Grady W. Lewis (March 25, 1917 – March 11, 2009) 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 played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs The Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs (also SWOSU Bulldogs) are the athletic teams that represent Southwestern Oklahoma State University, located in Weatherford, Oklahoma, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Bulldogs compete as mem ...

and

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

. Lewis played four seasons with the Phillips 66 Oilers of the AAU, and three seasons (1946–1949) in the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

as a member of the Detroit Falcons, St. Louis Bombers, and Baltimore Bullets. He averaged 5.4

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

in his career and won a league championship with Baltimore in 1948. Lewis also was a member of two AAU national championship teams with Phillips 66 (1940, 1946). Lewis coached the St. Louis Bombers during the 1948–49 and 1949–50 seasons. He then worked for the Converse shoe company. Lewis went on to invent the Converse All Stars shoe, although he did not get recognition as the famous Marketer Chuck Taylor was accredited due to his popular name.Andy Taylor.
Retired Converse exec with Caney connection dies
. ''Montgomery County Chronicle''. March 18, 2009. Retrieved on March 19, 2009. Lewis was inducted into the Southwestern Oklahoma State Hall of Fame in 1970.

BAA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Head coaching record

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St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

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References

External links

Career statistics
1917 births 2009 deaths American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from Texas Basketball player-coaches Centers (basketball) Detroit Falcons (basketball) players Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players People from Boyd, Texas Phillips 66ers players Power forwards Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs men's basketball players Sportspeople from Wise County, Texas St. Louis Bombers (NBA) coaches St. Louis Bombers (NBA) players 20th-century American sportsmen {{Oklahoma-sport-stub