http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/ny-splee145052357jan14,0,3535659,print.story

LIFTOFF! David Lee has been a SLAM DUNK for Knicks, fans
BY ALAN HAHN
Newsday Staff Writer

January 14, 2007

David Lee had been set up.

He had a deal with Eddy Curry, his roommate at the 2001 McDonald's High School All-American game in Raleigh, N.C. The game's organizers were trying to fill out the field for the slam-dunk contest, which included the seemingly unbeatable James "Flight" White. Everyone else figured to be battling for second place.

Curry, a Shaq clone as a high school senior and a given for the NBA draft, wanted Lee to enter the contest. So he said he'd participate too. "And," Curry added, "I'll try to break the backboard on every attempt."

Lee was in. Who wouldn't want to see the 6-11, 300-pound Curry shatter the glass in a dunk contest that would be televised on ESPN?

But it would never happen because, as the story goes, Curry pulled out at the last minute. He never intended to participate.

Curry, however, had a plan for his buddy, a 6-9 pogo stick from St. Louis who was headed to the University of Florida along with White and Kwame Brown as part of the nation's top recruiting class.

Curry told Lee to blow all of his dunks in warmups. Miss a few layups while you're at it. And as he did, the crowd started cracking up. Yo, the three-point contest is in the other gym.

But then ... On his first real dunk, he broke for the basket, switched the ball from hand to hand under his leg and slammed it down. Next he did an old-school one-handed dunk after taking off from the foul line. And for an encore, with his back to the basket and while standing at the foul line, he bounced the ball between his legs and off the backboard before catching it and slamming home a reverse dunk.

The crowd was stunned.

David Lee can bring it!

A baby-faced Lee then won with a dunk even he can't explain almost six years later. In a move that has been emulated in more recent dunk contests, he started on the baseline to the right of the basket, tossed the ball in the air, pulled off his jersey and leaped bare-chested for an emphatic, dramatic and dynamic reverse slam that had the crowd roaring.

White rose to his feet and gave the Gator chomp with his arms for his future teammate.

This is David Lee. He can bring it. And that "it" is one reason why the Knicks are worth watching again.

The slam-dunk contest aside, Lee is really more one part Dave DeBusschere, one part Charles Oakley. He's got a lot of that David Wright squeaky-cleanness to his personality and yet there's plenty of class clown in him. And he's become so much of a Garden favorite that he receives ovations when he enters the game.

"The first time I met Dave, I knew he was a cool person," said Curry, who first met Lee during a high school tournament earlier that season. "Anybody that doesn't like Dave, you got to question their character."

Curry may be on the verge of becoming the Knicks' next big star, but Lee already is a folk hero. "David's a floor-burn guy, he's a great hustle guy and he's a great energy guy," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "He's going to give you an honest day's work. When you watch him play, you have an appreciation of him."

More importantly, in his second NBA season, Lee has emerged as one of the top rebounders in the league. As of this past Thursday, he was sixth in the NBA with 10.5 rebounds per game and led the Knicks in rebounding in 12 straight games before Wednesday's win over the 76ers, when Curry had 10 to Lee's six.

His rebounding is what is often talked about, but Lee also connected with Jamal Crawford for one of the most memorable plays in recent Knicks history. His miraculous tip of a long-range inbounds pass with three-tenths of a second left in the second overtime beat the Charlotte Bobcats on Dec. 20. (If you haven't seen it, you definitely want to YouTube it.)

Along with the emergence of Curry as a dominant low-post scorer, Lee is exactly what the Knicks have needed as they try to rebuild an identity that has been terribly damaged since the lunch-pail days of the Jeff Van Gundy era abruptly ended in 2001.

Lee not only can play, he plays a very New York way. He makes you believe he easily would have fit on those Pat Riley teams, as well as Van Gundy's and undoubtedly Red Holzman's.

"The fact that it's New York is what makes me take a step back and appreciate that they respect me like they do ... All they want is effort," Lee said. "They want you to go out there and give everything you got and try to help your team win. They respect anybody who plays hard."

He lets the fans and the media handle the campaign to make him a full-time starter or, if anything, a legitimate candidate for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award. He's more interested in being part of a winning team here.

He missed an NCAA championship at Florida by one year; during that year, he was a rookie in the cesspool that was Larry Brown's Knicks last season.

He spent a lot of time on the phone with his AAU coach from St. Louis, Eric Long, who kept him focused through the worst of it. Lee still talks with Long after every game and marvels at his sudden success.

