Fat Lever

Lafayette "Fat" Lever (; born August 18, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He later served as the director of player development for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA as well as an analyst for Kings radio broadcasts. Early life Lever was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to Elmer and Willie Lever. The second of three sons, he was nicknamed Fat by his younger brother, Elmer Jr., who had problems saying all the syllables in his name. Their father never lived with the family. In 1970, their mother, Willie, went west to work, while the brothers lived with their grandparents. The kids joined their mom in Tucson, Arizona, a year later. Professional career Portland Trail Blazers Lever was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 11th pick in the 1982 NBA draft out of Arizona State. While at ASU, his guard-tandem teammate was Byron Scott, who left school early (1983) to sign with the San Diego Clippers. In his NBA debut, Lever recorded 9 points, 7 assists and 4 steals in a road loss against the Kansas City Kings. On January 20, Lever recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 13 assists in a road loss against the Mavericks. Three days later, Lever recorded his second career double-double when he had 11 points and 10 assists in a road win over the Spurs. On March 20, Lever scored a season-high 19 points to go along with 6 assists as the Trailblazers beat the Nuggets.