Freddie Lewis

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Frederick L. Lewis (born July 1, 1943 in Huntington, West Virginia) is a retired American basketball player. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and now defunct American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1966 to 1977.

Lewis was a fundamentally sound 6'0" guard who could pass, shoot, and defend equally well. He attended McKeesport High School (in Pennsylvania) and Arizona State University before being drafted by the NBA's Cincinnati Royals in 1966. After one season of limited playing time with the Royals, he moved to the rival ABA, spending the next seven seasons with the Indiana Pacers. Though players like Roger Brown and Mel Daniels received more attention from Indiana fans, Lewis was a solid contributor on three Pacers teams that won the ABA Championship (in 1970, 1972, and 1973). He also represented the Pacers in three All-Star games (1968, 1970, and 1972). After the Pacers lost to the Utah Stars in the 1974 finals, however, the Pacers traded Lewis, along with Brown and Daniels, to the Memphis Sounds. Daniels, the Sounds' starting center, then injured his back after slipping in his bathtub, and Lewis was traded to the Spirits of St. Louis in exchange for replacement center Tom Owens. Lewis averaged a career high 22.6 points per game with the Spirits in 1974–1975, and he led the young team into the playoffs. However, Lewis suffered an ankle injury, and the Sprits bowed out to the Kentucky Colonels, the eventual champions. After one more year with the Spirits, Lewis returned to the Pacers (who by this point had joined the NBA), and he retired in 1977 with 12,033 combined NBA/ABA career points.