John Lucas II

Lucas attended the University of Maryland where he was an all-American in basketball. Lucas was a Second-team All-American for the excellent Terrapins team in 1973 - 74, along with his teammates Len Elmore and Tom McMillen. The Terrapins had a record of 23 - 5 in the regular season, and 9 - 3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). However, they lost during the ACC Tournament, and they could not go to the NCAA Tournament. Elmore and McMillan graduated in 1974, but in the following 1974 - 75 season, Lucas was a First-team All-American. The Terrapins recorded a 24 - 5 regular season record, 10 - 2 in the ACC, and they won the ACC regular season crown. However, they lost to NC State in the semifinals of the ACC tournament. The NCAA tournament, however, had been expanded to include 32 teams. Also, for the first time, more than one team per conference was allowed into the tournament. Maryland gained entry and advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to Louisville.

In the in 1975 - 76 season, Lucas was a First-team All-American once again. The Terrapins recorded a 22 - 6 regular season record, 7 - 5 in the ACC, but they lost out in the ACC Tournament and did not make the NCAA Tournament. Then, following this senior season, Lucas was the first overall pick of the 1976 NBA Draft, selected by the Houston Rockets. He was also drafted by the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association.^[1]

Lucas played for the US national team in the 1974 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal.^[2]

Lucas played in the NBA for fourteen years and was a member of the 1986 Houston Rockets team that made it to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics.

However, the following off-season, Lucas's basketball career took a turn for the worse when longstanding problems with illegal drugs became public. Several of his teammates with the Rockets, including Mitchell Wiggins and Lewis Lloyd, were banished from the NBA due to positive tests for cocaine usage. Lucas, who was also a cocaine user (and an alcoholic), submitted voluntarily to anti-drug and anti-alcohol treatment in order to stay in the league.

Lucas played four more years in the NBA, averaging at age 33 a career-high 17.5 points in 1986-87, before settling into a reserve role the next three years.

After successfully undergoing drug rehabilitation, and starting programs of his own to help other athletes rehabilitate, Lucas returned to the NBA as a coach, eventually becoming a head coach.

Coaching

He has coached the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers, each for less than two seasons, compiling a 174 - 258 overall coaching record. His most successful stint was with the Spurs. In 1992-93, he took over from Jerry Tarkanian (9-11) and went 39-22 the rest of the season, and reached the Western Conference semi-finals. The next year the Spurs finished 55-27 but lost in the first round of playoffs.

Prior to accepting the head coaching position for the Cavs, he was assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets for three seasons.

Lucas worked with Indiana Pacers guard T.J. Ford in Houston after the guard sustained a neck injury from a hard foul from Atlanta's Al Horford.^[3]

Lucas was hired for the 2009–10 NBA season as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers under head coach Mike Dunleavy.

Lucas began working with former NFL first round pick JaMarcus Russell in 2010 as a life coach, but ceased this role in April 2011.^[4]

Tennis

Lucas was not only a standout basketball player, but also a standout tennis player. An All-American in the sport while at Maryland, Lucas competed in two Grand Prix tennis tournaments in 1973, another in 1979, and a challenger event in 1979. His best result was reaching the semi-finals of the challenger in Raleigh, NC, partnering Fred McNair. He won one other tour match, by default in doubles in 1973 in Merion, PA while partnering Vic Seixas. He lost all four of the singles first round matches which he contested, and in straight sets.^[5] His best singles result was a 4-6, 4-6 loss to John Austin. Lucas's career high ranking was becoming World No. 579 in singles in December 1979.^[6] (Doubles computer rankings were not officially kept until the early 1980s.)

Lucas also played World Team Tennis^{[citation needed]}.

In 2005 Lucas was the head coach of the Houston Wranglers, which featured Steffi Graf and Mardy Fish.

Personal

Lucas's elder son John Lucas, played college basketball at Oklahoma State, and has been a member of several NBA teams. His younger son, Jai, played college basketball at the University of Texas.

