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Comments
From Raymond Lewis Fans! |
I am a big Raymond Lewis fan as I can remember him being on
the Los Angeles High School game of the week back in 1970. I also remember him during the first year of the Summer Pro
League at Cal State LA. My friend's parents ran the
concession stands during those early years. The coach of
their daughter's basketball team, Dick Marquis, was the
founder of the Summer Pro League which is now at the Pyramid.
I also saw
Raymond play up at the UCLA men's gym during the summer of
1979. Nobody could stop him and there were all kinds of
players scrimmaging there. NBA, ABA, UCLA alumni, you name
it. He was unstoppable! It's a tragedy that he
never made it. I
have told many
people that Raymond was about 20-30 years ahead of his time.
An agent in today's era would have him signed to a team. Can't
wait for the DVD.
Grant Nakagawa DDS
Posted: March 12, 2006
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I most definitely know who Raymond Lewis is. He is around the
same age as me and even though I am from Canada I heard about
Ray from guys I played with when I was at the University of
Washington on Basketball scholarship. If you would like
me to put a link on my website to the Ray Lewis site it would
be my pleasure.
Rich Avery
President of ProSportsCareers
Posted: March 14, 2006
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My
friend, Dr. Nakagawa and I personally saw him play pick up at
UCLA against pro players in the late 70s. In between games, we
were standing underneath the basket retrieving the ball for him
after he shot and he never missed! Absolutely a phenomenal
player. I saw him play at the Westchester High summer league
when he had 81 points. He was a little overweight then, though.
Dr. Nakagawa and I , being ballers ourselves would try to
emulate his moves when we played. No doubt he would be an icon
today. I use to belong to a gym in Gardena and remember talking
to a fellow member, Raymond Maybon I think was his name who also
played at Verbum Dei.
He
said he was in the Laker camp with Ray Lew. Also Norm Nixon and
Brad Davis, both of whom were first round draft picks that year,
were there. He told me that Ray Lew torched both of them. But
the Lakers did not sign him because of their investment in Nixon
and Davis. I vaguely recall seeing that LB state game on TV. If
there is a tape of that game, I'd like to see it. I also can't
wait for that DVD. Thank you for the website and your efforts.
Kevin Hamasaki, D.C.
Posted:
March 21, 2006
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If
you were a prep basketball fan in Los Angeles in the mid 70's,
before going to the parties in the Jungle or partying with the
honeys at Maverick's Flat, you had to make a stop at Crenshaw
High and attend the upcoming edition of the "Raymond Lewis
Show" That was the name given to any Frat game played if
Lewis was in uniform. The guy had incomparable offensive skill.
When you combined ball-handling, passing, and the outside game,
there was NONE better. For Raymond, the game was so incredibly
easy and life was such a tremendous struggle.
Skip
Posted: May 10, 2006
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I was googling
for Raymond Lewis and found your web site today. I was at
"the game" at El Camino college. I remember the
four U.S.C. players including Paul Westphal against
Raymond and other high school players. I remember Stevens from
Gardena. If I can recall... he averaged 20/20 in high school. It
was an exciting game in which Raymond dominated Paul Westphal. I
thought it was great to see five high schoolers beat a ranked
college team.
Marcelo Garrone
Posted:
May 21, 2006
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I have the Slam
magazine with Raymond mentioned in it. It was the issue with the
best street-ballers of all time. My father-in-law talks of him
all the time. My father-in-law grew up in LA and played ball at
Fremont then LACC then La Verne. He said flat out that Raymond
was the best basketball player he has ever seen, and that means
a lot coming from him.
Adam
Posted: May 25, 2006
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Thank you so much for your web site honoring Raymond Lewis. I
am now 56 years old, and to this day, one of the greatest
pleasures and memories I hold sacred is seeing Raymond Lewis
up close and personal.
I was a junior
at Cal State Los Angeles when Raymond entered school. I had
heard the rumors about this legendary high school basketball
player, and I was positive most of it was a myth. I had
also heard the rumors about how we came to get him on campus
(red corvette, Adrian Shivers gaining admission and being on
the basketball team, etc.)
