The player who really knows this player may be his time with the Lakers, when he watched the lean player provide good firepower on the offensive end, and the moment when Nick Young shot the shoot. He's not a star player and not much of the spotlight is on him, but he always has a way of making himself the kind of player the team needs.
He was announced in the draft in 2005 when he was a high school player. Yes, he became the last high school player in the NBA! He was only 18 years old and had mediocre physical talent, so he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 45th overall pick in the second round.
In high school, Lewis was a veritable "proud son of heaven", and in 05, he also won the Naismith Award, which represents the highest honor for high school players in the United States. Elected Mr. State Basketball for two consecutive years. Despite his high school turmoil, the NBA poured cold water on the former star player.
In his rookie season, which was also the 05-06 season, Lewis played in only 30 games with the 76ers, averaging 4.8 minutes per game and scoring a pitiful 1.9 points, which is a big gap to consider that Luwe can average 30+ per game in his second season of high school.
But fortunately, after two years of polishing, in the 07-08 season, he ushered in a turning point in his career, he played 23 minutes, and averaged 11.5 points per game, which is also the year when the 76ers always returned to the long-lost playoffs. In the playoffs, Luwes also performed well, although the team was eliminated by the Pistons 4-2, but he personally averaged 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in 22.5 minutes per game, which made the team start to pay attention to this skinny guard who is only 1.85 meters.
Philadelphia 76ers period
At the end of the season, also in the '08 offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers offered a five-year, $25 million contract to keep Lowe. In the 08-09 season, Luwe played in 81 games for the 76ers, averaging 12.8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal per game, helping the team enter the playoffs for two consecutive years.
In the 09-10 season, Lowe averaged 29.9 minutes per game, scoring 14 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals, and made a lot of progress on both the offensive and defensive ends, especially on the offensive end, becoming the most important scoring point on the team's bench.
In the 11-12 season, in his final season in Philadelphia, Lewe's scoring reached a career-high 14.9 points, ranking second only to Harden in the Sixth Man of the Season selection.
In the 2012 offseason, the Atlanta Hawks announced the signing of Lewis as a free agent, and while Luwes was preparing for his new team, he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and was reimbursed for the season. In 39 games, he averaged 14.1 points, 3.6 assists and 2.1 rebounds.
Atlanta Eagles period
Then, in the 13-14 season, Luwe's competitive form was significantly affected, averaging only 10.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
In the 2014 offseason, the Toronto Raptors traded John Salmons for Hawks guard Lu Wei and 2013 first-round pick No. 16 Lucas Nogueira for signing.
In the 14-15 season, Lowe scored a career-high 36 points with his third career team. He was also named Player of the Week for the first time in his career. In a game against the Cavaliers on March 5 , 2015 , Lowe scored 21 points in the final quarter , setting a new single-quarter scoring record. This year, Lewis is the most "terrifying" scorer on the bench in the league, and his height of 1.85 meters may be the best way to limit him. On April 21, 2015, the NBA officially announced that Louis Williams was named the season's "Sixth Man of the Year." That season, Lewell played in 80 games for the Raptors, all off the bench, averaging 15.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game, and was also the first player in Raptors history to score the "Best Sixth Man".
Toronto Raptors period
Despite his excellent performance in the Raptors, in the offseason, Luwell signed with the Los Angeles Lakers and eventually joined the Los Angeles Lakers for $21 million in 3 years.
In the 15-16 season, Lewis of the Lakers still performed well off the bench, averaging 15.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.9 steals per game, while breaking Zi's career-high score of -44 points again in the middle of the season, scoring at least 35 points in two consecutive games for the first time in his career, and scoring a total of 137 points in four consecutive games, becoming the most points in four consecutive games as a bench in the NBA since the 1970-1971 season.
Los Angeles Lakers period
But this season for the Lakers for
For his part, Lewis didn't really get played, after all, almost the entire league was on a retirement tour for Kobe Bryant that season.
