Courtney Lee

Courtney Lee

No. 5   Houston Rockets
Guard/Forward
Personal information
Date of birth	October 3, 1985 (1985-10-03) (age 26)
Place of birth	Indianapolis, Indiana
Nationality	American
High school	Pike High School Indianapolis, Indiana
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
College	Western Kentucky
NBA Draft	2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 22nd overall
Selected by the Orlando Magic
Pro career	2008–present
Career history
Orlando Magic (2008–2009) New Jersey Nets (2009–2010) Houston Rockets (2010–present)
Career highlights and awards
2005–2006 First Team All-Sun Belt Conference 2006–2007 First Team All-Sun Belt Conference 2007–2008 First Team All-Sun Belt Conference 2007–2008 Sun Belt Player of the Year
Stats at NBA.com

Courtney Lee (born October 3, 1985 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the NBA. He was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the 22nd pick overall in the 2008 NBA Draft. He played college basketball at Western Kentucky University.

High school and college career

Courtney Lee Playing In Diddle Arena on Western Kentucky's Campus in Bowling Green Ky

Lee attended Pike High School in Indianapolis and played on their Indiana 4A state championship winning team in 2003. He starred for the Indy Hornet's AAU team, winning several state championships and annually placing high at the AAU nationals.

Western Kentucky University

In 2004, Lee was recruited by former Western Kentucky head coach Darrin Horn to play for the Hilltoppers. In his first season, Lee set a WKU record for freshman scoring with 461 points in 31 games. Lee was named First Team All-Sun Belt Conference for three consecutive seasons (2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08). As a senior at WKU, Lee was named Sun Belt Player of the Year. He also helped lead the Hilltoppers to a Sweet 16 appearance in the 2008 NCAA Tournament while being ranked 28th nationally in scoring with 20.4 points per game. On January 27, 2008, Lee recorded a career high 33 points in a 77–68 win over Arkansas State.

Lee finished his collegiate career tied with Jim McDaniels for all-time leading scorer of Western Kentucky University, with 2,238 points. In his four year career at WKU, he started 128 games, played an overall 3,957 minutes, made 82% of free throws, made 245 three point shots, had 242 steals, 281 assists and 78 blocked shots.

Lee's tattoo reading "R.I.P. Danny Rumph" is dedicated to his Western Kentucky teammate who died in May 2005 from an enlarged heart after hitting a game winning shot in a pick-up game in his hometown of Philadelphia.^[1]

NBA career

Lee defending Kobe Bryant

Orlando Magic

Lee was drafted 22nd overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2008 NBA Draft.

On February 14, 2009 Lee posted season-high numbers against the Los Angeles Clippers. He finished the night with 21 points, including 9-of-10 field goals while making three 3-pointers.^[2]

Then on March 23, 2009 in a game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Lee set a then-career high with 22 points. He made two critical free throws late in the fourth quarter to secure a comeback win for the Magic. Lee finished 6–8 from the field, 2–3 from behind the three point line, and 8–8 from the free throw line.^[3]

During the Magic's first round NBA playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Lee scored 18 points in game 1 and a team-high 24 points in game 2, helping the team tie the series at 1–1.

On April 28, 2009 Lee was hit in the face by Dwight Howard during Game 5 of the Magic's first round playoff series, suffering a fractured sinus. The following day it was announced that he would miss Game 6 of the series due to the injury. He then returned for the second round matchup against the Boston Celtics but he was forced to wear a protective mask over his face for the remainder of the postseason.

In game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals, Lee missed a potential game-winning layup at the end of regulation that would have evened the series at 1.

New Jersey Nets

Lee, with the New Jersey Nets, defending Tracy McGrady

After spending his rookie year with the Orlando Magic, Lee was traded on June 25, 2009, along with Rafer Alston and Tony Battie, to the New Jersey Nets for Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson. ^[4]

During the 2009–10 season, Lee led the Nets in steals (93), three point shots made (76), and free throw percentage (86.9%). On March 8, 2010, he recorded a career high 30 points in a 107–101 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Houston Rockets

On August 11, 2010, Lee was traded to the Houston Rockets in a four-team, five-player trade in which the Rockets sent Trevor Ariza to the New Orleans Hornets.^[5] He was officially introduced by the Rockets on August 18, 2010.

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

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2008–09	Orlando	77	42	25.2	.450	.404	.830	2.3	1.2	1.0	.2	8.4
2009–10	New Jersey	71	66	33.5	.436	.338	.869	3.5	1.7	1.3	.3	12.5
2010–11	Houston	81	1	21.3	.439	.408	.792	2.6	1.2	.7	.2	8.3
Career		229	109	26.4	.441	.380	.834	2.8	1.4	1.0	.2	9.6

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2008–09	Orlando	21	16	26.2	.435	.273	.885	1.9	1.3	.9	.1	8.0
Career		21	16	26.2	.435	.273	.885	1.9	1.3	.9	.1	8.0

Notes

1. ^ Oliver Holt (2009-06-10). "Magic's fall guy WILL rise again.. just ask John Terry". Daily Mirror. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-sport/2009/06/10/magic-s-fall-guy-will-rise-again-just-ask-john-terry-115875-21428718/. Retrieved 2009-06-10. 
2. ^ Johnson scores 25 in place of Nelson in Magic win
3. ^ Magic at Knicks Boxscore 3/23/09
4. ^ Carter traded to hometown Magic
5. ^ "Pacers get Collison from Hornets in 4-team trade". NBA.com. August 11, 2010. http://www.nba.com/2010/news/08/11/four.team.trade.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1. Retrieved August 11, 2010. 

External links

• NBA Profile
• Western Kentucky Hilltoppers bio
• Yahoo Sports! Orlando Magic bio
• DraftExpress bio
• Daniel E. Rumph II Foundation

Persondata
Name	Lee, Courtney
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 3, 1985
Place of birth	Indianapolis, Indiana
Date of death
Place of death