I had seen some
great players at Cal State L.A. My brother-in-law, Charles
Thomas, was a great player for the Diablos, and he
eventually went on to become a superstar in Spain. Ron
Knight was a superstar for Cal State L.A., and he went on
to play for the Portland Trailblazers. My roommate, Johnny
Clark, had been the Los Angeles player of the year
coming out of Jefferson High School in 1968, and Rodney
Murray, Mose Adolph, Vincent Green, and James Deloach had
all made first team All-City, and they all came to Cal State
L.A. with Johnny. I also saw Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Sidney
Wicks, Ed Ratleff, Curtis Rowe, Bill Walton, Keith Wilkes,
Bird Averrit, and other great players during my years at Cal
State L.A. I was no rookie when it came to observing
great prep and college basketball players, so
the rumors about Raymond were hard to swallow. That is, until
I saw him play.
I could not
believe my eyes. He was the greatest basketball player of all
time. My brother, who went to Cal Poly Pomona, didn't believe
me when I told him about this basketball phenom. He finally
made the drive up to Los Angeles to see Raymond play, and we
have been talking about one play that he made in that
game for the past 36 years. Raymond came down court,
dribbling the ball with his right hand, and he had his left
hand tucked inside his jersey. He was triple teamed! He
stopped his dribble about twenty feet from the basket and made
a bounce pass to a teammate.
The three
defenders followed the ball. Only one problem...Raymond had
put some kind of magic spin on the ball and after it bounced
toward his teammate, it reversed its direction and came right
back to Raymond, like a yo-yo, and he nonchalantly made a
wide open jumper. He turned his back to the basket and headed
down to play defense before the ball even went through the
net! That play was so amazing that no one would talk about it
for fear that what they saw never really happened. I mean he
passed the ball to himself, shot it, and didn't have
to follow its flight into the basket to know it was a
perfect shot.
Of course those
who never saw Raymond play thinks he is a fictional character,
but one of the blessings I have been afforded in this life was
to be there when Raymond Lewis stepped on a basketball court.
Thank you so
much for the opportunity to relive this feel-good story.
RAY BRADSHAW
Cal State Los
Angeles 1968 -1973
Posted: June 10, 2006
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I am a 1970 graduate of
Verbum Dei. I was a star linebacker
on the football team and I’ll tell you that Raymond would’ve
been a great quarterback. To see this guy every day at school
playing ball was breathtaking. I will tell
everyone and anyone, that he was the greatest basketball player
ever….on earth!
Anthony Armstrong
Posted: June 13, 2006
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I am from Los
Angeles, I now live in Maryland. I was talking to a brother on
the phone today. As we talked about basketball, Ray Lewis name
came up. He was truly without question the greatest Ballplayer
of all time. No one was close. I worked with a cousin of his in
LA. We played a game of BB @ Ver-D and he was there. He had to
be in his early 40's and was overweight. Someone called him the
N WORD and from that point forward he shot out 3 straight games,
did not miss one shot and to cap it all off, did not shoot
inside of 30 feet. Wonderful player. The NBA lost it's greatest
player the world lost more. He should be voted into the hall of
fame. His children should never forget how gifted he truly was.
Posted June 14, 2006
Gerald Stafford
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I
attended Verbum Dei H.S. from 1970 to 1973. My 10th
grade year at Verb, I had P.E. with Ray Lew. He would always
tell me things like when you go for a lay-up, no matter how big
or small the guy under the basket is never show any fear. Go
hard as you can under control.
Raymond
would play me one on one and spot me 10 points and we would go
to 20, and he would win every game. He said if I wanted to be a
great player, not a good player, but a great player, shoot
everyday, as much as I can. Let the ball and the basket be a
part of me. Ray Lewis words and knowledge of the game gave me
the incentive to become an excellent player for Verbum Dei, and
I went on to become All League first team my senior year, All
CIF second team, second leading scorer behind Lewis Brown, also
All Tournament team in most of our tournaments.
I
received many scholarship offers and choose to attend the University
of
California
,
Riverside
where I played for 4 years and received my degree. I played in
some summer pro leagues, but never advanced to the NBA.
Presently, I’m married with 3 children and employed as an
Environmental Engineer. I thank God for Raymond Lewis being a
friend and passing my way. By far, he was the greatest player I
have ever seen.
