-way contract. On January 15, 2020, the Golden State Warriors signed Lee to a multi-year contract.
On December 27, 2020, Lee scored 12 points. He also made a game-winning three-pointer against the Chicago Bulls. On June 16, 2022, Lee and the Warriors won the 2022 NBA Finals. This made him an NBA champion.
Phoenix Suns (2022–2025)
On July 7, 2022, Lee signed with the Phoenix Suns. He made his Suns debut on October 19, 2022. He scored 11 points and made a game-winning shot against the Dallas Mavericks. On January 13, 2023, Lee scored a career-high 31 points coming off the bench. This was in a close game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
During training camp for the next season, Lee injured his right meniscus. He needed surgery for this injury. This meniscus tear was a rare double root tear. It required a long recovery time. Lee later shared that he experienced depression because of this injury. He sought therapy to help him through it.
On July 6, 2024, Lee re-signed with the Suns.
National Team Experience
On February 22, 2018, Damion Lee joined the United States national team. He played in the qualification games for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Career Statistics
| 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 |
NBA
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Atlanta | 15 | 11 | 26.9 | .408 | .250 | .759 | 4.7 | 1.9 | 1.3 | .1 | 10.7 |
| 2018–19 | Golden State | 32 | 0 | 11.7 | .441 | .397 | .864 | 2.0 | .4 | .4 | .0 | 4.9 |
| 2019–20 | Golden State | 49 | 36 | 29.0 | .417 | .356 | .873 | 4.9 | 2.7 | 1.0 | .1 | 12.7 |
| 2020–21 | Golden State | 57 | 1 | 18.9 | .467 | .397 | .909 | 3.2 | 1.3 | .7 | .1 | 6.5 |
| 2021–22† | Golden State | 63 | 5 | 19.9 | .441 | .337 | .880 | 3.2 | 1.0 | .6 | .1 | 7.4 |
| 2022–23 | Phoenix | 74 | 5 | 20.4 | .442 | .445 | .904 | 3.0 | 1.3 | .4 | .1 | 8.2 |
| 2024–25 | Phoenix | 25 | 0 | 5.8 | .365 | .243 | .952 | .8 | .4 | .2 | .0 | 3.3 |
| Career | 315 | 58 | 19.6 | .433 | .374 | .881 | 3.2 | 1.3 | .6 | .1 | 7.8 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022† | Golden State | 16 | 0 | 7.8 | .382 | .250 | .667 | 1.6 | .4 | .1 | .0 | 2.0 |
| 2023 | Phoenix | 8 | 0 | 11.1 | .300 | .200 | 1.000 | 1.4 | .6 | .3 | .0 | 2.1 |
| Career | 24 | 0 | 8.9 | .352 | .226 | .800 | 1.5 | .5 | .1 | .0 | 2.0 | |
College
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | Drexel | 36 | 35 | 28.9 | .454 | .375 | .773 | 4.4 | 1.7 | .8 | .3 | 12.0 |
| 2012–13 | Drexel | 27 | 24 | 33.0 | .425 | .360 | .829 | 5.1 | 1.8 | .8 | .1 | 17.1 |
| 2013–14 | Drexel | 5 | 5 | 26.8 | .370 | .273 | .864 | 4.2 | 2.2 | .6 | .2 | 13.0 |
| 2014–15 | Drexel | 27 | 27 | 38.1 | .438 | .385 | .887 | 6.1 | 2.3 | 1.5 | .3 | 21.4 |
| 2015–16 | Louisville | 30 | 30 | 33.6 | .428 | .341 | .843 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 1.5 | .0 | 15.9 |
| Career | 125 | 121 | 32.8 | .433 | .362 | .843 | 4.8 | 2.0 | 1.1 | .2 | 16.1 | |
Personal Life and Family
Damion Lee studied general humanities and social science at Drexel. At Louisville, he focused on special education. He also studied assistive technology.
Lee is married to Sydel Curry. Sydel is the daughter of Dell Curry. She is also the younger sister of his former teammate, Stephen Curry. Her other brother is Seth Curry. Damion and Sydel got married on September 1, 2018.
They have a son named Daxon Wardell-Xavier Lee, who was born on November 26, 2021. On March 21, 2023, Damion and Sydel shared that they were expecting a baby girl. Their daughter, Daryn Alicia Lee, was born on August 23, 2023. In November 2024, the couple announced they were expecting a third child. Their son, Dacen Lee, was born on May 20, 2025.
See also
In Spanish: Damion Lee para niños
