Courtney Lee

Courtney Lee was born on October 3, 1985, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Pike High School in Indianapolis where he played for the Indiana 4A state championship winning team in 2003. Academically, he was also involved in the school’s art program, with multiple sketches submitted to local museums. Lee played college basketball for Western Kentucky University, setting a freshman scoring record with 461 points in 31 games during his first season. He earned First Team All-Sun Belt Conference honors for three consecutive seasons from 2005-06 to 2007-08. As a senior, Lee was named Sun Belt Player of the Year and contributed to the Hilltoppers’ Sweet 16 appearance in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, ranking 28th nationally in scoring with 20.4 points per game. He concluded his collegiate career tied as Western Kentucky’s all-time leading scorer with 2,238 points across 127 starts, demonstrating consistent performance and leadership.

Lee’s professional career began when he was drafted 22nd overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2008 NBA draft. He quickly made an impact, scoring a season-high 21 points against the Los Angeles Clippers in February 2009 and a then-career high 22 points against the New York Knicks in March 2009. During the 2009 NBA playoffs, he scored 18 points in Game 1 and 24 points in Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers. Following his time with the Magic, Lee was traded to the New Jersey Nets in June 2009, where he led the team in steals (93), three-point shots made (76), and free throw percentage (86.9%) during the 2009–10 season. He achieved a career high of 30 points on March 8, 2010, against the Memphis Grizzlies.