Kira Aundrea Lewis Jr. ( ; born April 6, 2001) 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 (appro ...

player for the Capital City Go-Go of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. 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

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

and was drafted by the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

in the first round of the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, wi ...

High school career

Lewis played basketball for Hazel Green High School in

Hazel Green, Alabama Hazel Green is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Madison County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the community ...

for three years. As a junior, he averaged 28.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 3.9 steals per game and led his team to the Alabama Class 6A semifinals. Lewis earned first-team All-State honors for his second consecutive season, was a finalist for Alabama Mr. Basketball, and was named

Huntsville Huntsville is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the 100th-most populous city in the U.S. The Huntsville metropolitan area had an estimated 525,465 ...

Region Player of the Year and Alabama Class 6A Player of the Year. He was originally in the 2019 class but graduated early from high school and reclassified to 2018. On August 10, 2018, Lewis committed to

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

over several major

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

offers, including from

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. He was considered a four-star recruit by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

College career

In his freshman season with Alabama, Lewis, at age 17, was the second-youngest player in NCAA Division I basketball behind Everett Perrot of Pepperdine and was the youngest player to appear in a game. Lewis scored six points in his first career game versus Southern. The following game, he had 21 points against Appalachian State and followed that up with a season-high 24 points against

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 ...

. He tied his season high of 24 points against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in February 2019. Lewis averaged 13.5 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. However, Alabama struggled and finished 18–16, losing in the first round of the NIT. Lewis entered the transfer portal before new coach

Nate Oats Nathanael Justin Oats (born October 13, 1974) is an American basketball coach, currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Alabama. Prior to Alabama, he was the head coach at the University at Buffalo. Education and playing ca ...

convinced him to return. In his sophomore season opener, Lewis scored a then-career-high 30 points in an 81–80 loss to Penn. He scored a career-high 37 points on February 8, 2020, in a 105–102 overtime win against

. On February 12, Lewis became the first Alabama player since 1996 to record a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

, posting 10 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in a 95–91 overtime loss to Auburn. He became the second player in school history to reach this accomplishment. On February 25, Lewis contributed 29 points, seven rebounds, and four assists in an 80–73 loss to

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

. At the conclusion of the regular season, Lewis was named to the First Team All-SEC. As a sophomore, Lewis averaged 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game. After the season, Lewis declared for the

Professional career

New Orleans Pelicans (2020–2024)

Lewis was selected with the 13th pick in the

by the

. On November 30, 2020, he signed with the Pelicans. Lewis was a rotational player to start the year. His first career game with double-digit scoring came January 13, 2021 against the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

. He had 10 points that game. He registered a career-high 16 points and 6 assists on March 23 against 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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. On December 8, 2021, Lewis tore his ACL and sprained his MCL during a 114–120 overtime loss to 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 Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

, ending his season.

Toronto Raptors (2024)

On January 17, 2024, Lewis and a 2024 second-round pick were traded by the Pelicans to 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in exchange for cash considerations, before being traded to the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

, along with Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks in exchange for

Pascal Siakam Pascal Siakam ( ; born 2 April 1994) is a Cameroonian professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA Team, All-NBA selection, he won an NBA champ ...

. On January 19, 2024, the Raptors assigned Lewis to the

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fine Foods ...

of the

Utah Jazz (2024)

After playing only two minutes in one game with the Raptors, Lewis was traded to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

alongside Otto Porter Jr. and a 2024 first-round pick in exchange for

Kelly Olynyk Kelly Tyler Olynyk ( ; born April 19, 1991) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, where he earned NCAA All- ...

and Ochai Agbaji.

Capital City Go-Go (2024–present)

On September 29, 2024, Lewis signed with the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

, but was waived on October 12. On October 28, he joined the Capital City Go-Go.

National team career

Lewis played for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

, Greece. He averaged four points and 1.6 assists per game and helped his team win a gold medal.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, 54 , , 0 , , 16.7 , , .386 , , .333 , , .843 , , 1.3 , , 2.3 , , .7 , , .2 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 0 , , 14.2 , , .404 , , .224 , , .833 , , 1.6, , 2.0 , , .5 , , .0 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 25 , , 0 , , 9.4 , , .455 , , .441 , , .864 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.6 , - , style="text-align:left;"rowspan=3, , style="text-align:left;",

, 15 , , 0 , , 9.6 , , .308 , , .100 , , .909 , , .9 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .1 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 1 , , 0 , , 1.6 , , , , , , , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, 12 , , 0 , , 9.9 , , .450 , , .154 , , .778 , , 1.0 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , .1 , , 3.8 , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 131 , , 0 , , 13.3 , , .397 , , .294 , , .848 , , 1.3 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , .1 , , 5.2

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 34 , , 31.6 , , .433 , , .358 , , .783 , , 2.6 , , 2.9 , , .8 , , .3 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 37.6 , , .459 , , .366 , , .802 , , 4.8 , , 5.2 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , 18.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 65 , , 65 , , 34.5 , , .447 , , .362 , , .793 , , 3.6 , , 4.0 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , 15.9

References

External links

Alabama Crimson Tide bio

USA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Kira Jr. 2001 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball players from Alabama Birmingham Squadron players Capital City Go-Go players New Orleans Pelicans draft picks New Orleans Pelicans players Sportspeople from Madison County, Alabama Point guards Raptors 905 players Toronto Raptors players Utah Jazz players