kids encyclopedia robot

Fat Lever facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Fat Lever
Fat Lever.jpg
Lever during the 1982–83 season
Personal information
Born (1960-08-18) August 18, 1960 (age 64)
Pine Bluff, Arkansas, U.S.
High school Pueblo (Tucson, Arizona)
Listed height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight 170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
College Arizona State (1978–1982)
NBA Draft 1982 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11th overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Pro career 1982–1994
Career history
1982–1984 Portland Trail Blazers
1984–1990 Denver Nuggets
1990–1994 Dallas Mavericks
Career highlights and awards
  • 2× NBA All-Star (1988, 1990)
  • All-NBA Second Team (1987)
  • NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1988)
  • No. 12 retired by Denver Nuggets
  • 2× First-team All-Pac-10 (1981, 1982)
  • No. 12 jersey retired by Arizona State Sun Devils
Career NBA statistics
Points 10,433 (13.9 ppg)
Rebounds 4,523 (6.0 rpg)
Assists 4,696 (6.2 apg)
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
FIBA U19 World Championship
Gold 1979 Salvador National team

Lafayette "Fat" Lever (born August 18, 1960) is a former American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for several years. After his playing career, he worked for the Sacramento Kings. He was the director of player development and also an analyst for their radio broadcasts.

Early Life and Nickname

Lever was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He was the second of three sons. His younger brother, Elmer Jr., gave him the nickname "Fat." Elmer Jr. had trouble saying all the syllables in Lafayette. When Fat was ten, his mother moved west for work. He and his brothers lived with their grandparents for a year. In 1971, they joined their mother in Tucson, Arizona.

Playing in the NBA

Fat Lever was known as one of the best point guards in the NBA during the late 1980s. He was especially good at getting rebounds, even though he was not a very tall player.

Portland Trail Blazers (1982-1984)

The Portland Trail Blazers picked Lever as the 11th player in the 1982 NBA draft. He had played college basketball at Arizona State. In his very first NBA game, he scored 9 points and had 7 assists. On January 20, 1983, he achieved his first "double-double." This means he had double-digit numbers in two different stats, like 14 points and 13 assists. He played two seasons with the Trail Blazers. During his first season, he averaged 7.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game.

Denver Nuggets (1984-1990)

Lever joined the Denver Nuggets in 1984. In his first game with the Nuggets, he had 14 points and 12 assists. On November 6, 1984, he made history for the Nuggets. He recorded 24 points and 18 assists in a game against the Lakers. This was the first time a Nuggets player had done that.

Triple-Doubles and Records

On March 9, 1985, Lever achieved his first "triple-double." This means he had double-digit numbers in three different stats. He scored 13 points, had 15 assists, and an amazing 10 steals in that game. He was one of only three players in NBA history to get 15 or more points, rebounds, and assists in a single playoff game. The other two were Wilt Chamberlain and Jason Kidd.

Lever was the Nuggets' all-time leader in steals. He was also second in career assists for the team. His jersey number 12 was retired by the Denver Nuggets on December 2, 2017. This means no other Nuggets player will wear that number.

Dallas Mavericks (1990-1994)

In 1990, Lever was traded to the Dallas Mavericks. He missed the entire 1992–93 season because of a knee injury. He left the Mavericks in 1994. He finished his NBA career with averages of 13.9 points, 6 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 2.22 steals per game.

Career Highlights

Fat Lever had many great achievements during his basketball career:

  • He was chosen for the NBA All-Star team two times (1988 and 1990).
  • He was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 1987.
  • He was also on the All-Defensive Second Team in 1988.
  • As of the end of the 2020–21 regular season, he ranks 11th on the all-time list for most triple-doubles in the regular season. He had 43 triple-doubles in 11 seasons. This is more than famous players like Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

NBA 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

Regular Season Stats

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1982–83 Portland 81 45 24.9 .431 .333 .730 2.8 5.3 1.9 .2 7.8
1983–84 Portland 81 22 24.8 .447 .200 .743 2.7 4.6 1.7 .4 9.7
1984–85 Denver 82 82 31.2 .430 .250 .770 5.0 7.5 2.5 .4 12.8
1985–86 Denver 78 77 33.5 .441 .316 .725 5.4 7.5 2.3 .2 13.8
1986–87 Denver 82 82 37.2 .469 .239 .782 8.9 8.0 2.5 .4 18.9
1987–88 Denver 82 82 37.3 .473 .211 .785 8.1 7.8 2.7 .3 18.9
1988–89 Denver 71 71 38.7 .457 .348 .785 9.3 7.9 2.7 .3 19.8
1989–90 Denver 79 79 35.8 .443 .414 .804 9.3 6.5 2.1 .2 18.3
1990–91 Dallas 4 0 21.5 .391 .000 .786 3.8 3.0 1.5 .8 7.3
1991–92 Dallas 31 5 28.5 .387 .327 .750 5.2 3.5 1.5 .4 11.2
1993–94 Dallas 81 54 24.0 .408 .351 .765 3.5 2.6 2.0 .2 6.9
Career 752 599 31.7 .447 .310 .771 6.0 6.2 2.2 .3 13.9
All-Star 2 1 26.5 .519 .000 .875 3.5 2.5 1.0 .0 16.5

Playoff Stats

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1983 Portland 7 0 19.1 .452 .000 .800 2.0 4.4 1.0 .0 6.0
1984 Portland 5 0 15.0 .267 .667 .800 3.0 1.8 .8 .0 10.0
1985 Denver 11 8 31.1 .402 .000 .762 6.5 8.5 2.4 .2 13.3
1986 Denver 10 10 34.7 .450 .571 .708 4.8 5.3 2.0 .2 14.3
1987 Denver 3 3 33.0 .380 .250 .667 6.0 7.3 2.3 .0 15.3
1988 Denver 7 7 39.0 .459 .429 .788 9.3 7.0 1.9 .6 17.0
1989 Denver 2 2 29.0 .375 .667 1.000 6.5 9.5 2.0 .0 11.0
1990 Denver 3 3 37.7 .373 .143 .929 10.7 7.0 2.7 .3 17.3
Career 48 33 30.0 .414 .409 .775 5.8 6.2 1.9 .2 12.4

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Fat Lever para niños

kids search engine
Fat Lever Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.