Penn State Basketball’s Lamar Stevens, the ‘heart and soul’ of Cavaliers
By Evan Smith
Penn State Basketball standout Lamar Stevens is coming into his own with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and taking the NBA by storm
Lamar Stevens continues to turn heads in the NBA after a career-high 23 points in a Cleveland Cavaliers win over the Utah Jazz.
Stevens, undrafted out of Penn State Basketball, initially signed a two-way contract with the Cavaliers and then last year earned his first NBA contract. It was also recently announced that Stevens’ contract was guaranteed for the rest of the year, coinciding with a renaissance of sorts for Cleveland this year, who are a surprising tied for 5th in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Let’s look at Penn State Basketball alum Lamar Stevens’ last few games for Cleveland:
1/9 — 34 minutes, 17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
1/10 — 20 minutes, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
1/12 — 30 minutes, 23 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
Stevens started all three games, with the Cavs going 2-1 in that stretch, losing only to Golden State in Klay Thompson’s return game.
Teammates are starting to notice, calling Lamar the ‘heart and soul’ of the team (and Lamar’s reaction can be found here):
The Cleveland Cavaliers will guarantee the contract of forward Lamar Stevens, keeping him with the team for the remainder of the season, per sources.
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) January 7, 2022
Stevens has become a staple of the #Cavs rotation this season and more or less the heart and soul of their locker room.
It will never be fair that Lamar Stevens didn’t end up the Nittany Lions‘ all-time leading scorer, falling just seven points shy of Talor Battle’s record when COVID-19 ended his senior year at least two games early. But he’s more than making up for it now.
Check out all 23 points of Stevens’ career night, thanks to the Cavaliers twitter!
https://twitter.com/cavs/status/1481630617666207748