Leonard J. Elmore (born March 28, 1952) is an American sportscaster,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and former

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) player. Elmore has served as a

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 ...

analyst for

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

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

and has served in the same capacity for

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

' coverage of the NCAA Tournament and NBA. He played in the NBA from 1974 to 1984 for various teams, including 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 ...

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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, New Jersey Nets, and

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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

Early life and NBA career

Elmore attended Power Memorial Academy in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, leading its basketball team to the City championship and the "Number 1 Team in the Nation" in 1970. He graduated from the University of Maryland College Park in 1974 where he was a three-time All- ACC player and an All-American in 1974. He is still Maryland's all-time leading rebounder, in both total rebounds and rebounding average. In 2002, Elmore was selected to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team, honoring him as one of the 50 greatest players in ACC history. Elmore is a ten-year veteran of the NBA having played for the

(currently known as the

Sacramento 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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

, New Jersey Nets (

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), ...

, and he also played two seasons with the Pacers when they were in the ABA.

Career statistics

ABA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1974–75 , align="left" ,

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 ...

, 77 , , - , , 18.4 , , .417 , , 1.000 , , .774 , , 5.1 , , 0.5 , , 0.9 , , 1.2 , , 6.6 , - , align="left" , 1975–76 , align="left" ,

, 76 , , - , , 34.1 , , .402 , , .000 , , .738 , , 10.8 , , 1.6 , , 1.8 , , 2.3 , , 14.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 153 , , - , , 26.2 , , .407 , , .250 , , .749 , , 7.9 , , 1.0 , , 1.3 , , 1.8 , , 10.6

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1974–75 , align="left" ,

, 18 , , - , , 31.4 , , .437 , , .000 , , .676 , , 8.1 , , 0.9 , , 1.2 , , 2.2 , , 10.6 , - , align="left" , 1975–76 , align="left" ,

, 3 , , - , , 22.7 , , .300 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 5.0 , , 1.3 , , 1.7 , , 0.7 , , 6.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 21 , , - , , 30.1 , , .418 , , .000 , , .684 , , 7.6 , , 1.0 , , 1.2 , , 2.0 , , 10.0

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1976–77 , align="left" ,

, 6 , , - , , 7.7 , , .412 , , - , , .800 , , 2.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.7 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , 1977–78 , align="left" ,

, 69 , , - , , 19.2 , , .368 , , - , , .667 , , 6.1 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , 5.4 , - , align="left" , 1978–79 , align="left" ,

, 80 , , - , , 15.8 , , .406 , , - , , .718 , , 5.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 4.2 , - , align="left" , 1979–80 , align="left" ,

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, 58 , , - , , 15.8 , , .430 , , .000 , , .689 , , 4.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 4.5 , - , align="left" , 1980–81 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 72 , , - , , 12.8 , , .358 , , .000 , , .720 , , 2.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.7 , , 2.9 , - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, 81 , , 70 , , 25.9 , , .460 , , .000 , , .794 , , 5.4 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , 1.1 , , 9.1 , - , align="left" , 1982–83 , align="left" ,

, 74 , , 0 , , 13.2 , , .398 , , .000 , , .643 , , 3.2 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 3.4 , - , align="left" , 1983–84 , align="left" , New York , 65 , , 5 , , 12.8 , , .408 , , .000 , , .711 , , 2.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 2.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 505 , , 75 , , 16.6 , , .413 , , .000 , , .715 , , 4.2 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 4.6

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1979–80 , align="left" ,

, 3 , , - , , 14.3 , , .308 , , .000 , , .500 , , 3.7 , , 0.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , 1980–81 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , - , , 3.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , - , , 38.0 , , .563 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 8.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 11.0 , - , align="left" , 1982–83 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , - , , 7.5 , , .400 , , .000 , , .500 , , 4.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 11 , , - , , 13.3 , , .429 , , .000 , , .750 , , 3.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 3.3

Broadcasting career

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, Elmore served as the color commentator for CBS' number-two

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

broadcasting team (behind Dick Stockton and

Hubie Brown Hubert Jude Brown (born September 25, 1933) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Bas ...

), calling much of the Western Conference Playoff action alongside play-by-play man Verne Lundquist. He was also paired with

Kevin Harlan Kevin Robert Harlan (born June 21, 1960) is an American television and radio sports announcer, and a 3 time National Sportscaster of Year as voted by his peers. The son of former Green Bay Packers President and CEO Bob Harlan, he broadcasts NF ...

for the first season for the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

in the NBA. In

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, Elmore alongside Lundquist, called the legendary East Regional Final between

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, which ended with Duke's

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball, Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegi ...

's game-winning shot. Elmore posted on his Twitter account that he was one of over 100 employees at ESPN that were laid off in April 2017.

Law career

Elmore received a J.D. from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1987 and began his law career as a

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

, serving as an Assistant

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. Aside from his announcing duties, Elmore also previously served as Senior Counsel with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae in New York City, where he currently resides and is the president of the National Basketball Retired Players Association. He also is a member of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. Elmore teaches ''Seminar in Sports Media'' and ''Athlete Activism and Social Justice'' in Columbia University's Master of Science Program in Sports Management.

Citations

General and cited references

NBA: Len Elmore player stats

*
Len Elmore ESPN Bio

Len Elmore Columbia University Faculty Bio

External links

Len Elmore
on episode 485 of the public radio interview program ''Person, Place, Thing'' (13 April 2024) {{DEFAULTSORT:Elmore, Len 1952 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American lawyers All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players American sports agents Basketball players from New York City Centers (basketball) College basketball announcers in the United States County district attorneys in New York (state) ESPN people Harvard Law School alumni Indiana Pacers draft picks Indiana Pacers players Kansas City Kings players Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks players Minnesota Timberwolves announcers New Jersey Nets players New York Knicks players New York (state) lawyers Power forwards Washington Bullets draft picks