6-9 forward Lee Nailon is from South Bend, IN and went on to play basketball at Texas Christian University where he straight balled. I wouldn’t say he balled SO hard, but one might say he balled EXTREMELY hard. To answer your next question no he was not on the “Glory Road” team, glad we got that out of the way. Nailon joined TCU in 1997 and became the go-to-guy as a Freshman. In 33. 3 mpg he scored 24.9 ppg, shooting 55.4% from the field, 50% from 3 pointville (probably 1-2), and grabbed 8.9 boards a game. Let me remind you this beast was only a Freshman, but let the record show he was not playing in a major conference. Nailon and the Horned Frogs went 27-6 (14-0 in conference play) that year under Billy Tubbs, but sadly they went on to lose to FSU in the first round of the big tourny. As a Sophomore Nailon averaged 22.8 ppg, 50.5 FG%, and 9.3 rpg. TCU made it to the NIT that year but lost in the quarterfinals. Lee Nailon would leave for 1999 NBA draft instead of averaging 27 ppg in his junior year and maybe raising his draft stock.
With the 43rd overall pick Lee Nailon was drafted to the Charlotte Hornets. Looking back I’m sure the Hornets might have wished they took Manu Ginobili, but like all the other teams not named the Spurs, they clearly didn’t get the Argentinian. In his rookie year Nailon only scored 3.9 ppg, but his next season he was able to become a starter for half of the season. He scored 10.9 ppg, shot 49% from the field, and brought down nearly 4 rebounds a game. The Hornets actually made the playoffs that year (the only time Nailon appeared in the playoffs) and he averaged 7.7 ppg in only 17.8 mpg. But after he proved he was a solid role player and a scorer, he was waived by the Hornets to be picked up by the New York Knicks. With the Knicks he would average 5.5 ppg, but the next year in 2004 he would find himself on the Atlanta Hawks where once again he would average just over 5 points a game. Of course he was waived by the Hawks and signed two 10-day contracts with the Orlando Magic where he only play in eight games. After that he signed another two 10-day contracts with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he was able to play in 22 games and start in 4 games. Nailon in his short time averaged 7.7 ppg in just 18 minutes.
It seemed that Nailon again and again proved he could play, and finally he was able to start when the New Orleans Hornets signed him in 2004. Nailon started in just over 50 games and had a breakout season averaging 14.2 ppg and 4.4 rpg. He finally sealed a spot on a team, but then he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason. In just 22 games Nailon averaged 4 points a game until he was traded to the Cavs for a 2nd round draft pick (which the Sixers didn’t even end up gettting). The Cavs waived Nailon and he wouldn’t make another appearance in the NBA again. In just 6 years, Lee Nailon managed to play for 7 different teams…
After the league, Nailon went to play for Bnei HaSharon in Israel, then he went to Russia with the Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, then in Lebanon with the Al-Riyadi, then of course he played with Leones de Ponce and Piratas de Quebradillas in Puerto Rico, and finally went back to Bnei HaSharon.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Nailon was getting his shots up overseas.
-Schotz
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