Lucius Oliver Allen, Jr. (born September 26, 1947) is an American former 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. He is one of only a select few players to have won at least one state championship, collegiate national championship, and NBA championship. He also scored the first points in the history of Pauley Pavilion.

Early life

Allen was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas and played basketball for

Wyandotte High School Wyandotte High School is a fully accredited public high school located in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It serves students in grades 9 to 12 and operated by the Kansas City USD 500 school district. The building itself is a historic and n ...

. During this time, he was a prep All-American player under head coach

Walter Shublom Walter R. Shublom was a former high school, junior college and college basketball coach, and minor league baseball player. He was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 1982. Early life and playing career After graduating from S ...

and was named consensus first-team all-state as a junior and senior as he led Wyandotte to back-to-back Class AA state championships in 1964 and 1965.

College career

During his freshman year, Allen scored the very first points ever scored in

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The men ...

history during the annual freshman vs varsity game. During that game, the freshmen defeated the varsity 75-60. During his freshman season, the UCLA freshmen team finished the season undefeated and Allen averaged 22.4 points per game. During his sophomore year, he played on the varsity team and averaged 15.5 points per game while helping lead the Bruins to an undefeated 30-0 season and the 1967 National Championship. Allen was named to the NCAA Championship and Regional All-Tournament teams. During his junior year, he averaged 15.1 points per game and helped the Bruins win a second consecutive

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

while playing alongside

Lew Alcindor Lew or LEW may refer to: People * Lew (given name) * Lew (surname) Places * Lew, Oxfordshire, England * River Lew, in Devon, England Transport * LEW Hennigsdorf, a rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany * Lew (locomotive), a British narro ...

. He was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team and was selected as a second-team All-American.

Professional career

Following his junior year, Allen entered the

1969 NBA draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college bas ...

and was selected 3rd overall by the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

. As a member of the 1971

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 ...

team, which also featured Alcindor, Allen earned an NBA championship ring. They would both return to the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

in 1974 before losing to the

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 ...

in 7 games. This was Allen’s last season in Milwaukee, during which he arguably played his greatest professional game, a 39 point and 6 assist effort in a loss against the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

on January 2. He also played with Alcindor—now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—for two seasons (1975–77) in Los Angeles, but did not win a championship in either of those years. Allen was traded the following season to the

Kansas City Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Pacific Division ( ...

, winning the division championship in 1979, and retired from basketball after that season. Allen played 10 years in the NBA for four teams. His highest scoring average was 19.1 points per game, during the 1974–75 season. Part of the way through that season he was traded to 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 ...

after playing with the

since the 1970–71 season.

Regular season

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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 ...

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L.A. 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 ...

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Later life

After finishing his basketball career, which included a high school state championship, college national championship, and an NBA championship, Allen turned his attention to coaching aspiring players in the Los Angeles area.

Legacy and awards

In 1999, the

Topeka Capital-Journal ''The Topeka Capital-Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Topeka, Kansas, owned by Gannett. History The paper was formed following numerous name changes and mergers, including the merger of ''The Topeka Daily Capital'' and ''The Topeka State Jour ...

named Lucius Oliver Allen, Jr. of

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

as the greatest Kansas high school basketball player of the 20th century. New Arena named Allen as the best basketball player of all-time from the State of Kansas. Allen was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 2000. He was inducted into the Pac-12 Conference men's basketball Hall of Honor on March 16, 2013.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Lucius 1947 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Kansas Kansas City Kings players Los Angeles Lakers players Milwaukee Bucks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Sacramento Kings announcers Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Kansas City, Kansas UCLA Bruins men's basketball players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople