Maxwell Lewis (born July 27, 2002) 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 who last played for the

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), ...

of 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 ...

(NBA). 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

Pepperdine Waves The Pepperdine Waves are the athletics teams of Pepperdine University, located outside the city of Malibu, California. They compete at the NCAA Division I, Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA. The school is a me ...

. Lewis was selected in the second round with the 40th overall pick by 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 ...

in the

2023 NBA draft The 2023 NBA draft, the 77th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft consisted of 58 picks instead of the typical 60 for the second ...

, but was traded to 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 draft night. As a rookie, Lewis and the Lakers won the first ever NBA Cup championship in 2023. During his time with Los Angeles, he has been assigned to their

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 ...

affiliate the

South Bay Lakers The South Bay Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the NBA G League. Founded in 2006 as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the first ...

several times before being traded to the Nets in 2024.

Early life

Lewis' father, Robert, is from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and moved for work to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, where Lewis was born and raised. Robert served as a coach in recreational youth leagues in the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...

. Lewis played basketball in his childhood but stopped playing organized basketball as an elementary school student at the request of his father who believed that a coach was treating him poorly. Lewis instead studied the saxophone to replace his idle time but continued to play pickup basketball and trained with his older brother. He had a growth spurt four years later that enabled his father to let him play basketball again and made a return in a National Junior Basketball League. Lewis led the league in scoring and attracted attention from coaches but enrolled at Somerset-Losse specifically to play in its jazz and concert bands.

High school career

Somerset-Losee did not have a basketball team during Lewis' freshman year so he played

junior varsity A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At High school, ...

Mojave High School Mojave High School, is a nine-month public high school that is part of Clark County School District located in North Las Vegas, Nevada. After a year of sharing a campus at Cheyenne High School on a "double session" schedule where Cheyenne stude ...

. Somerset-Losee introduced a boys basketball team during Lewis' sophomore year in 2017–18 where he averaged 28 points and 13 rebounds per game. Lewis desired greater competition than the outstate schools and other charters that Somerset-Losee played so he transferred to Ed W. Clark High School and reclassified to the graduating class of 2021. He was relegated to junior varsity amid the transfer rules of the

Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for high schools in the state of Nevada. In addition, five schools in the state of California (Coleville, Needles, North Tahoe, South Tahoe, and T ...

and decided to transfer again to AZ Compass Prep. Lewis thrived against national competition during his junior season in 2019–20 and earned scholarship offers from high major college programs. On July 21, 2020, he announced that he would bypass college and his senior high school season in favor of Chameleon BX, a preparatory program in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, which was designed to prepare players for the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

. Lewis trained for several months with emphasis on strength, cardio and calisthenics but departed before the program concluded. He returned to Las Vegas and preserved one year of club basketball where he played in 2021 as an unsigned senior. Lewis no longer had offers from the high major colleges that had recruited him but received a scholarship offer to play for the

under head coach

Lorenzo Romar Lorenzo Romar (born November 13, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as an assistant coach for the Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball, Loyola Marymount Lions, a position he has held since 2024. He pre ...

College career

Lewis missed the first three games of his career with the Waves due to the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) reviewing his eligibility after attending Chameleon BX. He played as a reserve during his freshman season with the Waves and averaged 11 points per game. On February 12, 2022, he suffered a season-ending wrist injury. Lewis was selected to the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

(WCC) All-Freshman team. Lewis was moved to the starting lineup during his sophomore season, and averaged 16.6 points per game. He was selected to the All-WCC Second Team. Lewis gained the attention of

(NBA) executives throughout the season who were enticed by his physical dimensions and shot creating abilities. On March 20, 2023, Lewis declared for the

. He was invited to participate at the NBA Draft Combine.

Professional career

Los Angeles / South Bay Lakers (2023–2024)

Lewis was selected with the 40th pick in the

by the

. His draft rights were traded to the

later in the draft. On July 8, 2023, Lewis signed with the Lakers. On December 9, 2023, Lewis and the Lakers won the inaugural season of the

NBA In-Season Tournament The NBA Cup is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) tournament that occurs during the regular season. The tournament was officially announced on July 8, 2023, and it debuted during the 2023–24 NBA season. The first edition of the ...

. Throughout his rookie and sophomore seasons, Lewis has been assigned several times to the

Brooklyn Nets (2024–2025)

On December 29, 2024, Lewis,

D'Angelo Russell D'Angelo Russell (born February 23, 1996), nicknamed "DLo", is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected as a McDonald's All-American in 2014 and played college ...

, and three future second-round picks were traded to the

in exchange for

Dorian Finney-Smith Dorian Lawrence Finney-Smith (born May 4, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball, Virgini ...

and

Shake Milton Malik Benjamin "Shake" Milton (born September 26, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Southern Methodist University (SMU) fr ...

. On January 1, 2025, in his first game with Brooklyn, Lewis suffered a fractured left

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

and was subsequently ruled out for at least four weeks. On April 3, Lewis made his first start of his career in which he recorded 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists in a 105-90 loss against 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 ...

. On June 27, Lewis was waived by the Nets.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 34 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .190 , , .111 , , .667 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , .0 , , .3 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2, , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 7 , , 0 , , 4.1 , , .333 , , , , , , .3 , , .3 , , .1 , , .0 , , .6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, 21 , , 1 , , 14.2 , , .422 , , .380 , , .700 , , 2.5 , , .8 , , .4 , , .3 , , 5.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 62 , , 1 , , 7.0 , , .380 , , .339 , , .692 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .2 , , .1 , , 2.0

References

External links

College statisticsPepperdine Waves bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Maxwell 2002 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from Las Vegas Brooklyn Nets players Denver Nuggets draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players Pepperdine Waves men's basketball players Small forwards South Bay Lakers players