Lester Allen Conner (born September 17, 1959) 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 ...

coach and former professional basketball player, who played for numerous

NBA 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 St ...

teams. On the floor at the collegiate level the 6'4" Conner was a "swingman," playing both the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

positions, earning high collegiate honors as the 1982

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Player of the Year. Conner was the 14th selection in the first round of the 1982 NBA Draft, selected by his hometown

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

, for whom he played the first four years of his 12-season NBA career. In the NBA Conner was a "combo guard," playing both the shooting guard and

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

positions. His NBA career was interrupted by one year played with the league champion

Rapid City Thrillers The Rapid City Thrillers were a semi-professional basketball team in Rapid City, South Dakota, that competed in the Continental Basketball Association beginning in the 1987 season. They were reincarnated in 1998 as an International Basketball Ass ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

. Following his retirement at the end of the 1994–95 season, Conner turned his attention to coaching, beginning as an assistant to

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

head coach

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA D ...

in 1998 and continuing for more than 15 years.

Biography

Lester Conner was born September 17, 1959 in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. He grew up in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, where he attended the ethnically diverse Fremont High School.K.J. White, ''Miller's Time: A Legacy of OSU Basketball, 1971–1989.'' Portland, OR: Highland Times Press, 1997; pg. 65. Although he played high school basketball for the Fremont Tigers, he was far from a star at the time, starting sporadically. No elite collegiate basketball programs beat down his door and Conner found himself relegated to pursuing an alternate path forward in his chosen sport.

Collegiate career

Junior College

In 1978, Conner enrolled at Los Medanos Junior College in

Pittsburg, California Pittsburg is a city in Contra Costa County, California, Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is an industrial suburb located on the southern shore of the Suisun Bay in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, and is part ...

, where his game expanded dramatically. Conner achieved star status, averaging 25.2 points per game in leading his team to a 24–7 record. He moved on to

Chabot Junior College Chabot College (Chabot or CC) is a public community college in Hayward, California. It is part of the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District. History Chabot College was the first college opened by the Chabot- Las Positas Community Coll ...

Hayward, California Hayward () is a city located in Alameda County, California in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda Coun ...

for the 1979–80 season, achieving similar results in becoming the co-recipient of the California Junior College Player of the Year honors. From being a largely unheralded high school player, Conner found himself a blue chip prospect as a transfer player, pursued by some of the leading collegiate programs in America.

1980–81

One chief suitor included

Jerry Tarkanian Jerry Tarkanian (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Rebe ...

, head coach of the

University of Nevada-Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

, whose program Conner found attractive. Another was

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

, a program headed by gruff veteran head coach

Ralph Miller Ralph H. Miller (March 9, 1919 – May 15, 2001) was an American college basketball coach, a head coach for 38 years at three universities: Wichita (now known as Wichita State), Iowa, and Oregon State. With an overall record of , his teams had ...

, a future member of the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

. Conner requested that Miller travel to see him play in person, a bold request that one writer has likened to "asking the Pope to say grace at Thanksgiving dinner." Nevertheless, Miller acceded to Conner's wishes and ultimately won Conner's commitment to take a scholarship with the program nearly a month after the end of the April signing period. Conner quickly won a starting role with the team, opening up the 1980–81 season playing

next to future NBA players Steve Johnson, Mark Radford, Ray Blume, and Charlie Sitton.White, ''Miller's Time,'' pg. 63. The team was regarded from opening day as one of the powers of college basketball, bringing back the nucleus of a team that had finished the previous year with a record of 26–4 as the 5th ranked team in America. Conner would produce for much of the year off the bench as an invaluable

sixth man The sixth man in basketball is a player who is not a starter but comes off the bench much more often than other reserves, often being the first player to be substituted in. The sixth man often plays minutes equal to or exceeding some of the sta ...

, gaining notice as a highly skilled passer, gritty rebounder, and lock-down defensive specialist. Seven wins out the gate brought the Beavers a #2 national ranking, which soon became #1 when Oregon State kept winning while the previously top-ranked

DePaul Blue Demons The DePaul Blue Demons are the athletic teams that represent DePaul University, located in Chicago, Illinois. The Blue Demons participate in NCAA Division I and are a member of the Big East Conference. DePaul’s Athletic Director is DeWayne ...

fell to

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

, 63–62, on January 10, 1981. The DePaul result was announced in the midst of an OSU annihilation of the Cal Golden Bears, with the home team up 56–28, bringing the crowd of 10,087 to a deafening standing ovation lasting more than a minute. The 1980–81 Beavers flirted with perfection, going 26–0 before suffering a shocking 20 point home loss to

Alton Lister Alton Lavelle Lister (born October 1, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player. He is currently serving as an assistant coach for TNT Tropang Giga in Philippine Basketball Association. Lister graduated from Woodrow Wilson High ...

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 we ...

