Fat Lever

Fat Lever

Lafayette "Fat" Lever (born August 18, 1960, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA. He is currently the director of player development for the Sacramento Kings. Lever also serves as the color analyst for the Kings radio broadcasts.

Lever was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers as the 11th pick in the 1982 NBA Draft out of Arizona State. While at ASU, his guard-tandem teammate was Byron Scott who left school early (1983) to sign with the San Diego Clippers. He was considered one of the NBA's best point guards in the late 1980s while playing for the Denver Nuggets. Despite his size (6 feet 3 inches) he regularly led the Nuggets in rebounding.

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 sat out the entire 1992-93 season due to knee injury. He finished his career with the Mavericks in 1994 with career averages of 13.9 points, six rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.22 steals per game. He is the Nuggets' all-time franchise leader in steals and was 2nd in career assists. He 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.