Lavelle R Felton (October 5, 1979 – August 13, 2009) was an American professional
basketball player
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
playing in the European professional basketball leagues.
Amateur career
Nicknamed "Velle" or "Romie", he had played in Madison High School in Milwaukee and then played college basketball with the
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...
's
Bulldogs
The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.[Turkish Basketball League
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...]
's Büyük Kolej for two years, before moving on to Greece and France and finally landing in Germany playing for
Paderborn Baskets
Paderborn Baskets 91 e.V., for sponsorship reasons named Uni Baskets Paderborn, is a basketball club based in Paderborn, Germany. The club currently plays in the ProA, the second highest basketball league in Germany.
The club reached the Basketba ...
club in the German
Basketball Bundesliga
The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...
. Averaging 10.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in the 2008-09 season, Felton helped the club successfully reach the playoffs.
Death and involvement
Felton was out with friends at a nightclub on the morning of August 12, 2009. They were celebrating his recent success, as he was about to sign a new contract with Germany. Lavelle was fatally shot and seriously wounded by an unknown gunman while in his driver's seat, about to depart from a Milwaukee gas station around 2am local time, dying of his wounds just one day later. He left a five-year-old stepson, a four-year-old son, and a two-year-old daughter with his girlfriend.
See also
*
List of basketball players who died during their careers
This is a list of notable basketball players who died while still on a team roster or as a free agent. A majority died of accidents such as car or plane crashes. Some suffered sudden cardiac death, which has a higher incidence in basketball among y ...
*
List of unsolved murders
These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances.
* List of unsolved murders (before 1900)
* List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)
* List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
* List of unsol ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felton, Lavelle
1979 births
2009 deaths
AEK B.C. players
African-American basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in France
American expatriate basketball people in Germany
American expatriate basketball people in Greece
American expatriate basketball people in Turkey
American men's basketball players
ASVEL Basket players
Basketball players from Milwaukee
Chipola Indians men's basketball players
Deaths by firearm in Wisconsin
Guards (basketball)
Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. players
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball players
Male murder victims
Murdered African-American people
Paderborn Baskets players
People murdered in Wisconsin
Science City Jena players
Unsolved murders in the United States
20th-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American sportspeople