Lance Allred
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Salt Lake City, Utah ) | |
College |
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Al Rayyan Doha | |
2014–2016 | Leones de Ponce |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Lance Collin Allred (born February 2, 1981) is a former professional basketball player, who was the first deaf player to play an
Early years
Allred was born in Pinesdale, Montana, a fundamentalist Mormon polygamist commune. Allred's father is a high school history teacher.[1] He is the grandson of Rulon C. Allred, a prophet of the Apostolic United Brethren, a fundamentalist polygamous sect. Rulon was born in Colonia Dublán, Chihuahua, Mexico, which allowed Allred to receive Mexican citizenship.
Allred's family moved to Salt Lake City when he was seven, and he completely broke away from the church six years later.[1] He did not play organized basketball until eighth grade, when he joined a team in the local LDS Church league.
Allred's skills developed quickly. His height of nearly seven feet also contributed to his sporting skill. He was a star basketball player at
Basketball career
College career
Allred played in just 17 games, averaging 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in only 5.6 minutes per game during his freshman year. The following season (2001–02), his playing time increased slightly, but he continued to struggle. At the end of his sophomore year, he transferred to Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. After transferring, Allred accused Utah coach Rick Majerus of constant verbal abuse, usually focused on Allred's deafness.[4] Allred told The Salt Lake Tribune that Majerus had once said: "Lance, you've weaseled yourself through life using your hearing as an excuse. You're a disgrace to cripples.[1] If I was a cripple in a wheelchair and saw [the way] you play basketball, I'd shoot myself."[4] Two other Utah players confirmed some of what Allred claimed, but two assistant coaches said they never heard it.[4] Majerus denied the allegations while describing the statements as "extremely insensitive." An investigation concluded that Majerus did not discriminate against Allred.[4]
Allred saw increased playing time as a junior and averaged 11.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game for the Wildcats. He focused on his weight and strength in the offseason, building enough muscle to increase his weight from 240 pounds to about 270. In his senior year (2004–05) he led his team with 17.7 points and 12.0 rebounds per game. He ranked third in the nation in rebounding, trailing only Paul Millsap and Andrew Bogut. Weber State eventually made it to the championship game of the Big Sky Conference Tournament, where the Wildcats lost by two points. For his efforts, he was named First Team All-Big Sky and also First Team All-Utah by the Deseret News.
Professional career
Allred began his professional career as an injury replacement for the French
In 43 games (19 starts) with the
In 38 games (all starts) with the Idaho Stampede, Allred averaged 16.2 points on 51.2% shooting, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 29.6 minutes per game. He was named to the 2008 D-League's Red All-Star Team and was also the winner of the D-League's Dream Factory Friday night inaugural game of
On March 13, 2008, the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers signed Allred to a ten-day contract,[8] making Allred the first legally deaf player in NBA history. Allred made his debut for the Cavaliers on March 17, 2008, missing his only field goal attempt during 18 seconds of action.[2] On March 25, 2008, the Cavaliers signed Allred to a second ten-day contract.[9] On April 4, Allred was signed for the remainder of the 2007–08 season.[10]
After entering training camp with the Cavaliers for the
In January 2010, he returned to Idaho to play the remainder of the season with the Idaho Stampede.[12]
In 2011, Allred played for the New Zealander
National team career
Allred joined the Deaf team)\Mexico national team for the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games.[15][16]
Speaker
After his final season in Puerto Rico, with Leones de Ponce, Allred retired from basketball and established his own LLC, L Squared Productions. He began working as a keynote motivational speaker and television and radio sports analyst in his home state of Utah. In August 2015, Allred was asked to join the American Program Bureau, the oldest speakers' bureau in the world.
Allred mass released his second book, Basketball Gods: The Transformation of the Enlightened Jock, on Amazon in 2016.
Allred speaks to corporations, conventions, non-profits, and schools, on topics such as leadership, perseverance, and grit. On September 17, 2016, he was the opening speaker at TEDxSaltLakeCity, with his presentation, "What is your Polygamy?".[17] reaching 1 million views in less than 2 months. In March 2017, Allred released his third full-length book, How to Give the Million View TEDx Talk: What is Your Polygamy? Allred is also writing two books, a 14th-century historical novel and a Victorian satire.[18]
Allred's fifth book, The New Alpha Male: How to Win the Game When the Rules are Changing, was published in March, 2020 by Sounds True Publishers.
Personal life
Allred's autobiography was published in 2009: Longshot: The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA.
He competed in the 2002 World Deaf Basketball Championship in Athens, Greece, leading Team USA to a second-place finish.
NBA career statistics
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007–08 | Cleveland | 3 | 0 | 3.3 | .250 | .000 | .500 | .3 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 1.0 |
Career | 3 | 0 | 3.3 | .250 | .000 | .500 | .3 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 1.0 |
See also
- Miha Zupan, a deaf Slovenian basketball player who also plays professionally alongside hearing people
References
- ^ a b c d "Cavalier Lance Allred never plays. But what other rookie grew up in a cult and is writing a Jane Austen satire?, page 1". Archived from the original on May 4, 2008.
- ^ a b "Cavs hoping to get big help". Archived from the original on March 17, 2008.
- ^ "Big man Allred home at last with Cavs".
- ^ a b c d "Investigation finds Majerus did not discriminate". ESPN.com. January 22, 2004.
- ^ "Lance Allred Basketball Player Profile, Leones de Ponce, Weber St., News, BSN stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com.
- ^ "Lance Allred G-League Stats". Basketball-Reference.com.
- NBA.com. Archived from the originalon 2009-02-16. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
- ^ "Cleveland Cavaliers News Headlines". Cleveland Cavaliers.
- ^ "Cleveland Cavaliers News Headlines". Cleveland Cavaliers.
- ^ "Cleveland Cavaliers News Headlines". Cleveland Cavaliers. Archived from the original on April 7, 2008.
- ^ Allred's basketball journey takes new path. August 23, 2009. Retrieved on September 9, 2009.
- ^ "Karl, Allred to run with Stampede again".
- ^ "Players". SportsTG.
- ^ "LANCE ALLRED SE UNE A FUERZA REGIA". Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
- ^ "Mexico finalize squad for home event". Archived from the original on 2014-11-30. Retrieved 2014-11-27.
- ^ "Central American and Caribbean Games Veracruz 2014 - (Basketball) Biography - Overview : ALLRED Lance". Archived from the original on 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2014-11-27.
- ^ "What is your Polygamy? – Lance Allred – TEDxSaltLakeCity". TEDxTalks. October 7, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
- ^ "Cavalier Lance Allred never plays. But what other rookie grew up in a cult and is writing a Jane Austen satire?, page 2". Archived from the original on May 17, 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-06-171858-8.
External links
- Lance Allred's official website
- NBA Profile
- Lance page on Weber State's fans basketball site - WeberHoops.com
- Photo of Lance (on left side) in USA Deaf Basketball team during their time-out at 2002 World Deaf Basketball Championship in Athens, Greece
- USA Deaf Basketball official website
- Review of Lance Allred's autobiography by LDS historian Matt Bowman