Greg Lee (basketball)

Lee was born in the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles on December 12, 1951. His father, Marvin, played center for the UCLA Bruins under coach Wilbur Johns. Lee attended Reseda Charter High School, ==Basketball career==

Lee played point guard at the University of California, Los Angeles, from 1971 to 1974. When he arrived, freshmen were not allowed to compete on the varsity team. He played on the freshman team with Bill Walton and Keith Wilkes (later known as Jamaal Wilkes), and they went undefeated with a 20–0 record. In his sophomore year, Lee became a starter on the varsity squad. He and his classmates went on the 1971–72 Bruins squad and had a record of 30–0, winning its games by an average margin of over 30 points. Lee averaged 8.7 points per game, while Wilkes averaged 13.5 points and Walton 21.1. UCLA won the national title in 1972 over Florida State 81–76. The following year, the Bruins again went 30–0, and again won the NCAA tournament with an 87–66 win over Memphis State. Lee's 14 assists in the game set an NCAA championship game record. Lee re-established himself as the starter, and Curtis became a key reserve. and Andre McCarter's improved play also cut into Lee's playing time. The school's 88-game winning streak ended with a 71–70 loss to Notre Dame. The streak remains an NCAA men's basketball record. In his 2016 autobiography, Walton blamed Curtis for both the tournament loss as well as earlier defeats in the season, and lamented Lee's lack of playing time. During his collegiate career, Lee was named a three-time academic All-American. After his collegiate career ended, Lee was drafted by both the NBA and ABA. The Atlanta Hawks drafted him in the seventh round (115th pick overall) of the 1974 NBA draft and the San Diego Conquistadors drafted him in the fifth round of the ABA draft the same year. He chose the Conquistadors, averaging 3.6 points and 2.6 assists in five games. At the urging of former UCLA player John Ecker, Lee then played in West Germany for four seasons with TuS 04 Leverkusen. ==Beach volleyball career==

Lee did not play volleyball for UCLA. However, his older brother Jon was an accomplished beach volleyball player with a "AAA" rating. Jon introduced him to the game. Lee began playing in the sand courts at Sorrento Beach in 1970. Lee played in his first open at the Laguna Beach Open in 1972, finishing second with Ron Von Hagen. His first open victory was with Tom Chamales at the 1972 Santa Barbara Open. Lee reached the finals four times that year, winning twice. It was in Santa Monica in 1972 that Lee met what came to be his longtime beach partner Jim Menges. The two were partners on and off over the summers of the next two seasons while Menges completed his volleyball career at UCLA and Lee played professional basketball for a couple of years. Lee's best finish on the beach in 1974 was a second at the Manhattan Beach Open. Lee and Menges had become the most dominant pairing in beach volleyball. On the 1977 tour, Lee advanced to the finals three times, winning all of them. In 1978, he reached five finals, winning four times. Lee also won the 1981 Laguna Beach Open with Jay Hanseth. In 1981, Lee and Menges won their last open title, at the Mission Beach Open in San Diego. Lee's greatest success on the beach came when teaming with Menges. They were considered the kings of the beach in the mid- to late 1970s. From 1973 to 1982, Lee and Menges played in 30 tournaments together, winning 25, finishing second three times and third twice. They were never out of the top three. The pair also won pro beach volleyball's first World Championship in 1976. Following a loss that stopped Kiraly and Steffes from breaking the tour record of 13 tournament championships in a row set in 1975–76 by Lee and Menges, Kiraly said: "I guess it's appropriate that Menges and Lee stay in the record book. They laid the foundation for the sport." Lee scored additional victories with Hagen and Hanseth. In 1977, he left the sand to play professional basketball in Europe, returning to Southern California two years later. He entered a total of 62 opens, reaching the finals 39 times while collecting 29 tournament titles. He was inducted into the CBVA Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1997. ==Personal life==

Lee and wife Lisa were married for 48 years and had two children: Ethan and Jessamyn. In 1985, he became the varsity boys coach at Clairemont High, He died on September 21, 2022, at a hospital in San Diego. He was 70 and suffered from an infection linked to an immune disorder. ==References==