Ray Lewis, the Angeleno with the gift of rain

Perhaps this is a even more touching story than that of Ben Wilson, since for every crossover in basketball's history we have to thank Raymond Lewis, who, when he was just a child, used to roll up his socks and throw them in the garbage basket during the "Watts Riots".

In 1969 The Verbum Dei High School had a gym where not many great things used to happen and the school's sports program had some massive gaps, especially regarding basket. One day, though, a guy with a ball under his right arm arrived, a slim boy with a hint of Afro hair and huge sideburns. He had an unreal ability in coordinating his feet, legs, hands, as well as a poetic release. After winning two matches, scoring over 50 points himself, he made everyone fall in love with his "Speed Dribble”.

When a storm suddenly hit us, we often start to walk faster and strive looking for a kind of a shelter, but the rain falls anyway anywhere it must fall. The peculiarity of Raymond was exacly the same of the rain, he never scored one point from the same spot, for every action he used to always come up with something different from any spot in the field, coming from every side, just like the rain.

A poet who in every verse pronounced the verb of rain. The public went crazy for him and invented a chant like: RAY, MAKE IT RAIN! RAY, MAKE IT RAIN! RAY!. He leads the school to the "Back to back to back". It is now time to go to the college, but where? On the table there are 250 proposals but he choose CAL State University, Los Angeles, because they gave him a  red corvet and the promise to bring with him a big part of his teammates. His coach in his book "Runnin' Rebel: Shark Tales Extra of [...] it wrote: "The son of bitch beat us in single-handedly. He made to move on Glenn that was I know smooth Glenn wound up stress with fracture in is ankle. Raymond literally broke Glenn's ankle."

38.9 average points in the first season in front of David Thompson (future member of the Naismith Hall of Hunger). Philadelphia 76ers choose him with the 18th position in the NBA Draft of the 1973 behind Doug Collins, a future All-star. What happened then confined him in a real limbo. During the training camp, he humiliated an ex member of the USA Olympic team in Munich '72, 60 points only in the first quarter and Coach Gene Shue had to suspend the game to avoid that Colling could feel more embarrassed by Lewis. However when the 76ers offered a major contract to Doug, Ray does not take the thing in the right way, and in last games he was boycotted: he played few minutes and he never receive the ball. It is nicknamed “The Phantom”. His obsession for the money made him end on a "Blacklist" that will never allow him to enter again in the NBA. Ray Lewis is over.

But this story doesn't end here, because the roads keep on speaking of him, the rain keeps on falling. Unfortunately he never came out from that limbo, sticked to the hell of alcohol and drugs. After a serious infection he was forced to amputate his leg before his death in 2001, exacly while Allen Iverson performed that crossover during the shocking run to the Nba Finals.

Still today after 15 years his soul has never left Watts and this was the poem written for his funeral:

Make it rain, Ray Lewis, Shoot, Shoot,

in the middle of the night make it rain, Ray Lew, Make It Rain.

At Verbu Dei there was never a drought on game day.

At L.A. College it was the same way.

“What’cha say?” - Shoot, Shoot, Shoot

love the rack like a woman. if it’s true love, when you 

let it go, it will come back to you.

Make it Rain, Ray Lew, make it rain, Ray Lew

Shot the smoothest 20 footer i’ve ever seen.

Like a slingshot David, he shot down Goliath teams.

Everybody scream, “Lay up! Lay up!" and Sho-nuff,

the nets were swish, and begged for Mercy,

and other schools wished they had

Ray Lew on their time-list. Shoot, shoot, shoot.

 Make It Rain, Ray Lew, make it rain.