Lafayette Lever

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Lafayette "Fat" Lever (born August 18, 1960 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas) is a former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association.

Originally selected by the Portland Trail Blazers as the 11th pick in the 1982 NBA Draft out of Arizona State, he was considered one of the league's best point guards in the late 1980s while a member of the Denver Nuggets. Despite his size (6 feet 3 inches) he regularly led the Nuggets in rebounding.

Lever was traded by the Nuggets to the Dallas Mavericks in 1990 for the Mavs' #9 pick in the 1990 NBA Draft and the Mavs' first round pick in the 1991 NBA Draft. The Nuggets subsequently traded the #9 pick and their own #15 pick to the Miami Heat for the Heat's #3 pick in the 1990 NBA Draft. The Nuggets sent the Mavs' 1991 first rounder (which was originally the Detroit Pistons' pick they acquired in the Mark Aguirre/Adrian Dantley trade) to the Washington Bullets along with Michael Adams for the Bullets' first round pick in the 1991 NBA Draft.

As he did not play in the NBA during the 1992-93 season due to injury, Lever finished his career as a member of the Dallas Mavericks after twelve years and eleven seasons in the league in 1994. He holds a career averages of 13.9 points, six rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.22 steals per game. He is also the Nuggets' Franchise leader in all-time steals and second in career Assists. Among Lever's career achievements were making two NBA All-Star teams, an All-NBA Second Team in 1987, and an All-Defensive Second Team in 1988.