Robert Lackey (April 9, 1949 – June 4, 2002) was 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 (appro ...

player. He was born in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

. Robert Lackey was born to Raymond Oliver Lackey and died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in 2002. In high school at

Evanston Township High School Evanston Township High School (ETHS) (District 202) is a public high school in Evanston, Illinois. The campus is located in a northern suburb of Chicago along the Lake Michigan shore. ETHS was established in 1883 and serves the city of Evanston a ...

he led the team to the state championship in the 1967–1968 season with a 30–1 overall record. Lackey played two seasons for the

New York Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

. Previously, he had been drafted in the fifth round of the 1972 NBA draft by 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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

. He played at the collegiate level for

Casper College Casper College is a Public college, public community college in Casper, Wyoming. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive community colleges in the region. Established in 1945 as Wyoming's first junior college and initially located on the ...

and with the then- Marquette Warriors, who have retired his uniform number.

References

1949 births 2002 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in France American men's basketball players ASVEL Basket players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Basketball players from Illinois Deaths from cancer in Illinois Evanston Township High School alumni Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players New York Nets draft picks New York Nets players Basketball players from Evanston, Illinois {{1940s-US-basketball-bio-stub