, and the 24–3

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

to close the year.White, ''Miller's Time,'' pg. 71. The season would then end in unmitigated disaster with a crushing early loss to

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, 50–48, in the 1981 NCAA Tournament. Conner would finish the year fourth on the team in scoring, with an average of 7.0 points per game, and pulling down 119 rebounds — second on the Beavers to star 6'11" center Steve Johnson.

1981–82

Conner's senior season, 1981–82, looked like trouble for Oregon State, with both guards and center Steve Johnson leaving for the NBA, along with two rotation players, with those lost needing to be replaced by athletes of clearly lesser talent. Fully 71% of the offense from OSU's previous season was erased by the loss of the departures, along with 53% of the team's rebounds.White, ''Miller's Time,'' pg. 74. The arch-rival

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

entered the year with a #2 ranking; expectations for OSU to repeat as conference champions were extremely low. The Beavers had a new tool in the kit, however, with the addition of an acclaimed 6'8" freshman from Benson High School in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

named

A.C. Green A.C. Green Jr. (born October 4, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Iron man (sports streak), Iron Man", he holds a National Basketball Association (NBA) record for most consecutive regular-season games playe ...

, who narrowly chose OSU over coach

George Raveling George Henry Raveling (born June 27, 1937) is an American former college basketball player and coach. He played at Villanova University, and was the head coach at Washington State University the University of Iowa and the University of Southern ...

and

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

. Together with the maturation and improvement of pesky defensive guard William Brew and angular small forward Danny Evans, and the return of the versatile Charlie Sitton, the Beavers found themselves with a more than capable roster that racked up a Pac-10 conference record of 16–2 en route to a third straight conference title. Conner played mostly at the 2-guard position during his senior year, while frequently sharing the chore of advancing the ball against pressure. He proved his mettle as a passer, finishing the season as the Pac-10's leader in assists, with an average of 5.1 assists per game.White, ''Miller's Time,'' pg. 81. While the over-achieving Beavers again found themselves knocked out of the NCAA Tournament before they were ready, they won games in their first two rounds before running into

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Georgetown University men's team. He played most of his career as the starting center for the New ...

Sleepy Floyd Eric Augustus "Sleepy" Floyd (born March 6, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player. An NBA All-Star in 1987 as a Warrior, he is perhaps best known for his tenures for Golden State and Houston. Early life, family and education ...

, and the

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C. Georgetown's athletics department fields 23 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the National C ...

and a 24-point drubbing. Conner would finish the year as the team's scoring leader, with an average of 14.6 points per game, as well as the team's rebounding leader, with 145 boards — topping

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

A.C. Green's total of 141. During his two years as a Beaver, Conner helped lead the team to a record of 52 wins and 6 losses, a winning percentage of .897."Lester Conner,"
NBA Coach File, www.nba.com/ Conner was voted the 1982

Player of the Year, following his Oregon State teammate Steve Johnson as recipient of the award,White, ''Miller's Time,'' pg. 91. and was tapped as a 1982 AP All-American. He was remembered by OSU boss Ralph Miller as one of the top five defensive players he coached during his 38-season career.

Professional career

Conner was drafted in 1982 as the 14th pick overall, by the

, and played with the Warriors for 4 seasons. He would later play for the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

, and serve two stints with both the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

and the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, finishing his NBA career with 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 ...

, the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

, and 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 ...

. He ended his NBA playing days in 1995. He earned the nickname "The Molester" for his ball-stealing defensive play."Lester Conner,"
BasketballReference.com, www.basketball-reference.com/

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1982–83 , align="left" , Golden State , 75 , , 10 , , 18.9 , , .479 , , .000 , , .699 , , 2.9 , , 3.4 , , 1.5 , , 0.1 , , 4.9 , - , align="left" , 1983–84 , align="left" , Golden State , 82 , , 82 , , 31.4 , , .493 , , .167 , , .718 , , 3.7 , , 4.9 , , 2.0 , , 0.1 , , 11.1 , - , align="left" , 1984–85 , align="left" , Golden State , 79 , , 49 , , 28.6 , , .451 , , .200 , , .750 , , 3.1 , , 4.7 , , 2.0 , , 0.2 , , 8.1 , - , align="left" , 1985–86 , align="left" , Golden State , 36 , , 0 , , 11.5 , , .375 , , .286 , , .741 , , 1.7 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" ,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, 52 , , 3 , , 7.7 , , .463 , , .000 , , .780 , , 0.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 2.5 , - , align="left" , 1988–89 , align="left" ,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, 82 , , 63 , , 30.9 , , .457 , , .351 , , .788 , , 4.3 , , 7.4 , , 2.2 , , 0.1 , , 10.3 , - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 61 , , 28.7 , , .414 , , .154 , , .804 , , 3.2 , , 4.7 , , 2.1 , , 0.1 , , 7.9 , - , align="left" , 1990–91 , align="left" ,

, 35 , , 2 , , 14.0 , , .523 , , .000 , , .690 , , 1.6 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.0 , , 4.1 , - , align="left" , 1990–91 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, 39 , , 2 , , 13.3 , , .396 , , .000 , , .750 , , 1.4 , , 2.7 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 2.9 , - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" ,

, 81 , , 9 , , 17.5 , , .431 , , .000 , , .704 , , 2.3 , , 3.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 3.5 , - , align="left" , 1992–93 , align="left" ,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, 31 , , 0 , , 13.6 , , .452 , , .000 , , .947 , , 1.6 , , 2.1 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 2.4 , - , align="left" , 1993–94 , align="left" ,

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 ...

