Lewis Kevin Lloyd (February 22, 1959 – July 5, 2019) was an American

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. A 6'6" swingman from

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

, he played most of his professional career for the

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 ...

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

Early life

Lloyd played his

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

basketball at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, the same as Wilt Chamberlain, where he earned the nickname "Black Magic."

College career

He graduated from

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

after starting his

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

career at the junior college, New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell. Lloyd averaged 30.2 points and 15 rebounds per game in his junior year and 26.3 per game as a Senior. He was a two-time winner of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

Player of the Year while at Drake.

Professional career

Golden State Warriors (1981-1983)

Lloyd was selected in the fourth round of the 1981 NBA draft by the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

. He played seven seasons in the NBA.

Houston Rockets (1983-1987)

After two seasons in Oakland, he moved to the

, where he would play three full seasons, appearing in 246 out of 246 possible regular season games while always scoring in double digits. In late 1986, however, he tested positive for

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

alongside teammate Mitchell Wiggins, incurring a -year suspension from the league.

Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets (1988-1989)

While suspended from the NBA, Lloyd played for the Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

during the 1988–89 season. He averaged 18.8 points and 6.6 rebounds over 18 games.

Return to Houston and Philadelphia 76ers (1989-1990)

Soon after his reinstatement in September 1989, Lloyd was released by Houston, retiring at the end of the season after two games with the Philadelphia 76ers, holding averages of 13 points, three rebounds and three assists, in 388 games. He also appeared in 20 post-season contests in 1986 as the Rockets reached the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

, losing 4–2 to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

Personal life

After retiring from basketball in the 2000s, Lloyd conducted youth basketball clinics, and coached at basketball camps in Philadelphia, Des Moines, and Wichita. Lloyd died on July 5, 2019.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Lewis 1959 births 2019 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball players Basketball players from Philadelphia Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets players Doping cases in basketball Drake Bulldogs men's basketball players Golden State Warriors draft picks Golden State Warriors players Houston Rockets players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States NBA players banned for drug offenses New Mexico Military Institute alumni Philadelphia 76ers players Philippine Basketball Association imports Pop Cola Panthers players Shooting guards Small forwards United States Basketball League players