Portland Trail Blazers (1982–1984) Lever was selected by the
Portland Trail Blazers with the 11th pick in the
1982 NBA draft out of
Arizona State. While at ASU, his guard-tandem teammate was
Byron Scott, who left school early (1983) to sign with the
San Diego Clippers. In his NBA debut, Lever recorded 9 points, 7 assists and 4 steals in a road loss against the
Kansas City Kings. On January 20, Lever recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 13 assists in a road loss against the Mavericks. Three days later, Lever recorded his second career double-double when he had 11 points and 10 assists in a road win over the Spurs. On March 20, Lever scored a season-high 19 points to go along with 6 assists as the Trailblazers beat the Nuggets. During his rookie season, Lever averaged 7.8 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game, 5.3 assists per game, and 1.9 steals per game. The following season, on December 3, 1983, Lever scored a then-career-high 28 points off the bench, including a three point shot to send the game into overtime, during a 128–122 win over the
New Jersey Nets.
Denver Nuggets (1984–1990) Lever was considered one of the NBA's best
point guards in the late 1980s while playing for the
Denver Nuggets. In his debut with the Nuggets, Lever recorded 14 points and 12 assists in a win over the Warriors. On November 6, Lever recorded a double-double of 24 points and 18 assists in a road win over the Lakers, the first time it happened in Nuggets history. On March 9 against the Pacers, Lever recorded his first career triple-double with 13 points, 15 assists and a career-high 10 steals. On April 10, Lever recorded a double-double of 26 points and 18 assists in a road loss against the Los Angeles Clippers. At that time, he joined Magic Johnson (in 1982–83) as the only players since the ABA-NBA merger to have at least 2 regular season games with 24 points and 18 assists. In his first season with the Nuggets, Lever averaged 12.8 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, 7.5 assists per game, and 2.5 steals per game. The next season, Lever continued his impressive performance for the Nuggets. On November 12, 1985, Lever recorded his first 30-point double-double as he recorded 31 points, 12 assists, and 9 rebounds in a road loss to the Rockets. Despite his size (6 feet 3 inches), Lever regularly led the Nuggets in
rebounding. He is the Nuggets' all-time franchise leader in steals and was 2nd in career assists. He is one of only three players in NBA history to record 15 plus points, rebounds, and assists in a single
playoff game (the others being
Wilt Chamberlain and
Jason Kidd).
Dallas Mavericks (1990–1994) Lever was traded by the Nuggets to the
Dallas Mavericks in 1990 for the Mavs' #9 pick in the
1990 NBA draft plus Dallas' first-round pick in the
following one. The Nuggets subsequently traded the #9 pick and their own #15 pick to the
Miami Heat for the Heat's #3 pick in the 1990 draft, with Denver sending the Mavs' 1991 first rounder (which was originally the
Detroit Pistons' pick they acquired in the
Mark Aguirre/
Adrian Dantley trade) to the
Washington Bullets along with
Michael Adams, for the Bullets' first-round pick in the 1991 Draft. Lever sat out the entire
1992–93 season due to knee injury. He left the Mavericks in 1994 and finished his career with averages of 13.9 points, six rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.22 steals per game. ==Career accomplishments==