- Ronnie Lester
Ronnie Lester (born
January 1 1959 inCanton, Mississippi ) is an American sports figure in the areas of collegiate and professionalbasketball .High school career
Though born in
Mississippi , Lester grew up inChicago ,Illinois . He graduated Dunbar Vocational High School in 1976. Lester started on the varsity team as a 5'6" sophomore. In between seasons he grew to 6'2". He averaged ten points and ten assists per game in his junior campaign. As a senior, Lester averaged twenty-seven (27) points per game. The Dunbar "Mighty-Men" season came to an abrupt end by losing to Morgan Park. Lester was named to the All-City and All-State teams.fact|date=March 2008Collegiate career
Basketball Hall of Fame coachLute Olson , then of theUniversity of Iowa , was among the first to recognize Lester's talent. At Iowa, Lester was a four-year starter, earningAll-America n honors in 1979, and First Team All-Big Ten honors in 1978 and 1979. He led theIowa Hawkeyes to a share of the 1979 Big Ten title and to theFinal Four of the1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament .In his senior season, Lester missed 15 Big Ten games due to a knee injury. At the time he left the lineup, Iowa was undefeated and ranked among the top ten teams in the nation. He returned to the Hawkeye lineup on March 1, 1980, for the final game of the regular season against the University of Illinois. With the consent of Illinois Head Coach
Lou Henson , the Iowa Athletic Department delayed the game in order to hold a ceremony to retire Lester's jersey, and number (12). At that time, Lester already owned the Iowa records for scoring and assists.fact|date=March 2008 In addition to missing 15 games, Lester's assist record was all the more remarkable given that he shared playing time (and hence, ball touches) with two other players ranked among Iowa's top ten in career assists.Nineteen regular season wins earned Iowa a five seed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament (then, a 36 team field). In the four tournament wins that took Iowa to the Final Four, Lester dished out 26 assists while committing only seven turnovers. He scored Iowa's first ten points in the semi-final game against Louisville, but after eight minutes of play reinjured his knee and left the game. In Lester's absence, Louisville bested Iowa by eight points and went on to win the tournament. Not counting the Louisville game, the 1980 Iowa Hawkeyes were 15-1 with Lester, and 8-9 without him.
Even after the further success Lute Olson enjoyed at the University of Arizona (including four Final Four appearances, a National Championship, and players like
Mike Bibby ,Gilbert Arenas , andJason Terry ), Olson regards Lester as the best player he ever coached. Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who played two seasons atMichigan State University , once claimed Lester the toughest opponent he ever faced in the Big Ten.Professional career
Lester was the 10th pick in the first round of the
1980 NBA Draft , selected by thePortland Trail Blazers . He was immediately traded to theChicago Bulls , where he played four seasons. In 1985 and 1986 Lester was a member of theLos Angeles Lakers , winning an NBA Championship in the first of those two seasons. Of his seven seasons as a player in the NBA, all but two were shortened by the recurring knee injury. In his best season (1982), he averaged 12 points, three rebounds, and five assists in 75 games for the Bulls (playing withReggie Theus ,Artis Gilmore ,David Greenwood ,Ricky Sobers , andOrlando Woolridge ). In the1987-88 NBA season , Lester began working for the Lakers organization as a scout. As of the 2006 season, he is the Assistant General Manager of the Los Angeles Lakers.External links
* [http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=LESTERO01 NBA stats] @ basketballreference.com
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