References

External links

San Antonio Spurs head coaches

Cliff Hagan (1967–1970)
Max Williams (1970)
Bill Blakeley (1970–1971)
Tom Nissalke (1971–1972)
Babe McCarthy (1972–1973)
Dave Brown # (1973)
Tom Nissalke (1973–1974)
Bob Bass (1974–1976)
Doug Moe (1976–1980)
Bob Bass (1980)
Stan Albeck (1980–1983)
Morris McHone (1983)
Bob Bass (1983–1984)
Cotton Fitzsimmons (1984–1986)
Bob Weiss (1986–1988)
Larry Brown (1988–1992)
Bob Bass (1992)
Jerry Tarkanian (1992)
Rex Hughes # (1992)
John Lucas II (1992–1994)
Bob Hill (1994–1996)
Gregg Popovich (1996– )

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

Philadelphia 76ers head coaches

Al Cervi (1949–1956)
Paul Seymour (1956–1960)
Alex Hannum (1960–1963)
Dolph Schayes (1963–1966)
Alex Hannum (1966–1968)
Jack Ramsay (1968–1972)
Roy Rubin (1972–1973)
Kevin Loughery # (1973)
Gene Shue (1973–1977)
Billy Cunningham (1977–1985)
Matt Guokas (1985–1988)
Jim Lynam (1988–1992)
Doug Moe (1992–1993)
Fred Carter (1993–1994)
John Lucas II (1994–1996)
Johnny Davis (1996–1997)
Larry Brown (1997–2003)
Randy Ayers (2003–2004)
Chris Ford # (2004)
Jim O'Brien (2004–2005)
Maurice Cheeks (2005–2008)
Tony DiLeo # (2008–2009)
Eddie Jordan (2009–2010)
Doug Collins (2010–2013)
Brett Brown (2013– )

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

Cleveland Cavaliers head coaches

Bill Fitch (1970–1979)
Stan Albeck (1979–1980)
Bill Musselman (1980–1981)
Don Delaney # (1981)
Bob Kloppenburg # (1981)
Chuck Daly (1981–1982)
Bill Musselman (1982)
Tom Nissalke (1982–1984)
George Karl (1984–1986)
Gene Littles # (1986)
Lenny Wilkens (1986–1993)
Mike Fratello (1993–1999)
Randy Wittman (1999–2001)
John Lucas II (2001–2003)
Keith Smart # (2003)
Paul Silas (2003–2005)
Brendan Malone # (2005)
Mike Brown (2005–2010)
Byron Scott (2010–2013)
Mike Brown (2013– )

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

John Lucas II—championships, awards, and honors

v t e United States squad – 1974 FIBA World Championship - Bronze medal

4 Lucas 5 Boswell 6 Meriweather 7 Schmidt 8 Kelley 9 Buckner 10 Wilkins 11 Grote 12 Burden 13 Oleynick 14 Short 15 Gerard Coach: Bartow; McCutchan

v t e 1975 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans

First Team	Adrian Dantley John Lucas Scott May Dave Meyers David Thompson

Second Team	Luther Burden Leon Douglas Kevin Grevey Ron Lee Gus Williams

v t e 1976 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans

First Team	Kent Benson Adrian Dantley John Lucas Scott May Richard Washington

Second Team	Phil Ford Bernard King Mitch Kupchak Phil Sellers Earl Tatum

v t e ACC Athlete of the Year

Athlete of the Year	1954: Joel Shankle 1955: Dickie Hemric 1956: Dave Sime 1957: Lennie Rosenbluth 1958: Dick Christy 1959: Lou Pucillo 1960: Mike McGee 1961: Roman Gabriel 1962: Len Chappell 1963: Art Heyman 1964: Jeff Mullins 1965: Brian Piccolo 1966: Danny Talbott 1967: Bobby Bryant 1968: Larry Miller 1969: Frank Quayle 1970: Charlie Scott 1971: Don McCauley 1972: Barry Parkhill 1973: David Thompson 1974: Tony Waldrop 1975: David Thompson 1976: John Lucas 1977: Phil Ford 1978: Phil Ford 1979: Renaldo Nehemiah 1980: Julie Shea 1981: Julie Shea 1982: James Worthy 1983: Ralph Sampson 1984: Michael Jordan 1985: B. J. Surhoff 1986: Len Bias 1987: Riccardo Ingram 1988: Danny Ferry 1989: Danny Ferry

