John Lucas III

John Lucas III
No. 15   Chicago Bulls
Point guard
Personal information
Date of birth November 21, 1982 (1982-11-21) (age 29)
Place of birth Washington, D.C.
Nationality American
High school Bellaire (Texas)
Listed height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight 165 lb (75 kg)
Career information
College Baylor (2001–2003)
Oklahoma State (2003–2005)
NBA Draft 2005 / Undrafted
Pro career 2005–present
League NBA
Career history
2005–2006 Houston Rockets
2006 Tulsa 66ers (D-League)
2006 Snaidero Udine (Italy)
2006–2007 Houston Rockets
2007–2008 Benetton Treviso (Italy)
2008–2009 Colorado 14ers (D-League)
2009 TAU Cerámica (Spain)
2009–2010 Shanghai Sharks (China)
2010–present Chicago Bulls
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

John Harding Lucas III, often referred to as just John Lucas (born November 21, 1982), is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls.

Contents

Early life

Born in Washington, D.C. as the son of former NBA player and coach John Lucas and his wife DeEdgra, Lucas once lived in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania and played for the same school as current NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant (though 3 years after Bryant left and only on the junior varsity team). Lucas was the starting point guard on the same high school team (Bellaire High School) in Texas as current New Orleans Hornets star Emeka Okafor and former Memphis Grizzlies power forward Lawrence Roberts. Lucas has a younger brother, Jai.[1]

He originally played collegiately at Baylor University, but he transferred from there to Oklahoma State University in the wake of the 2003 Baylor basketball scandal. Lucas is noted for his winning shot against the Saint Joseph's University team that sent the 2004 Oklahoma State Cowboys to the NCAA Final Four.

Professional career

In 2005, after failing to get drafted by an NBA team, Lucas signed a contract to play with the Minnesota Timberwolves Summer League team. The Timberwolves also signed him to their training camp roster. In the regular season, Lucas was a member of the Houston Rockets for two games before being waived. He was successfully signed after the NBA granted permission to Rockets management to add to their depleted roster due to an overflow of injuries. Lucas's call-up made him the first Tulsa 66ers player to be called up from the NBA Development League. He averaged 16.6 points in 33.2 mins per game with the 66ers.

On May 10, 2006, Lucas signed with Snaidero Udine of the Italian League, to fill the gap left by Jerome Allen, who was out for the season due to injury. On July 28, 2006, Lucas signed with the Rockets to a three-year contract.[2] In the 2006-07 season, Lucas and the Rockets made it to the playoffs, where they lost to the Utah Jazz in the first round, in 7 games. On October 30, 2007, Lucas was one of four players cut from the Rockets' roster, prior to the commencement of the 2007-08 season.

His NBA career highs consisted of 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, and he subsequently returned to Italian basketball, joining Benetton Treviso. He was then later released by Treviso during that same 2007-08 season. Lucas was signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder in September 2008, and he was released by them in November before playing in any NBA games for them.[3] He then played the 2008-09 NBA D-League season with the Colorado 14ers, whom he helped lead to the D-League championship. On April 27, 2009, Lucas signed with TAU Cerámica of the Spanish ACB League for the remainder of the season.[4][5]

On September 2, 2009, Lucas was drafted by the Maine Red Claws in the NBA Development League expansion draft.

Lucas played in the 2009 NBA preseason for the Miami Heat. He played four games and averaged 7.0 points, 2.3 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game. On October 23, 2009, Lucas was waived by the Heat.

Lucas then spent the 2009-10 season with the Shanghai Sharks of the CBA.[6]

He spent the 2010 NBA preseason with the Chicago Bulls,[7] but was waived on October 21. The Bulls re-signed Lucas on November 26.[8] In his debut for the Bulls, Lucas missed two critical free throws in the final seconds of a 98-97 loss to the Denver Nuggets. He was waived on January 4, 2011, but re-signed with the Bulls on March 20, 2011.

References

External links