Raymond Lewis is considered by many to be one of the greatest basketball players ever! (Who, you might ask yourself?) Raymond Lewis, a name well known in the Los Angeles area in the early seventies and eighties, and to this day is still considered L.A.'s Ultimate Basketball Player.

Lewis, a 6-foot-1-inch, cat-quick guard with unlimited shooting range and superb ball-handling skills, also played the point position with splendid court vision, and was blessed with supernatural agility. He could change directions as fast as he could think it. While weaving through a full court press, he could easily score a lay-up or fire a 90 foot pass hitting a down court teammate. 

Regarded as a God out on the asphalt-covered basketball playgrounds, Lewis was viewed as perhaps the greatest pure shooter in Southern California history. Every time he stepped out on the court to play one-on-one games he would drill however many baskets needed in a row and walk off with not only a win, but his opponent's pride, and praise at the same time. 

Raymond Lewis is the standard for play ground hoops in Los Angeles and maybe even the world. He took on the 30 best street ballers in L.A. in a single day, and he wiped the floor with them winning all 30 games. But what made him so great was the way he could destroy NBA pros just as he destroyed every street baller on the blacktop.

At Verbum Dei High School, Lewis lead the school to three consecutive CIF Southern Section championships in three different divisions in 1969,1970 and 1971 and was twice named division player of the year. He averaged 24 points a game, despite facing numerous gimmick defenses and being ordered by head coach George McQuarn not to shoot the first five minutes of each game because he was so dominate. In his finest game, according to McQuarn, Lewis scored 41 points shooting 18 of 21 (85.7%) from the floor and 5 of 5 from the free throw line, had 14 assists and 6 steals.

Even before graduation, recruiters from all over the country were ringing the phone off the wall in the Lewis home. There were 250 schools, including UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, Long Beach State and Cal State L.A., trying to enlist his services.

During his senior year, he was introduced to John Wooden who wanted him to play at UCLA. He respectfully declined. Raymond thought that Long Beach State, or Cal State L.A. was a better fit for his style of play.

His coach and family pushed Lewis towards Jerry Tarkanian, of Long Beach State, who they believed could let him fly while helping him get to the NBA. He initially agreed. However, numerous sources say Cal State L.A. offered him a new red corvette and scholarships to several of his friends, at the last moment, he changed his mind and signed with Cal State.

At a time when freshman weren't eligible to play with the varsity team, and before the era of the three-point shot, Lewis led the nation with 39 points a game. Future NBA Hall of Famer David Thompson of North Carolina State was second. He scored 40 points in a stunning upset of a UCLA freshman team -- featuring David Meyers and Pete Trgovich - that had won 26 consecutive games. Lewis had previous game highs of 50 and 51, but went off the charts when he torched UC-Santa Barbara one night, ripping the nets 30 times out of 40 shots and added 13 free throws for a total of 73 points. When he shot his deadly jumper from 15 to 35 feet, it was all over.

As a sophomore in his first season of varsity play, he ranked second in the nation averaging 33 points with game highs of 53, 46, and 43. On February 23, 1973 Lewis spanked Long Beach State, coached by Tarkanian, for 53 points in a double-overtime thrilling win (107-104). At that time, Long Beach State was 22-1 and were ranked number three in the nation. Roy Hamilton, who starred as guard for Verbum Dei and later at UCLA, described Lewis' performance: "He was pretty phenomenal. I remember watching him and thinking, 'Is he ever going to miss?' "

After his sophomore year, Lewis was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers near the end of the first round of the 1973 NBA draft, the first year of the "hardship" draft which allowed underclassmen to enter the NBA. He signed what he thought was a guaranteed three-year contract for 450,000. Actually, it was for $190,000. A $25,000 signing bonus, $50,000 for the first season, $55,000 for the second and $60,000 for the third. In signing the deal, he unknowingly  agreed that he would get the remaining $260,000 in the late 1980s, upon him staying in the NBA. By all accounts, Lewis had a spectacular rookie camp, outplaying Doug Collins, the No. 1 pick in the draft and a star for the 1972 U.S. Olympic team. In 1973, the 76ers held their June rookie camp and, reporters state, Raymond Lewis was sensational. 

The Philadelphia media watching the game discovered that Lewis looked better than Collins, the star of the Olympic Games and the club's and NBA's number one draft choice who had signed a $200,000 per year contract. In one full-court scrimmage, Lewis reportedly scored 60 points by halftime and coach Gene Shue called off the second half so that the number one draft choice and million-dollar rookie Collins would not be further embarrassed by Lewis. 

Soon, the Headlines would read... COLLINS TALKS A GOOD GAME, BUT RAYMOND LEWIS PLAYS IT  blared one headline. LEWIS DESTROYS VAN LIER-TYPE was another. "Raymond Lewis is a 20 point favorite over Collins," wrote one reporter "Raymond Lewis might be the best draft choice Philadelphia has made since Billy Cunningham," another writer said. After all the publicity, Shue refused to let Doug Collins guard Lewis, and that's when Raymond decided he wanted to renegotiate his contract. When Philadelphia refused, Lewis reportedly walked out.

Lewis, however, has said that Shue told him to sit out a year and mature. Nevertheless, after the alleged walkout, Lewis wasn't able to get his professional career on track. He was preparing to play for the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association in 1974, but was not able to do so after Philadelphia notified Utah that it risked a lawsuit since Lewis was under contract with the 76ers.

Lewis returned to Philadelphia's camp in 1975, but reportedly walked out again. He had tryouts with several teams but never caught on. "Raymond Lewis was probably the best player to never play in the NBA," said Donny Daniels, now an assistant basketball coach at UCLA, who was Lewis' teammate at Verbum Dei. "What Isiah Thomas did and what Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury are doing today, he was doing in the '70s."

Summer Pro Leagues:
Ray-Lew, a nickname given to him by his peers was relegated to taking out his frustration in summer pro leagues throughout California. Crenshaw High, Westchester High, Compton College, Trade Tech College and Cal State L.A. -- no high school, junior college, University or playground was safe from Lewis' scoring binges.

Michael Cooper Versus Raymond Lewis:
In 1983, during a summer pro league game, it was NBA star Michael Cooper, against Raymond Lewis, the legend of the playgrounds. Raymond scored 56 points that night in only three quarters of play.

Lorenzo Romar, an NBA player for four seasons with the Golden State Warriors and a friend of Lewis, now the head coach for the Washington Huskies, states that he has played one-on-one against World Free, Sidney Moncrief and Isiah Thomas. "They beat me more than I beat them, but Raymond is harder to beat than any of those guys. Every player I've talked to said he'd be a great player in the NBA. It's really sad that he never made it." said Romar.

Though his professional career never got started, his legend lives forever. We encourage you to click on our links to view photos and read more about this phenomenal basketball player.