Raymond Lewis; LA Legend(Documentary)

[monte]

Apologies if this has been mentioned on here before. Last night I watched a documentary on the greatest basketball player that I'd never heard of, Raymond Lewis.

Played High School ball at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School in Watts, and chose to play college ball at Cal St LA, over some much bigger colleges. The reason is explained in the movie.

Averaged over 30 points a game and left school after his sophomore year. Was drafted in 1st round by the Sixers. Still not sure how he was able to leave school early and get drafted by the NBA in 1973. There was even a mention of him getting a try out for Louie while he was with the Nets. Never played a day of pro ball in either league.

Well worth a watch even though I can't even tell you what streaming service I watched it on. I just did a search and it popped up.

Documentary Film

www.raymondlewis.com

 

[sjc88]

Thanks, Monte. I just watched it on Amazon. If you are a Prime Member it’s “free”.

 

[monte]

Thanks, Monte. I just watched it on Amazon. If you are a Prime Member it’s “free”.

Since I have no clue what's even on my TV, I can thank my daughter for that one 88' lol

 

[sjc88]

Since I have no clue what's even on my TV, I can thank my daughter for that one 88' lol

Trust me it’s all my son. I have about 5 streaming services and I have no idea what I’m paying for or even what’s on them. It’s out of control or at least my control. Your tip made me look for this and then I watched it!

 

[NCJohnnie]

Apologies if this has been mentioned on here before. Last night I watched a documentary on the greatest basketball player that I'd never heard of, Raymond Lewis.

Played High School ball at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School in Watts, and chose to play college ball at Cal St LA, over some much bigger colleges. The reason is explained in the movie.

Averaged over 30 points a game and left school after his sophomore year. Was drafted in 1st round by the Sixers. Still not sure how he was able to leave school early and get drafted by the NBA in 1973. There was even a mention of him getting a try out for Louie while he was with the Nets. Never played a day of pro ball in either league.

Well worth a watch even though I can't even tell you what streaming service I watched it on. I just did a search and it popped up.

Documentary Film

www.raymondlewis.com

Thanks for this Monte. That looks like a film I'd enjoy and we do have Amazon Prime so it is on my list as one to watch.
Right now I am watching the Sopranos with my son. I could never get my wife to watch beyond the first 3 or 4 episodes as it was too violent for her.
My son watched the whole thing while he was away at college and liked it so much he offered to rewatch with me. So we are doing one episode per weeknight over the summer!

 

[MainMan]

Thanks for this Monte. That looks like a film I'd enjoy and we do have Amazon Prime so it is on my list as one to watch.
Right now I am watching the Sopranos with my son. I could never get my wife to watch beyond the first 3 or 4 episodes as it was too violent for her.
My son watched the whole thing while he was away at college and liked it so much he offered to rewatch with me. So we are doing one episode per weeknight over the summer!

Sopranos Season 1 is brilliant, really turned TV on its head and redefined the hour-long drama genre.
The other seasons become less brilliant. The overall plot line of each season is always the same: Some mook comes into the crew and Fs things up for Tony and the gang. Marone!

 

[austour]

Trust me it’s all my son. I have about 5 streaming services and I have no idea what I’m paying for or even what’s on them. It’s out of control or at least my control. Your tip made me look for this and then I watched it!

Just 5? Slacker.

 

[SJU85]

Apologies if this has been mentioned on here before. Last night I watched a documentary on the greatest basketball player that I'd never heard of, Raymond Lewis.

Played High School ball at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School in Watts, and chose to play college ball at Cal St LA, over some much bigger colleges. The reason is explained in the movie.

Averaged over 30 points a game and left school after his sophomore year. Was drafted in 1st round by the Sixers. Still not sure how he was able to leave school early and get drafted by the NBA in 1973. There was even a mention of him getting a try out for Louie while he was with the Nets. Never played a day of pro ball in either league.

Well worth a watch even though I can't even tell you what streaming service I watched it on. I just did a search and it popped up.

Documentary Film

www.raymondlewis.com

Thanks for the heads up. I do have Prime and others.

Back then, the NBA had something called the “Hardship Rule” which allowed players to enter the NBA draft earlier than them having to be out of High School at least four years to be eligible for the NBA as "hardship cases". In order to qualify, the player had to prove they had a financial hardship.

This rule came about because the NBA lost a lawsuit brought by Spencer Haywood that eventually went all the way to the Supreme Court. Besides college players who wanted to leave early, it also allowed guys like Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby to graduate from high school and go straight to the NBA well before Kobe and Lebron.

Unlike the NBA, the ABA, where Haywood started, had a “Hardship Rule” already in place. That is how Julius Erving, AKA, Dr. J, was able to play for the Virginia Squires less than four years after graduating from Roosevelt High School.

 

[monte]

Thanks for the heads up. I do have Prime and others.

Back then, the NBA had something called the “Hardship Rule” which allowed players to enter the NBA draft earlier than them having to be out of High School at least four years to be eligible for the NBA as "hardship cases". In order to qualify, the player had to prove they had a financial hardship.

This rule came about because the NBA lost a lawsuit brought by Spencer Haywood that eventually went all the way to the Supreme Court. Besides college players who wanted to leave early, it also allowed guys like Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby to graduate from high school and go straight to the NBA well before Kobe and Lebron.

Unlike the NBA, the ABA, where Haywood started, had a “Hardship Rule” already in place. That is how Julius Erving, AKA, Dr. J, was able to play for the Virginia Squires less than four years after graduating from Roosevelt High School.

Thanks for the explanation 85'. I knew about the hardship rule, just didn't think it was around in 73'. Also, Lewis came from a comfortable family it seemed. Grandparents had business and the family lived in nice homes. Having said that, obviously we don't know what his financial situation was when he applied for a hardship situation.

Also, that being the case, why couldn't Bird play the year he got drafted by the Celtics? If memory serves me correctly, he got drafted one year but was forced to play another year at IS while the Celtics retained his rights. Yet another brilliant move by Red Aurbach.

 

[monte]

Trust me it’s all my son. I have about 5 streaming services and I have no idea what I’m paying for or even what’s on them. It’s out of control or at least my control. Your tip made me look for this and then I watched it!

Good thing for me is that my ex pays for all of my daughter's streaming services. All of which are now on my TV even though she doesn't live with me.

Not sure how my daughter finagled that, but I'll certainly take all the benefits that come with it lol

 

[monte]

Thanks for the heads up. I do have Prime and others.

Back then, the NBA had something called the “Hardship Rule” which allowed players to enter the NBA draft earlier than them having to be out of High School at least four years to be eligible for the NBA as "hardship cases". In order to qualify, the player had to prove they had a financial hardship.

This rule came about because the NBA lost a lawsuit brought by Spencer Haywood that eventually went all the way to the Supreme Court. Besides college players who wanted to leave early, it also allowed guys like Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby to graduate from high school and go straight to the NBA well before Kobe and Lebron.

Unlike the NBA, the ABA, where Haywood started, had a “Hardship Rule” already in place. That is how Julius Erving, AKA, Dr. J, was able to play for the Virginia Squires less than four years after graduating from Roosevelt High School.

Just googled "NBA Harship Rule". It actually was started in 71' because of Spencer Haywood. I should have known that, and probably did at one point over the past 50 years, but my memory ain't what it once was. lol. Extremely surprised that more players didn't take advantage back in the 70s.

 

[SLYFOXX1968]

It would be interesting to know what happened to Raymond Lewis . Seems he had a Pro ability but , never played a game .

Sounds like some hard luck along the way .

 

[SJU85]

Thanks for the explanation 85'. I knew about the hardship rule, just didn't think it was around in 73'. Also, Lewis came from a comfortable family it seemed. Grandparents had business and the family lived in nice homes. Having said that, obviously we don't know what his financial situation was when he applied for a hardship situation.

Also, that being the case, why couldn't Bird play the year he got drafted by the Celtics? If memory serves me correctly, he got drafted one year but was forced to play another year at IS while the Celtics retained his rights. Yet another brilliant move by Red Aurbach.

IIRC, he was drafted the year he was supposed to finish his eligibility if he hadn’t transferred from Indiana to Indiana St. and had to sit out a year. The NBA allowed you to do that then and the team held the players rights unless they decided to give it up.

 

[SJU85]

Just googled "NBA Harship Rule". It actually was started in 71' because of Spencer Haywood. I should have known that, and probably did at one point over the past 50 years, but my memory ain't what it once was. lol. Extremely surprised that more players didn't take advantage back in the 70s.

I remember another guy who played for the Baltimore and Washington Bullets named Phil Chenier another guy who went “hardship”. They always seemed to mention it on the TV Broadcast whenever the Knicks played the Bullets.

 

[bamafan]

I remember another guy who played for the Baltimore and Washington Bullets named Phil Chenier another guy who went “hardship”. They always seemed to mention it on the TV Broadcast whenever the Knicks played the Bullets.

Chenier and Clyde Frazier used to have some great battles against each other. Recall one game where Chenier elbowed Clyde in the face and Clyde remained cool as a cucumber and got his revenge by shooting 8-9 in the fourth quarter leading the Knicks to a victory. Will have to watch this film since Monte gave it his stamp of approval.