Basketball Preview : The Shooting Legend That the NBA Forgot

Raymond Lewis should have been a cowboy.

At 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, he was tall, lean and at one time the greatest shooter in the West, if not the entire United States.

And like Billy the Kid, legend rode Lewis’ coattails everywhere he went.

Lewis’ peers nicknamed him Ray-Lew.

Ray-Lew used a basketball instead of silver bullets to shoot down his opponents.

In 1971, 19-year-old Ray-Lew was one of the most feared and revered basketball players in America. But Ray-Lew’s opportunity to play in the National Basketball Assn. just never worked out. The L.A. gunslinger’s story did not end with a ride into the sunset.

It’s not easy knowing you are one of the best and not being allowed to compete against the best.

It has taken Ray-Lew 23 years to rid his town of this ghost. He may not understand his fate, but he now accepts it.

*

On a Watts playground, 42-year-old Ray-Lew dribbles a ball between his legs as three kids reach for it like a brass ring.

Ray-Lew’s skills have somewhat diminished over time, which is the norm with most athletes. He appears to be a step slow, but in a split-second’s notice his sinewy legs project him upward for the off-the-dribble jump shot that made him famous.

Ray-Lew swished six, seven, eight shots through the net without the ball touching the rim.

This is the form that enabled him to lead Verbum Dei High School to three consecutive Southern Section basketball championships from 1968-71.

As a junior in 1970, Ray-Lew, who was chosen Most Valuable Player of the Santa Fe League with a 21.3 scoring average, was also selected high school Player of the Year in the 3-A division.

Verbum Dei moved up to 5-A the following year, where Ray-Lew guided the Eagles to a 51-42 victory over previously undefeated Crescenta Valley in the Southern Section championship.

Ray-Lew was once again named MVP.

How good was Ray-Lew?

Former Verbum Dei coach and present Arizona State University assistant coach George McQuarn said: “He has great moves off the dribble, a quick jumper, a fine touch and unlimited range. He knows he can make the shot, and most of the time he does.”

Lewis, who averaged 24 points, shot 55% from the field, taking most of his shots from 16 to 18 feet.

At his Watts home, Ray-Lew grabs a tattered and worn scrapbook from behind the couch.

Inside are certificates, old newspaper clippings and letters from coaches documenting days long gone.

On the porch, a one-speaker radio plays the classic oldies that signify Ray-Lew’s heyday. The time that he ruled the courts.

*

As a freshman at Cal State Los Angeles, Ray-Lew scored 73 points in a game against UC Santa Barbara to break his own freshman scoring record of 51 points.

In the 1973 Bill Cosby’s Cage Classic at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Ray-Lew faced Indiana State University and former NBA great and future Hall-of-Famer Larry Bird.

Cal State L.A. won the game. And Ray-Lew won the personal scoring battle, 39-25.

As if he needed to, Ray-Lew wanted to show people that he could score like Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks) and Jerry West (West Virginia Mountaineers and Los Angeles Lakers).

How good was Ray-Lew?

So good that the No. 2 scorer in the nation, with a 32.9 average, was drafted at the end of the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers after his sophomore year at Cal State L.A.

At 20, Ray-Lew was the youngest player ever to get drafted out of college.

Everything that seemed so bright would grow dark.

Ray-Lew signed a $165,000 contract over three years with the 76ers, but when he reported to camp, Ray-Lew felt he was being underpaid.

One of the reasons was because at Cal State L.A., Ray-Lew scored 60 points--in a half--against Doug Collins, the 76ers first-round choice and the first player selected in the 1973 NBA draft, in a one-on-one full-court scrimmage.

Collins signed a multiyear contract for $2 million.

A contract dispute followed, and Ray-Lew left camp.

Ray-Lew claims he was told by then-Coach Gene Shue to sit out a year and mature.

Regardless, the 76ers put Ray-Lew on a suspension that was to last two years.

After that, Ray-Lew’s NBA career never crystallized. The sharpshooter was mired in contract disputes and labeled a problem player .

Ray-Lew was relegated to taking out his frustration in summer pro leagues throughout California. Crenshaw High, Westchester High, Compton College, Cal State L.A.--no high school, junior college or university was safe from Ray-Lew’s scoring binges.

His basketball talent spoke in volumes, but no one listened.

One of Ray-Lew’s biggest regrets was that he left college early and didn’t get his degree. He couldn’t get his scholarship back because once a player accepts hardship status in the pros, he loses his athletic eligibility in college.

Ray-Lew now works as a fueler at Worldway Airlines.

A far cry from the million-dollar profession that he chose for himself as a boy.

*

As Ray-Lew grows tired, the kids use their numbers as an advantage to steal the ball from the aging legend.

But in the mind of one onlooker, Ray-Lew will always be the player who shot and made eight of his team’s baskets from behind the half-court line in a pick-up game. Dressed in a Chicago Bulls T-shirt and Nike Air Jordans, the man talks about how Ray-Lew used to point to the spot on the court where he was going to shoot from before making the basket.

Everyone has a story to tell about Ray-Lew.

The guy who used to sleep with his basketball as a boy and shoot balled-up socks through a wire-hanger hoop.

A man who practiced four to five hours a day for 16 years.

Ray-Lew has other things in his life now besides basketball. Like 17-year-old daughter Camilla Ray and 14-year-old son Rashad.

He preaches to them and other youngsters to stay away from drugs and to get an education.

Those who know Ray-Lew listen to him.

When he says that he was born to play basketball and that he was unstoppable, few argue.

How good was Ray-Lew?

At one time, the best.

Raymond Lewis Was Once One of the Nation’s Top Basketball Players. But His Career Didn’t Live Up to His Skills