Lonnie Jewel Shelton (October 19, 1955 – July 8, 2018) was an American

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA) player who played from 1976 to 1985.

Early years

Shelton played college basketball for

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 ...

. He was drafted by the

Memphis Sounds The Memphis Sounds were an American professional sports franchise that played in Memphis, Tennessee from 1970 until 1975 as a member of the American Basketball Association. The team was founded as the New Orleans Buccaneers in 1967. Known durin ...

(soon to become the

Baltimore Claws The Baltimore Claws were an American basketball team which was supposed to appear in the 1975–76 season in the American Basketball Association. The team collapsed before the season started, playing only three exhibition games, all losses, in its ...

) of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

in 1975 but elected to stay in college. He was then selected by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

in the second round of the

1976 NBA draft The 1976 NBA draft was the 30th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 8, 1976, before the 1976–77 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...

Professional career

Shelton led the NBA in personal fouls in his first two seasons with New York. After the Knicks obtained free agent

Marvin Webster Marvin Nathaniel Webster (April 13, 1952 – April 4, 2009) was an American professional basketball player. He played one season in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and nine in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Denver Nu ...

from the SuperSonics in 1978, the NBA awarded Shelton and the Knicks’ 1979 first-round pick to Seattle as compensation. In 1979, his first season with the SuperSonics, Shelton was the team's starting power forward. That season, he set a SuperSonics record by going 13 for 13 from the field in a game (17 total consecutive field goals), and helped the SuperSonics win 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 a ...

. Shelton was one of three SuperSonics represented in the 1982 NBA All-Star Game (along with Jack Sikma and Gus Williams) and was named to the NBA's 1982 2nd All-Defense Team. Shelton played five seasons with 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 ...

and finishing his career playing for the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central ...

for three seasons.

Personal life

Shelton's sons include L. J.,SONICS: Lonnie Shelton: Unfair Compensation
National Basketball Association who played

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...

in the NFL, Tim Shelton, who played for the San Diego State Aztecs basketball team, Titus Shelton, who played for the

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

Mustangs basketball team from 2005–2009, and Marlon, who played for the

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

from 1998 to 2003. He has multiple grandchildren.

Death

Shelton died on July 8, 2018 at age 62 in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in northern Orange County, California, known for its many Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the city during the 1980s. They settled largely in Little Saigon, and the city is known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnam ...

of complications from a heart attack on May 5 which left him in a coma.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 82 , , - , , 25.7 , , .476 , , - , , .707 , , 7.7 , , 1.8 , , 1.5 , , 1.2 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 82 , , - , , 28.3 , , .514 , , - , , .736 , , 7.1 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , 1.4 , , 14.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, 76 , , - , , 28.4 , , .519 , , - , , .693 , , 6.2 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , - , , 29.5 , , .530 , , .200 , , .763 , , 7.7 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , - , , 31.4 , , .420 , , - , , .655 , , 5.6 , , 2.5 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 81 , , 32.9 , , .486 , , .000 , , .783 , , 6.3 , , 3.1 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , 14.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 79 , , 31.4 , , .478 , , .167 , , .754 , , 6.0 , , 2.9 , , .9 , , .9 , , 12.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, 79 , , 78 , , 26.6 , , .476 , , .200 , , .764 , , 4.8 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 57 , , 14 , , 21.8 , , .435 , , .000 , , .662 , , 4.7 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , .3 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 44 , , 1 , , 15.5 , , .489 , , .000 , , .875 , , 3.3 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .1 , , 4.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 673 , , 253 , , 27.5 , , .492 , , .097 , , .738 , , 6.1 , , 2.2 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , 12.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 1 , , 1 , , 20.0 , , 1.000 , , - , , .500 , , 9.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 7.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1978 , style="text-align:left;”, New York , 6, , -, , 25.2, , .536, , -, , .750, , 7.3, , 2.8, , .3, , .8, , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

† , style="text-align:left;”,

, 17, , -, , 33.3, , .483, , -, , .692, , 8.4, , 2.0, , 1.1, , 1.1, , 12.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1980 , style="text-align:left;”,

, 15, , -, , 31.3, , .507, , .000, , .627, , 8.3, , 1.7, , 1.5, , .8, , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1982 , style="text-align:left;”,

, 8, , -, , 33.3, , .471, , -, , .688, , 7.4, , 2.0, , .6, , .9, , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, style="text-align:left;”,

, 2, , -, , 26.5, , .174, , .000, , .400, , 10.5, , 2.5, , .5, , .0, , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, style="text-align:left;”,

, 4, , 0, , 26.5, , .559, , -, , .800, , 5.5, , 1.0, , .5, , .3, , 11.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 52 , , 0 , , 31.0 , , .485 , , .000 , , .667 , , 7.9 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , 12.0

References

External links

Database Basketball: Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelton, Lonnie 1955 births 2018 deaths African-American basketball players Basketball players from Bakersfield, California Cleveland Cavaliers players Memphis Sounds draft picks National Basketball Association All-Stars New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Oregon State Beavers men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Seattle SuperSonics players American men's basketball players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people