John Lucas III

133
John Lucas III bigraphy, stories - American basketball player

John Lucas III : biography

November 21, 1982 –

John Harding Lucas III (born November 21, 1982) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Toronto Raptors of the NBA.

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 future NBA players Emeka Okafor and Lawrence Roberts. Lucas has a younger brother, Jai., by Franz Beard – GatorCountry.com, May 15, 2007.

He originally played collegiately at Baylor University, but 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. During the 2005–06 NBA season, Lucas was called up by the Houston Rockets from the Tulsa 66ers in December 2005. He played 13 games for the Rockets between December and February. 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. 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.

He subsequently returned to Italian basketball, joining Benetton Treviso in January 2008. He was then later released by Treviso in March. Lucas was signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder in September 2008 but was released by them in November before playing in any NBA games for them. In February 2009, he signed with the Colorado 14ers and helped them go on to win the 2008–09 D-League championship. On April 27, 2009, Lucas signed with TAU Cerámica of the Spanish ACB League for the remainder of the season.

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.

He spent the 2010 NBA preseason with the Chicago Bulls but was waived on October 21. The Bulls re-signed Lucas on November 26. 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, and signed with the Shanghai Sharks in China. After his 2-month China stint, he returned to America and re-signed with the Bulls on March 20, 2011. On January 11, 2012, Lucas received his first-ever NBA start and achieved a career-high of 25 points, leading the Bulls in a 78–64 win over the Washington Wizards. He also played 45 minutes, made 11 of 28 field goal attempts, and had 8 assists and 8 rebounds (all career-highs).

On March 14, 2012, the Bulls hosted the Miami Heat. The Bulls were missing Derrick Rose, who was out due to a groin injury. Lucas scored 24 points and led the Chicago Bulls to a 106–102 victory over the Miami Heat.

On March 21, 2012, Lucas led the Bulls to a comeback victory over the Toronto Raptors, scoring all of his 13 points in the 4th quarter.

On July 27, 2012, Lucas signed with the Toronto Raptors.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Houston | 13 || 0 || 8.2 || .389 || .222 || .000 || .4 || .9 || .4 || .0 || 2.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Houston | 47 || 0 || 8.1 || .397 || .254 || .789 || .8 || .7 || .4 || .0 || 3.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Chicago | 2 || 0 || 5.0 || .333 || .000 || .000 || .0 || .5 || .0 || .0 || 1.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Chicago | 49 || 2 || 14.8 || .399 || .393 || .875 || 1.6 || 2.2 || .4 || .0 || 7.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Toronto | 63 || 0 || 13.1 || .386 || .377 || .720 || 1.0 || 1.7 || .4 || .0 || 5.3 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 174 || 2 || 11.8 || .393 || .358 || .782 || 1.0 || 1.5 || .4 || .0 || 5.1

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2007 | align="left" | Houston | 2 || 0 || 4.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || .0 || .0 || .5 || .0 || 0.0 |- | align="left" | 2012 | align="left" | Chicago | 5 || 0 || 18.8 || .450 || .385 || 1.000 || 1.4 || 1.8 || .0 || .0 || 8.3 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 7 || 0 || 14.6 || .439 || .397 || 1.000 || 1.0 || 1.3 || .1 || .0 || 6.1