Lee Nailon

Lee Nailon

Personal information
Born	(1975-02-22) February 22, 1975 (age 50) South Bend, Indiana, U. S.
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school	Clay (South Bend, Indiana)
College	Southeastern Iowa CC (1995–1996) Butler CC (1996–1997) TCU (1997–1999)
NBA draft	1999: 2nd round, 43rd overall pick
Drafted by	Charlotte Hornets
Playing career	1999–2014
Position	Power forward / small forward
Number	54, 4, 33
Career history
1999–2000	Adecco Milano
2000–2002	Charlotte Hornets
2002–2003	New York Knicks
2003	Atlanta Hawks
2004	Orlando Magic
2004	Gary Steelheads
2004	Cleveland Cavaliers
2004–2005	New Orleans Hornets
2005–2006	Philadelphia 76ers
2006–2007	Bnei HaSharon
2007–2008	Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
2008–2009	Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut
2009	Leones de Ponce
2010	Piratas de Quebradillas
2010–2011	Bnei HaSharon
2011	Atomerőmű SE
2012	Panteras de Aguascalientes
2012	Goyang Orions
2012–2013	Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca
2013–2014	Panteras de Aguascalientes
Career highlights
Israeli League MVP (2007) Israeli League Top Scorer (2011) Third-team All-American – AP, USBWA, NABC (1998) WAC Player of the Year (1998) 2× First-team All-WAC (1998, 1999)
Career NBA statistics
Points	2,622 (8.6 ppg)
Rebounds	936 (3.1 rpg)
Assists	298 (1.0 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Lee Nailon (born February 22, 1975) is an American professional basketball player who played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the 2007 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP. In 2011, he was the top scorer in the Israel Basketball Premier League. He had an All-American college career at Texas Christian University. In 2022, Lee Nailon became the head basketball coach for Carbondale Community High School in Carbondale, Illinois.

High school career

Nailon was a graduate of South Bend Clay High School where, along with sophomore and former Purdue player, Jaraan Cornell, the two led the Colonials to capture the 1994 Indiana State Championship title, scoring a combined 46 points.

College career

Nailon started his college career playing one year at Southeastern CC (Iowa) before transferring to Butler County CC (Kansas) for his sophomore year then finishing his career playing his final two years (1997–1999) at Texas Christian University where he averaged 23.9 points and 9.1 rebounds, earning first-team WAC All-Conference honors both seasons.

Professional career

Nailon was a second round (43rd overall) pick of the Charlotte Hornets in the 1999 NBA draft. He has played for the Hornets (in separate stints for both Charlotte and New Orleans franchises in 2000 to 2002 and 2004–05 respectively), the New York Knicks (2002–03), Atlanta Hawks (2003–04), Orlando Magic (2003–04), Cleveland Cavaliers (2003–04) and Philadelphia 76ers (2005–06). Nailon feuded with coach Paul Silas while at Charlotte over minutes played which led to him being released and leaving for the Knicks. Nailon got into multiple confrontations with Silas during a preseason game in 2002 which led to his dismissal. ^[1] Nailon was recommended to play for the Knicks in a phone call then coach Don Chaney made to Silas. ^[1] While playing for the Knicks Nailon was frustrated over lack of playing time. ^{[2] [3]} He holds NBA career averages of 8.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. His international experience includes playing for Adecco Milano in Italy (1999–2000), Bnei HaSharon in Israel (2006–07; 2010–11), Lokomotiv Novosibirsk in Russia (2007–08), Al-Riyadi in Lebanon, Leones de Ponce (2009) and Piratas de Quebradillas in Puerto Rico (2010).

In the 2006–07 season, Nailon led Bnei HaSharon to the Israeli Cup final, shocking the champions, Maccabi Tel Aviv, in the semifinal (eventually losing to Hapoel Jerusalem in the final). He was named the 2007 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP.

Nailon re-signed with Bnei HaSharon on August 1, 2010. ^[4] In 2011, he was the top scorer in the Israel Basketball Premier League.

In 2018, Nailon was drafted 6th overall by the Ghost Ballers of the United States–based BIG3. ^[5]

Career statistics

Legend

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

NBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2000-01	Charlotte	42	0	11.2	.485	.000	.744	2.2	.6	.21	.12	3.9
2001-02	Charlotte	79	41	24.2	.483	.500	.747	3.7	1.2	.75	.22	10.8
2002-03	New York	38	0	10.7	.442	.000	.824	1.8	.7	.16	.08	5.5
2003-04	Atlanta	27	0	11.1	.457	.000	.842	2.3	.6	.37	.26	5.3
2003-04	Orlando	8	0	10.4	.407	.000	.778	1.8	.5	.13	.00	3.6
2003-04	Cleveland	22	4	18.0	.451	.000	.800	3.0	.8	.18	.05	7.7
2004-05	New Orleans	68	51	29.7	.478	.000	.806	4.4	1.6	.53	.24	14.2
2005-06	Philadelphia	22	0	10.8	.500	.000	.867	1.9	.3	.36	.18	4.2
Career		306	96	19.0	.474	.111	.786	3.1	1.0	.43	.10	8.6

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2002	Charlotte	9	1	17.8	.458	.000	.789	2.7	.7	.3	.0	7.7

References

1. Vecsey, Peter (November 8, 2002). "Why Silas Hammered Nailon; Pair Almost Came to Blows During Preseason Game".
2. Price-Brown, Laura (November 21, 2002). "Nailon Tries To Get Past His Past". Newsday.
3. Borden, Sam. "For Nailon, Half a Wish". nydailynews.com.
4. Israeli - Men Basketball. Retrieved on August 1, 2010.
5. "Lee Nailon – BIG3". BIG3. Retrieved June 14, 2018.

External links

• Career statistics from NBA.com  ·  Basketball Reference
• Safsal.co.il Profile