Raymond Lewis to this day is considered by many as one of the greatest basketball players ever to come out of Los Angeles.
A basketball phenom of the early 1970s, Lewis was a two-time league MVP, a three-time California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) high school champion, a college scoring leader and a 1973 first-round draft choice of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Lewis signed a three-year guaranteed contract with the Sixers, yet because of his contract would never play one minute in the NBA. The Raymond Lewis saga is L.A.'s Best Kept Secret!
RAYMOND LEWIS: L.A. LEGEND
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L.A. BASKETBALL LEGEND
RAYMOND LEWIS
RAYMOND LEWIS BASKETBALL STATS:
Won three consecutive
California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) basketball titles in 1969, 1970 and 1971. Lewis led the Verbum Dei Eagles to an 84-4 winning record.
Bombed a group of LA Lakers for 52 points in a summer league game while still in high school.
Named CIF Player of the Year in '70 and '71. Only the second person at that time in CIF history to receive such an honor.
Received 250 college basketball scholarship offers before settling on Cal State Los Angeles.
Scored 73 points against UC Santa Barbara as a college freshman, hitting 30 of 40 FG's and 13 FT's.
(75% Field Goal Percentage)
Scored a combined 123 points in two Cal State L.A. weekend preliminary games making 52 of 84 shots (62% FGP) and 19 free throws.
(Games were played before the insertion of the 3-point shot!)
As a CSLA Freshman in 1972, Lewis Averaged 38.9 points per game and hit nearly 60 percent of his shots. (an incredible feat for a guard who rarely shot inside of 20 feet.)
1973, as a sophomore Lewis scored 53 points in an upset win (107-104) against number three-ranked 22-1 Long Beach State, in an electrifying double overtime thriller.
Lewis' top scoring games at Cal State L.A. during his frosh and sophomore season. 73, 53, 51, 50, 46, 43, 40
RAYMOND LEWIS: L.A. LEGEND
DOCUMENTARY FILM IN THE MAKING
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RAYMOND LEWIS NEWSPAPER HEADLINES:
LEWIS (53) RIPS 49ERS IN 2 OTs -- LEWIS SCORES 73 POINTS TO BREAK OWN FROSH MARK -- CSLA, WAVES REACH FINALS; LEWIS HITS 46 -- LEWIS (32) LEADS DIABLOS PAST FULLERTON ST., 74-54 -- LEWIS SCORES 56 ON NBA DEFENSIVE STOPPER COOPER -- RAYMOND LEWIS WANTS ONE MORE SHOT SCORES 67 IN PRO LEAGUE GAME.
Averaged 32.9 points per game during his sophomore year at CSLA and was the NCAA's second leading scorer.
The youngest Player ever drafted and signed by the NBA during his era. The 18th overall pick in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1973.
Reportedly scored 60 points in the first half against the NBA's number 1 draft choice Doug Collins in Sixers NBA camp.
Sports Illustrated ran a 10-page article on Lewis in its Oct. 16, 1978 edition.
Averaged 54 points per contest in the 1981 highly-regarded summer pro league games which featured many NBA players.
Scored 67 points in the 1983
summer pro league game with the San Antonio Spurs.
Scored 56 points in 1983 against NBA's defensive star Michael Cooper in summer pro league game in only three quarters of play.
Played 30 top street ballers on the same day and won all 30 games.
2004, jersey number 23 retired as Lewis is honored as the greatest player in Verbum Dei history.
2019, Lewis still holds at least 12 basketball records at Cal State L.A.
Considered the best basketball player to ever come out of Southern California.
LEWIS FEATURED IN SEVERAL BASKETBALL NOVELS AND MAGAZINES!
A subject of numerous basketball articles in Sports Illustrated, Slam, Bounce and Reverse magazines, as well as, the book Runnin' Rebel and many Los Angeles Times newspaper articles.
Raymond Lewis is still considered by many to be one of the greatest basketball players that ever lived.
But don't just take our word for it... view our website of Lewis' well-documented accomplishments, read our testimonials then judge for yourself!
RAYMOND LEWIS DOCUMENTARY
FILM INTERVIEWS
FILM PROJECT 50% COMPLETED!
