Freddie Lewis

Lore & Background

Born in Huntington, West Virginia, Lewis was a fundamentally sound 6 ft guard who could pass, shoot, and defend equally well. He attended McKeesport Area High School (in Pennsylvania) and Arizona State University before being drafted by the NBA's Cincinnati Royals. Lewis played a prominent role on three American Basketball Association championship teams for the Indiana Pacers, averaging 16.6 points, 4.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds in seven seasons. His 11,660 points rank as sixth most in ABA history while his 2,883 assists rank 4th.

Reader's Guide

Lewis was a 10th-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Royals in 1966, earning a spot as Oscar Robertson's backup. He was selected by San Diego in the 1967 NBA expansion draft but instead signed with the Indiana Pacers of the ABA. In 1972, Lewis scored 23 points, collected 12 rebounds and dished out 6 assists for the Pacers in Game 7 vs. the Utah Stars in the semifinals, hitting two free throws with 24 seconds left for the winning points. He also led a comeback from a 20-point deficit in Game 5 vs. the New York Nets in the Finals, hitting the game-winning free throws with 17 seconds left. Lewis averaged 16.1 points per game, 4 assists and 3.9 rebounds in seven seasons with the Pacers. He was a three-time ABA champion and the 1972 Playoffs MVP. He also added three ABA All-Star appearances and the 1975 All-Star Game MVP award. After the Pacers lost to the Utah Stars in the 1974 Western Division Finals, Lewis was traded to the Memphis Sounds, then to the Spirits of St. Louis. He averaged a career high 22.6 points per game with the Spirits in 1974–1975, was named MVP of the 1975 ABA All-Star Game, and led the young team into the playoffs. However, Lewis suffered an ankle injury, and the Spirits bowed out to the Kentucky Colonels. After one more year with the Spirits, Lewis returned to the Pacers (who by this point had joined the NBA), and he retired in 1977 with 12,033 combined NBA/ABA career points. Lewis was selected to the ABA All-Time Team on August 23, 1997. He retired from professional basketball after the 1976-77 season and moved to California, where he spent nearly two decades working for Ozzie and Dan Silna, the former owners of the Spirits of St. Louis. Lewis later moved to Washington, D.C., where he was an inner-city schoolteacher. In 2002, Lewis moved back to Indianapolis with plans of joining the staff of Indianapolis' ABA 2000 team, and took over as head coach from former teammate Billy Keller during the franchise's final season. Alongside Mel Daniels and Bob Netolicky, Lewis was a fierce advocate for a pension to living ABA players, who did not receive a pension from the NBA despite the merger until an agreement was reached in 2022.

Did You Know?

• In eight ABA postseasons, he scored a total of 2,015 points, the second most in league history.
• Lewis was selected to the ABA All-Time Team in 1997, receiving 38 votes (13th most, with eleven Hall of Famers ahead of him).