Kalin Lucas

Kalin Lucas
Kalin Lucas
Born	May 24, 1989 (age 37); Detroit, Michigan, United States
Occupation	Professional basketball player
Years active	2007–present
Known for	Collegiate basketball at Michigan State University; professional basketball career internationally and in the NBA

Kalin Jay Lucas (born May 24, 1989) is a professional basketball athlete from the United States. He competed at the collegiate level representing Michigan State University.

High school career

Ranked as a four-star prospect by Rivals.com, Lucas was positioned as the sixth-best point guard and the 38th overall player nationwide in the class of 2007.

College career

During his freshman year with the 2007–08 Spartans, Lucas averaged 25.1 minutes per contest and led the squad with 13.5 points per game throughout their journey to the Sweet Sixteen.

In his sophomore campaign, Lucas received accolades including Big Ten Player of the Year, All-Big Ten first team, and Michigan State's Most Valuable Player, guiding the Spartans to the National Championship matchup against North Carolina. He topped MSU’s charts in scoring (14.7 points per game), field goals made (173), free throws converted (172), assists (4.6 per game), and playing time (31.9 minutes per game).

Lucas repeated as an All-Big Ten first-team selection in his junior season and shared team MVP honors with Raymar Morgan. He delivered a crucial winning basket against Michigan but endured an ankle sprain followed by a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture during the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Despite his absence, Michigan State advanced to their second consecutive Final Four.

In his senior year, Lucas earned Team MVP recognition and was named to the All-Big Ten second team. He concluded his collegiate career as Michigan State’s all-time leader in free throws made (507) and attempted (637), joining an elite group of four Spartans who surpassed 1,500 points and 500 assists, finishing with a total of 1,996 points.

2011–2015

Lucas signed with Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League on July 23, 2011. After being released on January 24, 2012, he promptly joined Turkish club Banvit five days later for the remainder of that season.

He participated with the San Antonio Spurs during the 2012 NBA Summer League in July 2012 and subsequently re-signed with Banvit for the 2012–13 campaign.

On September 27, 2013, Lucas secured a contract with the Chicago Bulls, but was waived shortly after on October 2. In November of that year, he became part of the Iowa Energy roster in the NBA Development League, affiliated with Chicago.

Lucas competed for the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2014 NBA Summer League held in July. He signed with Memphis on September 25 but was waived exactly one month later. Returning to Iowa Energy on October 31, he re-signed with Memphis on November 4 only to be waived again on November 9 without appearing in a game. After rejoining Iowa on November 12, Lucas signed once more with Memphis on November 19 and made his NBA debut that day. He was waived again on November 20 and returned to Iowa Energy by November 22.

In March 2015, Lucas departed from Iowa Energy to join TED Ankara Kolejliler competing in the Turkish Basketball League.

2015–2019

Lucas initially signed with Chinese team Qingdao DoubleStar in July 2015 but was released following a tryout period. He returned to TED Ankara Kolejliler in August of that year and was selected for the Turkish League All-Star Skills Challenge; however, he withdrew due to injury.

On October 29, 2016, Lucas made his way back to the Iowa Energy, delivering averages of 16.9 points, 5.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.1 steals across 14 games before being traded on December 22 to the Erie BayHawks in exchange for rights to Jordan Sibert and a third-round draft pick.

He inked a deal with the Orlando Magic on August 31, 2017, but was waived by October 13. Subsequently, he joined Israeli outfit Hapoel Jerusalem for the 2017–18 season.

For the following season (2018–19), Lucas played with the G League’s Stockton Kings. On January 15, 2019, he signed a two-way contract with the Detroit Pistons.

2020–present

On February 15, 2020, Lucas inked a contract with Crvena zvezda, competing in both the ABA League and EuroLeague, for the remainder of the 2019–20 campaign.

Later, on August 13, 2020, Ironi Nahariya confirmed his acquisition; during his tenure there, he averaged 21.1 points alongside 4 assists per contest. In 2021, Lucas moved to Maccabi Haifa within the Israeli Basketball Premier League, where he recorded averages of 14.5 points, 4.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.0 steal each game.

On September 7, 2021, Lucas committed to Gigantes de Carolina of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional, posting an average of 19 points and 9.6 assists per match. By November 8, 2021, he signed with Merkezefendi Belediyesi Denizli Basket in the Basketbol Süper Ligi, producing averages of 14.1 points and 5.2 assists.

On February 15, 2022, Lucas agreed to terms with Forlì competing in the Serie A2 Basket. Subsequently, on November 4, 2022, he joined Al-Jahra in the Kuwaiti Division I Basketball League, where he achieved consecutive career-best performances with two 50-point games and maintained an average of 44.6 points per outing.

On February 16, 2023, Lucas signed with Sharjah SSC based in Dubai. On January 9, 2024, he entered into a contract with Homenetmen Beirut in Lebanon but was denied entry into the country. Following this, on January 23, 2024, he became part of BCH Garid, and on March 7, 2024, he secured a deal with Real Estelí.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 1 || 0 || 6.0 || .000 || - || - || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 0.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 1 || 0 || 6.0 || .000 || .000 || 1.000 || 3.0 || 1.0 || .0 || .0 || 2.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 2 || 0 || 6.0 || .000 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.5 || .5 || .5 || .0 || 1.0

EuroLeague

†	Indicates seasons during which Lucas secured the EuroLeague title

|- | style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"| 2011–12† | style="text-align:left;"| Olympiacos | 9 || 3 || 18.0 || .388 || .462 || .833 || 1.6 || 1.0 || .8 || || 5.4 || 3.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20 | style="text-align:left;"| Crvena zvezda | 3 || 0 || 13.0 || .250 || .000 || || .3 || 3.0 || .3 || || 1.3 || 2.3 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan=2|Career | 12 || 3 || 16.8 || .368 || .375 || .833 || 1.3 || 1.5 || .7 || || 4.4 || 3.1

Personal life

Lucas is related to fellow professional basketball player Rob Edwards, who is his cousin.

External links