Former NBA players, college coaches and teammates participate in the Lewis documentary film! (Click here to see full page!)
To date, we have filmed over twenty former NBA players, college coaches, teammates, family members and friends of Lewis' to help tell the story of a 3-time CIF high school champion, a top collegiate scorer and NBA first-round draft choice who signed a three-year guaranteed contract, yet would never play one minute in the league.
NOTABLE INTERVIEWS:
5-time NBA champion and former Laker Michael Cooper, former Two-time NBA All-Star Reggie Theus, former Golden State Warrior and current Pepperdine head basketball coach Lorenzo Romar, former Philadelphia 76er head coach Gene Shue, former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro, legendary NCAA basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian and renowned sociologist Dr. Harry Edwards.
RAYMOND LEWIS: L.A. LEGEND
FUNDRAISING FILM TRAILER
FILM PROJECT 50% COMPLETED!
Film Trailer Featuring: Lorenzo Romar, Reggie Theus, Michael Cooper, Jerry Tarkanian, Gene Shue, Sonny Vaccaro and Lewis Documentary film makers Dean Prator and Ryan Polomski.
Lorenzo's Story
Former NBA Golden State Warrior and head basketball coach of the Washington Husky's, Lorenzo talks about the hypothetical one-on-one matchup between Raymond Lewis and Michael Jordan in the documentary film.
LEWIS SCORES 73-POINTS ON UC SANTA BARBARA
Billy Jones sat down with us to vividly recount the 1972 spring conference game matchup between his talented U.C. Santa Barbara basketball team when they faced L.A. State, now Cal State L.A. led by Raymond Lewis.
Jones was the freshman basketball coach at U.C. Santa Barbara at a time when freshmen were not allowed to play varsity ball until their sophomore year. However, in that game, Raymond Lewis would go on to put on one of the greatest shooting exhibitions in basketball history when he touched the Gauchos for 73-points while making a blistering 30 of 40 field goals and 13 free throws shooting an unheard of 75% from the field.
What's even more remarkable about Lewis' 73-points is the fact that the three-point shot had not yet been implemented into the game of basketball at the high school, college or NBA levels.
During the 1971-72 college year, Lewis would go on to lead all freshman scorers averaging 38.9 points a game while shooting 58.9 percent from the field. An incredible feat for a guard that rarely shot inside of twenty feet. North Carolina State and NBA Hall-of-Famer David Thompson was second.
DR. HARRY EDWARDS
Dr. Harry Edwards, Professor Emeritus of Sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley sat down with us to talk about turbulent times of the 1960s during the civil rights era which led many high-profile professional Black athletes to seek social change and recognition through their respective sport.
He also talked about Raymond Lewis whom he had known of since Lewis' college days at Cal State L.A. while psychoanalyzing several determining factors in which he felt caused Lewis to leave the Sixer camp in an effort to chase a dream and get rewarded with what he thought he was worth.
Furthermore... Dr. Edwards rendered his professional advice to the youth of today if somehow they found themselves in a similar situation and what he would have suggested to a young Raymond Lewis back in 1973 after he already signed a contract with the 76ers.
DOCUMENTARY FILM MAKERS
Lewis documentary film makers Ryan Polomski and Dean Prator
Director/Producer Ryan Polomski (MFA University of Texas) has over ten years of production experience and has produced and edited hundreds of projects for film and television. His directorial debut was the award-winning feature "State vs. Reed", which premiered at SXSW and was broadcast on PBS.
Co-Producer Dean Prator who grew up in Compton attended Dominguez high school in 1971, began resurrecting the story of Lewis in 2005, when he created the website raymondlewis.com to introduce the basketball legend to a new generation of Southern California ballers in L.A. and basketball fans around the world.
In late 2013, Dean and Ryan joined forces and have since put in a tremendous amount of time, money, and effort into getting the Raymond Lewis documentary to this point.
Years of painstaking research resulted in the recent discovery of rare archival footage (once feared lost) showing Raymond during his playing days. Now the research and development phase is finally complete, and production is halfway there!
The time is now to finish this unique and historical documentary, and with your help, we will make it happen!