In the 16-17 season, in 58 games with the Lakers, Lu Wei averaged 18.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 24.2 minutes per game.
Short rocket career
After just 23 games with the Rockets, the Rockets went off in 2017
The period completed a 7-for-1 deal, which led to Chris Paul and Lowe went to the Los Angeles Clippers.
In the 2017 game against the Wizards, Lowe shot 4-of-8 from three-point range (1007), surpassing Danny Granger (1006) in career three-pointers and rising to 94th all-time. Just two days later, Lowe hit four more three-pointers, surpassing Maurice Peterson (1009) and moving up to 93rd all-time. On January 3, 2018, Lu Wei was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the second time in his career. On January 16 , Lowe was named Player of the Week for the second time of the season and third in his career. On January 21, against the Jazz, Lowe recorded an astonishing 31 points, 7 assists and 10 steals, becoming the first player in NBA history to score at least 30 points and 10 steals in a single game since Michael Jordan in January 1988. On January 29, 2018, against the Pelicans, Lowe came off the bench with 22 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, scoring at least 20 points off the bench in 12 consecutive games, the longest 20 points off the bench since the 63-64 season.
Los Angeles Clippers period
At the end of the season, Lowe was 73rd all-time in three-point shooting. He played in 79 games this season, averaging 22.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game, becoming the highest bench player in the NBA in nearly 28 years. On June 26, 2018, Lu Wei was named the "Best Sixth Man" of the season, winning the second award in his career. He also became the fifth player in NBA history to win the "Best Sixth Man" award multiple times.
In the '18-'19 season, Lowe became the third player in history to score 10,000 points with the Clippers. In the game against the Blazers on November 9, Lewis came off the bench with 20 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists, and exceeded 12,000 career points, becoming the 241st player in NBA history to break the 12,000-point mark and the 25th active player at the time. Facing the Lakers on December 29, Lewis scored at least 35 points off the bench for the 11th time in his career, ranking first in NBA history. Facing the Bulls on January 26, Lewis came off the bench to score 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, scoring a "triple-double" for the first time in his career. In the Feb. 14 game against the Suns, Lewis came off the bench to score 30 points and 10 assists, and for the third time in his career, he had at least 30 points and 10 assists, and was also the bench player with the most 30+10 (points + assists) in NBA history. On March 9, Luwe's career bench score reached 11,154 points, rising to the first place in NBA history.
Throughout the season, Luwe's performance was almost a template for a good sixth man, playing in 75 games, averaging 20 points, 3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 0.8 steals per game, while being named "Sixth Man of the Season" for the third time in his career and tying Jamal Crawford for the third time in his career.
During the Clippers period, Lewis could do almost everything on the offensive end, and at that time his ability was completely a starter-level player, although he would become the focus of the opponent on the defensive end, but he could always find himself in his offense, so the 4 seasons with the Clippers were the best 4 seasons of Luwe's career, After that, Luwei joined the Hawks in the 21-year offseason as a backup for Trae Young, and in the subsequent Hawks period, Lowe also continued to surpass his predecessors and break records. His bench career is the ceiling for all NBA bench players
Enjoy retirement
Now looking at Luwe's entire career from the beginning, I am afraid that some of the starters will not be able to do his whole appearance, playing 1,001 games as a substitute in his career, the first in history, and no one has played more than 1,000 games after that.
He played in 1,123 regular season games in his career, averaging 13.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 0.8 steals in 24.1 minutes per game, and was tied for first place in history for three times in his career. The first player since the 1970-1971 season to start fewer than 400 career games and score 15,000 points. After ending his contract with the Hawks, the 36-year-old Lewis never appeared on the NBA again, and on June 18, 2023, the legendary "sixth man" announced the end of his 17-year career.
Someone may break Lewe's record, but he will still be one of the best bench players in NBA history. Happy retirement to this NBA legend bench player!
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