Kira Aundrea Lewis Jr. (born April 6, 2001) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He played

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for the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a mem ...

High school career

Lewis played basketball for

Hazel Green High School Hazel Green High School (HGHS) is a public high school in Hazel Green, Alabama, United States. It is the oldest school in the Madison County Schools district. History Building The earliest record of a school in Hazel Green, Alabama can be ...

Hazel Green, Alabama Hazel Green is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Madison County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the community wa ...

for three years. As a junior, he averaged 28.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 3.9 steals per game and led his team to the Alabama Class 6A semifinals. Lewis earned first-team All-State honors for his second consecutive season, was a finalist for Alabama Mr. Basketball, and was named

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

Region Player of the Year and Alabama Class 6A Player of the Year. He was originally in the 2019 class but graduated early from high school and

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to 2018. On August 10, 2018, Lewis committed to

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

over several major

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

offers, including from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. He was considered a four-star

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and

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College career

In his freshman season with Alabama, Lewis, at age 17, was the second-youngest player in NCAA Division I basketball behind Everett Perrot of

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...

and was the youngest player to appear in a game. Lewis scored six points in his first career game versus

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. The following game, he had 21 points against

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

and followed that up with a season-high 24 points against

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

. He tied his season-high of 24 points against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in February 2019. Lewis averaged 13.5 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. However, Alabama struggled and finished 18–16, losing in the first round of the NIT. Lewis entered the transfer portal before new coach

Nate Oats Nathanael Justin Oats (born October 13, 1974) is an American basketball coach, currently the head basketball coach at the University of Alabama. Prior to Alabama he was the head coach at the University at Buffalo. Education and playing career Oa ...

convinced him to return. In his sophomore season opener, Lewis scored a then-career-high 30 points in an 81–80 loss to Penn. Lewis scored a career-high 37 points on February 8, 2020, in a 105–102 overtime win against

. On February 12, he became the first Alabama player since 1996 to record a triple double, posting 10 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in a 95–91 overtime loss to

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. He became the 2nd player in school history to reach this accomplishment. On February 25, Lewis contributed 29 points, seven rebounds, and four assists in a 80–73 loss to

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

. At the conclusion of the regular season, Lewis was named to the First Team All-SEC. As a sophomore, Lewis averaged 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game. After the season, Lewis declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

Professional career

New Orleans Pelicans (2020–present)

Lewis was selected with the 13th pick in the

by the

. On November 30, 2020, he signed with the Pelicans. Lewis was a rotational player to start the year. His first career game with double-digit scoring came January 13 against the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

. He had 10 points that game. He registered a career high 16 points and 6 assists on March 23 against the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. On December 8, 2021, Lewis tore his ACL and sprained his MCL during a 114–120 overtime loss to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

, ending his season.

National team career

Lewis played for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

, Greece. He averaged four points and 1.6 assists per game and helped his team win a gold medal.

Personal

Lewis is the only son and youngest child of Kira Sr and Natasha Lewis. He has two sisters Na'Kerra Lewis and O'nesha Clayborn.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, 54 , , 0 , , 16.7 , , .386 , , .333 , , .843 , , 1.3 , , 2.3 , , .7 , , .2 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, 24 , , 0 , , 14.2 , , .404 , , .224 , , .833 , , 1.6, , 2.0 , , .5 , , .0 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, 25 , , 0 , , 9.4 , , .455 , , .441 , , .864 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 103 , , 0 , , 14.4 , , .401 , , .321 , , .847 , , 1.4 , , 1.9 , , .6 , , .1 , , 5.8

Play-in

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, style="text-align:left;",

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, 1 , , 0 , , 4.7 , , .000 , , .000 , , , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 1 , , 0 , , 4.7 , , .000 , , .000 , , , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 34 , , 31.6 , , .433 , , .358 , , .783 , , 2.6 , , 2.9 , , .8 , , .3 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 37.6 , , .459 , , .366 , , .802 , , 4.8 , , 5.2 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , 18.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 65 , , 65 , , 34.5 , , .447 , , .362 , , .793 , , 3.6 , , 4.0 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , 15.9

References

External links

Alabama Crimson Tide bio

USA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Kira Jr. 2001 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Alabama Birmingham Squadron players New Orleans Pelicans draft picks New Orleans Pelicans players People from Madison County, Alabama Point guards