Michael Pyles
Posted:
June
20, 2006
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In
the 71-72 season, I was "unfortunately" assigned to guard Raymond Lewis in two games as a member of the Loyola University (now
LMU) Freshmen Basketball Team. Without a doubt, he was the finest basketball player I ever played against and I rank him as one of the greatest players ever. I was very disappointed that he never got the opportunity to show the world, what those of us in the Southern California basketball community knew about him. Although he scored 28 and 24 points against us respectively, I always feared he could score at any time and in any situation (He scored
73 vs UCSB a few weeks later).
As a high school and prep coach in the Southern California area for over 30 years, whenever I'm approached with the question "who was the best you ever saw?" . . . I only smile and say "Raymond Lewis, without a doubt!"
Greg Herrick
Head Women's Basketball Coach
College of the Canyons
Santa Clarita, CA
Posted:
July 7, 2006
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LA
Times Hot Hand Newspaper
Article
February
1973 |
Hot Hand: If anybody ever had a hotter hand than Cal
State L.A.'s Ray Lewis against Long Beach the other night,
they best put it on ice and send it special delivery to the
Hall of Fame before it burns down the town. It's been said
that the Diablos' full-court pressing defense is what rattled
the 49ers into letting a seemingly cinch victory get away.
Hardly... It was Lewis' accurate bombing under pressure from
one, two, sometimes three defenders on his neck. It wasn't his
53 points. It was the way he tossed them in- from outside a
half a mile, from the corners and from the key, over, under
and in between... In this one, he also passed and he hawked...
It was poetry, enough to panic any opponent. Just a sophomore,
good grief. What do you do for encore, kid.
John Hall
Sports Columnist LA Times
Posted: July 15, 2006
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When
I was a senior in high school we were in the same league as
Verbum Dei. So I was fortunate enough to have actually played
against him. I also saw the game where he got 53 against Long
Beach. I attended Long Beach when Jerry Tarkanian was the coach.
I did not play on the team but I knew all the players and used
to watch them practice. Raymond Lewis was better then Ed
Ratliff, Glenn McDonald, Chuck Terry, Leonard Gray, John Kazmer
and all the rest of the players at Long Beach at that time.
Raymond Lewis was without a doubt one of the best basketball
players of all time. Hopefully he is now at peace in the arms of
the Lord.
Paul
Posted: July 20, 2006
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I
discovered your web site recently and I have to agree with you
about Raymond and his greatness on the basketball court. I
came up the same time as Raymond did at Gardena
High School. I played pick up ball with him on the same team
and he was an exceptional talent. I've been on the court with a
fair amount of N.B.A. players including Marques
Johnson who I played against in high school and Paul Westphal
in pick up games. Those two were the best pro's I played with.
Raymond was the best in my opinion of them all. In
fact, I played with Raymond in a pick up game when we
were in high school against Paul Westphal. Raymond
was the best that day. I would like to thank you
personally for your work on this project.
Michael Stevens
Posted: August 20, 2006
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I was Ray's team mate, running buddy and good friend. I
was All CIF each year he was voted MVP. During a team
scrimmage our Soph. yr. @ Verbum Dei, I happened to block
Ray's deadly jump shot. He promptly told me "It will
NEVER happen again"...Well, it never did happen again.
But trying to guard Raymond on a daily basis made me one of
the best defensive players in the CIF. I dare say without
bias, that Michael Jordan, Michael Cooper, Bruce Bowen and the
"Glove" Gary Payton in his prime, would not be able
to effectively guard Raymond Lewis. After graduation, Ray went
to Cal State LA and I went to the Univ. of Arizona. In my
opinion, Raymond's "mental intensity" applied to the
game of basketball far exceeded anything I've read about
Michael Jordan.
Even though I
moved to the East coast some time ago, I was shocked to learn
how sick Raymond was. I talked to him on the telephone the day
before he died. I kept saying, "Lewis breaks the press...
Lewis breaks the press"... just like the announcers said
when our games were broadcast on radio or television. I said
that in order to give him inspiration to beat and overcome his
illness but it was one press that he just couldn't break. I
truly believe Raymond could have been ANYTHING he wanted to be.
He wanted to be the best basketball player to step on the
basketball court and he was.
Randy "Bird" Echols
Posted: Aug. 29, 2006
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I attended
Damien High School 1969-1973; another all boys Catholic High
School. In my Freshman and Sophomore seasons we were in the
same league as Verbum Dei. Our main sport was football and
basketball. I was told at the start of the season, there was a
team and player the likes of which I had never seen; and the
word used was 'unbelievable'.
