Saben Anthonia Lee (born June 23, 1999) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Pacific Division (NBA), P ...

of the

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

(NBA), on a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

and was selected in the second 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 ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

by 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 league's Western Conference, Northwest Division. Since the 1991–92 season, ...

before being subsequently traded to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

. He has also played for the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

Early life and high school career

Lee grew up in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

and attended

Corona del Sol High School Corona del Sol High School is located in Tempe, Arizona, United States. It was established in 1977 and is a part of the Tempe Union High School District. History The local architecture firm of Michael & Kemper Goodwin Ltd. was hired to design ...

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as s ...

. As a junior, Lee was named first-team All-State after averaging 18 points, five rebounds, and three assists per game. Lee committed to play college basketball at Vanderbilt after his junior year over offers from Louisville, Stanford, Florida State, and Nebraska. He was again named first team All-State as a senior and scored 39 points against Cesar Chavez High School in the state semifinal to lead the Aztecs to the state title game before falling to Basha High School.

College career

Lee served as the Commodores starting point guard as a true freshman and averaged 10.6 points, 3.1 assists and a team-leading 1.2 steals per game. As a sophomore, Lee averaged 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game. As a junior, he averaged 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game and was named second team All-SEC by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

. He scored a career high 38 points on March 3, 2020 in an 87–79 win over

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

. Following the end of the season, Lee declared for the

. On May 1, he announced he was signing with an agent and forgoing his last season of eligibility.

Professional career

Detroit Pistons (2020–2022)

Lee was selected 38th overall by the

in the

, then subsequently traded to the

on November 22, 2020. On December 1, 2020, the

signed him to a two-way contract with their

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

affiliate, the

Motor City Cruise The Motor City Cruise are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Detroit, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons. The Cruise play their home games at Wayne State Fieldhouse. The franchise began play a ...

. On May 11, 2021, Lee scored a career-high 22 points in a 119-100 loss to the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. On August 6, 2021, the Pistons re-signed Lee to a multi-year contract. On April 1, 2022, Lee achieved his first career

double-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 ...

, with 11 points and 12 assists in a 110-101 win against the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

Raptors 905 (2022)

On September 26, 2022, Lee was traded with Kelly Olynyk to the

for

Bojan Bogdanović Bojan Bogdanović (; born 18 April 1989) is a Croats, Croatian professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the Croatia men's national basketball team, Croatian national ...

. He was waived by the Jazz on October 9. On October 11, Lee signed an exhibit 10 contract with the

. He was waived on October 13. On October 16, Lee signed an exhibit 10 contract with 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 league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Atlantic Division (NBA) ...

, but was waived the same day. On October 18, Lee joined the

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

of the

Philadelphia 76ers (2022)

On November 23, 2022, Lee signed with the

, replacing Michael Foster Jr. on a

. On December 26, he was waived in favor of

Louis King Louis King (June 28, 1898 – September 7, 1962) was an American actor and film director of westerns and adventure movies in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.

Return to the 905 (2022–2023)

On December 28, 2022, Lee was re-acquired by the

Phoenix Suns (2023–present)

On January 11, 2023, Lee signed a 10-day contract with the

. He signed a second 10-day contract with the Suns on January 21. Lee signed a

with the Suns on February 1. He was named to the G League's inaugural Next Up Game for the 2022–23 season.

Career statistics

Regular season

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

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, 48 , , 7 , , 16.3 , , .471 , , .348 , , .685 , , 2.0 , , 3.6 , , .7 , , .3 , , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 0 , , 16.3 , , .390 , , .233 , , .789 , , 2.4 , , 2.9 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, 2 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , .750 , , .000 , , , , .0 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .0 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 23 , , 1 , , 15.8 , , .393 , , .379 , , .737 , , 2.0 , , 2.8 , , .8 , , .0 , , 6.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 110 , , 8 , , 16.0 , , .427 , , .292 , , .733 , , 2.1 , , 3.2 , , .8 , , .2 , , 5.7

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Vanderbilt , 32 , , 29 , , 26.8 , , .462 , , .307 , , .726 , , 3.0 , , 3.1 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Vanderbilt , 32 , , 32 , , 32.6 , , .460 , , .362 , , .675 , , 3.3 , , 3.8 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 12.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Vanderbilt , 32 , , 17 , , 32.9 , , .483 , , .322 , , .752 , , 3.5 , , 4.2 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , 18.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 96 , , 78 , , 30.7 , , .471 , , .328 , , .718 , , 3.3 , , 3.7 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 13.9

Personal life

Lee is the son of former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

running back

Amp Lee Anthonia Wayne "Amp" Lee (born October 1, 1971) is an American football coach and former professional running back who played nine seasons in the National Football League. Playing career Lee was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the secon ...

and Vanderbilt University Law Graduate, Natalie Williams.

References

External links

Vanderbilt Commodores bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Saben 1999 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball players from Phoenix, Arizona Delaware Blue Coats players Detroit Pistons players Motor City Cruise players Philadelphia 76ers players Phoenix Suns players Point guards Raptors 905 players Utah Jazz draft picks Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball players