Fat Lever Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Fat Lever

Lever during the 1982–83 season

Personal information

Born

August 18, 1960 (age 65)
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
Playing in the NBA
Career Highlights
NBA Career Statistics
- Regular Season Stats
- Playoff Stats
See also

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

Fat Lever facts for kids

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