The first time
we played them was at home; I was not prepared for what I saw
that night. Raymond Lewis was truly a gift from God. He and
his teammates played with polish and finesse; they beat us by
over 30 points.
Flash forward to 2006 at the Staples Bowl in Carson at at football
playoff game of Santa Margarita Catholic High School and
Edison. I am sitting in the stands on a damp, wet night in a
game that SMCHS is losing. Two gentlemen come over and
sit by us late in the 3rd quarter. I overhear one of
them, in his late 50's say "Raymond Lewis and Verbum
Dei." I interrupt and say, "that is a name that
I have not heard in a long time. He was, without a doubt the
greatest basketball player, high school, college, pro, that I
have ever seen. People ask me all the time, 'what made him so
great?' and my reply is 'I can't tell you because the things
he did and I saw, no one else has ever done.' Full speed he
would cut and change direction and make a 1/2 court pass to a
teammate that no-one saw open.
He could hang
in the air for days, then hit the shot. He was Earl the Pearl
before Earl.
I know he got
some bad advise at Philly and then was black-balled from the
NBA, but if the world had seen him perform.....
I hope he is
looking down, with St Peter at his side, bouncing a ball and
waiting for the next pick-up game. Thank
you God and Raymond for allowing us to see him in action.
Joe Sanchez
Posted: Feb. 10,
2007
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John
Wooden Center Legends Awards
Hands-Down
Best Player Ever Legend: Raymond Lewis. The former Verbum Dei
standout is why you've ever heard of Verbum Dei and the name
that rolls off the tongue of every Wooden Center vet. He could
rain jumpers from 25 feet, one guy in his face, another pulling
his shorts down and another getting a piggy-back ride. Scoring
all 13 points was common. And don't think 35-foot shots on game
point didn't fall.
Chris
Schreiber
Posted: Feb. 20, 2007
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In the early 1980's I helped the guy who was the
Commissioner doing the Summer League at Compton College
(MENTIONED ON THE WEBSITE) with some publicity - and I'm sure I
have some of his scores during some of the games.....
What I remember about him during this time was in the 1980's he
was getting a little overweight and had a slight
paunch...on his first game, he came to the Commissioner and told
him he didn't have any b-ball shoes......The Commissioner had me
go to the trunk of his car with Raymond to pick out some
shoes..on the way to the car, Raymond pulled a
can of beer out of his pants and finished off the can...burped..and
threw the can in the trash...we found a pair of shoes his
size..I asked him if he wanted trunks..he said no.....
Raymond went back inside, was inserted into the starting line-up
against a team that featured Louie Nelson (I believe Louie's NBA
career with New Orleans was over- he played opposite Pistol Pete
Maravich).....well...Raymond, never before having played on that
team -playing in borrowed tennis shoes, work pants, a visible
paunch - starting shooting those beautiful fade-away jumpers
from 30 feet - scored I'm sure over 30 points- and led his team
to victory! He returned the shoes, walked out the
gym.......and this was his MO the rest of the games whenever he
showed up!! THE CAT WAS GIFTED!!!!!!
Duane
Filer
Posted: March 1, 2007
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I
went to
Miraleste High School and we played Verbum Dei and Raymond
Lewis several times and we would watch him play games when
we were in summer leagues and waiting to play. We
were in awe of him. I swear he could run up the court at
full speed, dribbling behind his back the whole way. It
was beautiful to behold. He seemed to be able to do
things while dribbling that even now don't seem physically
possible. It's been 36 years since I saw him play and I
still repeat over and over in my mind's eye his
elegant moves, like a beautiful dream.
I'm glad you have this web site. Those of us who have seen
Raymond play need to know it wasn't all just a dream! I
don't think I will ever be more awestruck by the
performance any human being in any field. Of
course his teammates were good, too. I was on Ricky
Hawthorne's JV team at Cal Berkeley. He soon went on
to the Varsity and had a great career there.
At Miraleste we actually gave Verbum Dei a little trouble, I
think. We had a smart coach (Coach Newcomber) who
would play a box and one on Raymond, and we had a guy (Kevin
Butler) who had incredible stamina and his job was
to prevent Ray from getting the ball. That was the
only way to keep Raymond from scoring: Don't let him have
the ball!
Dave
Jackson
Posted Dec. 5, 2007
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www.raymondlewis.com
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