, 11 , , 0 , , 15.4 , , .368 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.2 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.8 , - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 687 , , 281 , , 21.8 , , .453 , , .202 , , .753 , , 2.7 , , 3.9 , , 1.6 , , 0.1 , , 6.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" ,

, 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" , 1990–91 , align="left" ,

, 1 , , 0 , , 7.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" , 1992–93 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , 0 , , 12.8 , , .750 , , 1.000 , , 1.000 , , 1.4 , , 2.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 4.2 , - , align="left" , 1993–94 , align="left" ,

, 6 , , 0 , , 3.7 , , .400 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 13 , , 0 , , 7.2 , , .667 , , 1.000 , , .857 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 2.4

Coaching career

Conner began his NBA coaching career in 1998 as an assistant to head coach

of the

.Michael Cunningham
"Conner Adds His Voice to Hawks,"
''Atlanta Journal-Constitution,'' Oct. 14, 2010. Conner credits Pitino with teaching him to project his voice from the bench, shouting instructions that cut through the din of an NBA arena. He also was twice the assistant coach in

for head coach

Terry Stotts Terry Linn Stotts (born November 25, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a playing as a fo ...

, leaving after Stotts was fired following the 2006–2007 season. Conner is considered a protege of former

head coach

Jim O'Brien Jim O'Brien may refer to: Sports Basketball *Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1950), American coach for Emerson College, Ohio State and Boston College *Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1951), American player for the New York Nets and Memphis Sounds *Jim ...

and has worked under O'Brien on three separate occasions. The first was with the Boston Celtics from 2001–04. The second was as the associate head coach for the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

in the 2004–05 season. In June, 2007, Conner moved to Indiana, to once again work for O'Brien and the Pacers. On Feb. 2, 2010, taking over for one game for an absent O'Brien, Lester Conner instituted a few strategic changes such as moving

Roy Hibbert Roy Denzil Hibbert (born December 11, 1986) is a Jamaican-American former professional basketball player. He is a two-time NBA All-Star, and earned NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors in 2014. Hibbert was the runner-up for the NBA Defensive Play ...

closer to the basket and emphasizing an attacking, uptempo style preferred by the players. The Pacers scored what turned out to be a season-high 130 points in a 15-point victory amid their 32–50 season. In 2010, Conner joined

Larry Drew Larry Donnell Drew (born April 2, 1958) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Drew was named to the Kansas Sports ...

as his top assistant at the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

, leaving the team following Drew's termination at the end of the 2012–13 NBA Season. Conner joined 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 ...

for the 2013–14 season as an assistant coach. Conner has expressed an interest in returning to his alma mater, Oregon State University, as a head coach, but was informed in 2014 by Beaver Athletic Director

Bob De Carolis Robert James "Bob" De Carolis (born c. 1952) is an athletic administrator and former softball coach. He served as the athletic director at Oregon State University from 2002 to 2015. He previously worked for the University of Michigan athletic depa ...

of the university's unwillingness to make the job available to him due to Conner's lack of a college degree.Connor Letourneau
"Beavers Great Lester Conner Loses Sleep Over Oregon State Head Coaching Vacancy,"
''The Oregonian,'' May 13, 2014. Conner expressed lament at the university's refusal to consider him for what he called "the only university job I want" owing to lack of academic qualification. "I understand the importance of having the degree," Conner told an interviewer from the Portland '' Oregonian'' in May 2014. "But at the same time, that doesn't define who I am or what I am as a coach and as a person."

Footnotes

External links

"Lester Conner,"
BasketballReference.com

''Albany Democrat-Herald,'' March 17, 2016. (Video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Conner, Lester 1959 births Living people African-American basketball coaches African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks assistant coaches Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from Oakland, California Boston Celtics assistant coaches Denver Nuggets assistant coaches Florida Beachdogs players Golden State Warriors draft picks Golden State Warriors players Houston Rockets players Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Indiana Pacers players Chabot Gladiators men's basketball players Los Angeles Clippers players Los Angeles Lakers players Milwaukee Bucks assistant coaches Milwaukee Bucks players New Jersey Nets players Oregon State Beavers men's basketball players Philadelphia 76ers assistant coaches Point guards Rapid City Thrillers players