"He was smart enough to figure it out: There's only a few superstars in the NBA," Long said. "Everyone else are role players. David created a niche where he could be good."

It's not as if he entered the NBA known as a rebounder. He didn't enter college as a rebounder, either. He just became one by choice and determination. And after a challenge by Donovan, who benched him at the end of a blowout loss to Florida State early in his senior season.

"David, you need to make a decision, man," Donovan told him. "You need to step up and be the player you're capable of being or just tell me you can't handle it and I'll bring you off the bench and play you in a lesser role instead of a focal role."

Lee came back the next game and dominated. He averaged a double-double for the rest of the season and had a better understanding of what it would take to make it in the NBA. "I think that grabbed his attention," Donovan said.

It helped that Lee already had an uncanny ability to anticipate the direction of the basketball as it hits the rim. Blend that with his wiry frame, above-average leaping ability, terrific hands and pure effort, and you have yourself a top 10 rebounder. And his ambidexterity makes him a threat around the basket because a defender never knows which hand he'll use.

Lee spent the past summer in New York with some of his teammates preparing for this season. He put a lot of work in on his offensive game, which still has room for improvement. But it's not as if you can practice being a good rebounder. That was already in him.

"I think you can either do it or you can't," coach Isiah Thomas said. "I think it's a talent. I don't think it's a matter of if you work really hard, you can become a good rebounder. I think it's a gift."

Much like that dunk contest, Lee can step onto an NBA floor totally unnoticed. He doesn't have that powerful Ben Wallace physique or that impressive Dwight Howard size. Before Lee recorded his second double-double against the Denver Nuggets, Marcus Camby grinned at him and said, "My job is to block out the white boy."

Lee still wound up with 15 boards.

David Lee can bring it.

Board-er line

David Lee ranks among the NBA's best rebounders this season.

Overall rebounding

Dwight Howard (ORL) 12.8
Kevin Garnett (MIN) 12.5
Marcus Camby (DEN) 12.1
Carlos Boozer (UTH) 11.7
Chris Bosh (TOR) 11.5
Tyson Chandler (N.O.) 11.3
Emeka Okafor (CHA) 11.1
Jermaine O'Neal (IND) 10.5
David Lee (Knicks) 10.4


Rebounds per 48 minutes

Dikembe Mutombo (HOU) 20.4
Reggie Evans (SEA) 20.3
Marcus Camby (DEN) 17.8
Jeff Foster (IND) 17.7
Dwight Howard (ORL) 16.9
David Lee (Knicks) 16.7


Offensive rebounds per game

Ben Wallace (CHI) 3.9
David Lee (Knicks) 3.8
Tyson Chandler (N.O.) 3.7
Emeka Okafor (CHA) 3.7
Jeff Foster (IND) 3.6
Dwight Howard (ORL) 3.6

(Games through Friday. Source: NBA.com)

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

nice writeup. he does get the loudest pop from the crowd. and you see he has history with eddy that goes back to high school.

but what is that crap from his AAU coach about? is this guy saying that david is just a "niche" player? whoever this eric long dude is sounds like a total douche.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 01-15-2007 11:34 AM]

Lee is awesome. One thing that I think helps these Knicks is how many friendships are there. I read Curry was Nates best friend on teh team. that surprised me. Frye and Lee are good friends. Qrich and Jcraw are good friends. Most of them are friends with Curry. I think the dunk setup story was hillarious

I think Lee needs to stay away from AAU coaches they all want to latch on with these players

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a niche player. Its what i've been saying all along with David lee and its no insult. David has a job to do and its very well defined. He's not the first, second, or third look on offense, in fact, he probably has no plays run for him. He does his job. He fills his role, or 'niche' if you will. He's not going to win any scoring titles or make any all-star games (i think) but he will be an Oakley-esque figure here for years to come (i hope).

Posted by izybx:

Id rather have Sean May. He is losing weight!

who knows, he may just be the next Michael Sweetney.

Funny, I never watch much of the Mcdonalds games but because it was in NC that year I did watch it and that dunk contest. naturally it stuck with me cuz the "white kid won".

I think he was not quite 6-9 then, more like 6-6 or 6-7 and was suppose to be a wing player.

The hype behind Curry then was he was the next Shaq.

I have to give credit to Isaiah not only for obtaining Curry and Lee, but for their development. He understands what each needs to do to become succeed and puts them in the best position to do that.