David Lee (born April 29, 1983, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's New York Knicks. Lee played collegiately for the Florida Gators of the University of Florida as a power forward.
Career
Early career
Lee was a highly-touted player at Chaminade College Preparatory School. Naturally left-handed, Lee became essentially ambidextrous when he broke his arm and learned to play right-handed.[1] Before playing for the University of Florida, Lee was a McDonald's All American and won the 2001 Slam Dunk competition.[2]
College career
Lee played for the Florida Gators under coach Billy Donovan. His Freshman year he was named to the All-SEC Freshman team by the coaches. In his Sophomore season, he started to play very well while averaging double figures in points and bringing down around 7 rebounds a game. He was named Second Team All-SEC by the coaches in his Junior year while averaging 13 points and 7 rebounds.
Pro career
Lee was selected by the Knicks with the team's second first-round pick (30th overall) in the 2005 NBA Draft, following Channing Frye. Lee signed with the team on July 1, 2005.[3]
2005-06
Lee was installed as the Knicks' starting small forward for a stretch of 13 games in December 2005 and January 2006. Lee posted 23 points on 10-11 shooting, along with 15 rebounds and 3 steals in 52 minutes as the Knicks went on to defeat the Phoenix Suns in triple overtime on January 2, 2006. Those points were Lee's career high until he scored 24 points against the Sacramento Kings on November 16, 2007. He tied his career high 15 rebounds against the Washington Wizards on November 15, 2006, and has since set a new career high by grabbing 20 rebounds on December 18, 2006 against the Utah Jazz.Lee averaged 5.2 points (59.6%) and 4.5 rebounds per game in his rookie season while averaging 16 minutes 48 s in 67 games.
2006-07
With an injury to Channing Frye, Lee started his first game of the season against the Chicago Bulls on November 28, 2006.On December 16, 2006, he was one of 10 players ejected in the Knicks-Nuggets brawl. However, he was not involved in the brawl and was not suspended by the NBA.On December 20, 2006 in a double-overtime game against the Charlotte Bobcats, with 0.1 of second left, Lee scored the winning basket on a tip-in without breaking the league's so-called Trent Tucker Rule, whereby a player cannot legitimately make a field goal with less than three tenths of a second remaining on the clock.At the All-Star break, Lee had averaged 11.1 points on 61.05% shooting (first in the league), an 80.0% free throw percentage, 10.8 rebounds (8th in NBA) and 1.8 assists in 30.9 minutes a game.On February 16, 2007, Lee, playing for the Sophomores, was named the Most Valuable Player in the Rookie Challenge, finishing with 30 points on 14 of 14 shooting from the field and 11 rebounds.On February 23, 2007, in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Lee came down on Andrew Bogut's foot, spraining his ankle. The original diagnosis was for him to only miss a few days, but nearly three weeks after the injury he still wasn't able to play. He was reexamined and the doctor found that he had a much more severe sprain than was originally diagnosed. Lee played only sporadic minutes for the remaining games of the season.[4]
2007-08
In the 2007-08 season, Lee continued to develop into a major contributor off the bench for the Knicks. He demonstrated a unique ability to impact games with momentum-altering intangibles and a fiery passion thought by some to be absent in many of his higher-paid teammates. This, combined with a keen sense for rebounding on both ends of the floor, helped Lee increase his playing time following the 2008 All-Star break. He set career highs in most major categories, including minutes, points per game, and rebounds per game.[5]
Awards and honors
- 2007 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge MVP (30 points (14-14 FG), 11 rebounds)
Family Feud
In 2007 Lee was selected to appear on the popular TV Show Family Feud in a special NBA Players vs Mothers week to raise money for charity.[6]
NBA career statistics
Regular season
| Year |
Team |
GP |
GS |
MPG |
FG% |
3P% |
FT% |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
BPG |
PPG |
| 2005–06 |
New York |
67 |
14 |
16.9 |
.596 |
.000 |
.577 |
4.5 |
.6 |
.4 |
.3 |
5.1 |
| 2006–07 |
New York |
58 |
12 |
29.8 |
.600 |
.000 |
.815 |
10.4 |
1.8 |
.8 |
.4 |
10.7 |
| 2007–08 |
New York |
81 |
29 |
29.1 |
.552 |
.000 |
.819 |
8.9 |
1.2 |
.7 |
.4 |
10.8 |
| Career |
|
206 |
55 |
25.3 |
.575 |
.000 |
.762 |
7.9 |
1.2 |
.6 |
.3 |
8.9 |
Notes
External links
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