Male Athlete of the Year	1990: Clarkston Hines 1991: Christian Laettner 1992: Christian Laettner 1993: Charlie Ward 1994: Charlie Ward 1995: Randolph Childress 1996: Kris Benson 1997: Tim Duncan 1998: Antawn Jamison 1999: Elton Brand 2000: Joe Hamilton 2001: Shane Battier 2002: Juan Dixon 2003: Chris Rotelli 2004: Philip Rivers 2005: Sean May 2006: J. J. Redick 2007: Walter Dix 2008: Tyler Hansbrough 2009: Matt Hill 2010: Ned Crotty 2011: Ngoni Makusha 2012: Luke Kuechly 2013: Jarmere Jenkins

Female Athlete of the Year	1990: Shannon Higgins 1991: Dawn Staley 1992: Dawn Staley 1993: Mia Hamm 1994: Beverly Smith 1995: Tisha Venturini 1996: Kelly Amonte Hiller 1997: Sarah Forbes 1998: Vanessa Webb 1999: Cindy Parlow 2000: Jen Adams 2001: Jen Adams 2002: Bea Bielik 2003: Alana Beard 2004: Alana Beard 2005: Kelly Dostal 2006: Paula Infante 2007: Lindsey Harding 2008: Angela Tincher 2009: Casey Nogueira 2010: Whitney Engen 2011: Katie O'Donnell 2012: Rebecca Ward 2013: Crystal Dunn

NBA first overall draft picks

1947: McNeely
1948: Tonkovich
1949: Shannon
1950: Share
1951: Melchiorre
1952: Workman
1953: Felix
1954: Selvy
1955: Ricketts
1956: Green
1957: Hundley
1958: Baylor
1959: Boozer
1960: Robertson
1961: Bellamy
1962: McGill
1963: Heyman
1964: Barnes
1965: Hetzel
1966: Russell
1967: Walker
1968: Hayes
1969: Alcindor
1970: Lanier
1971: Carr
1972: L. Martin
1973: Collins
1974: Walton
1975: D. Thompson
1976: Lucas
1977: Benson
1978: M. Thompson
1979: E. Johnson
1980: Carroll
1981: Aguirre
1982: Worthy
1983: Sampson
1984: Olajuwon
1985: Ewing
1986: Daugherty
1987: D. Robinson
1988: Manning
1989: Ellison
1990: Coleman
1991: L. Johnson
1992: O'Neal
1993: Webber
1994: G. Robinson
1995: Smith
1996: Iverson
1997: Duncan
1998: Olowokandi
1999: Brand
2000: K. Martin
2001: Brown
2002: Yao
2003: James
2004: Howard
2005: Bogut
2006: Bargnani
2007: Oden
2008: Rose
2009: Griffin
2010: Wall
2011: Irving
2012: Davis
2013: Bennett

v t e 1976 NBA Draft

First round	John Lucas Scott May Richard Washington Leon Douglas Wally Walker Adrian Dantley Quinn Buckner Robert Parish Armond Hill Ron Lee Bob Wilkerson Terry Furlow Mitch Kupchak Larry Wright Chuckie Williams Norm Cook Sonny Parker

Second round	Willie Smith Bayard Forrest Major Jones Earl Tatum Johnny Davis Alex English Scott Lloyd Lonnie Shelton Jacky Dorsey Phil Hicks Bob Carrington Dennis Johnson Al Fleming Joe Pace Mo Howard Butch Feher Marshall Rogers

Persondata
Name	Lucas, John, II
Alternative names
Short description	American basketball player and coach
Date of birth	October 31, 1953
Place of birth	Durham, North Carolina
Date of death
Place of death

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John Lucas II

Basketball playing career and substance abuse

Coaching

Tennis

Personal

See also

References

External links