NBA Power Rankings: 30 Greatest Point Guards of All-Time
By Shane Young
1982 – 1994
Franchises: Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks
Career totals: 10,433 points, 4,696 assists, 4,523 rebounds, 1,666 steals, 1,471 turnovers
Career averages: 13.9 points, 6.2 assists, 6.0 rebounds, 2.2 steals, 2 turnovers
Shooting: 44.7 percent field goals, 31 percent 3-pointers, 77.1 percent free throws
Accolades: 2x NBA All-Star, 1x All-NBA Second Team, 1x All-Defensive Second Team
Mainly referred to as “Fat Lever,” this special player continues to be the most unknown and skipped over athlete to play in the league. He doesn’t get attention when you discuss the greatest point guards back in the day, when he was really a top floor general of the late 1980’s. He played right around the same time as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Isiah Thomas, so obviously winning a championship seemed out of the question.
Lever was on everyone’s scouting report from the start, since he was as versatile as it gets.
To this day, he still remains the only point guard in league history to score over 1,500 points and grab over 700 rebounds in a season. Magic nearly did it in 1981-82, but Lever’s 1986-97 season was off the charts. At only 6’3″, he would lead the Nuggets in every rebounding category, while also being assertive on offense 24/7.
He slammed Jordan right in the face during the 1988 season, where Lever had the most sensational game of his career. His 31 points, 16 rebounds, 12 assists, and six steals shocked the nation in just one game. He is still the only player (guard or forward) in NBA history to record such a stat line. Of course, though, Jordan got the last laugh by finishing the game with a win. Typical.
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