<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">He enters the tiny room for an appointment an hour before a news conference scheduled in his honor, filling up the doorway at 6 feet 10. He grins and extends a hand, strikingly polite and genuine, just as his mother's scouting report suggested. "I'm Rashard," he said. The No. 9 Orlando Magic jersey he wore for an in-house photo shoot already had given away his identity, of course. Still, Rashard Quovon Lewis realizes formal introductions will be necessary for a while. A nine-year NBA veteran, Lewis is a top-flight scorer, finishing last season with a 22.4 average. He hung a career-best 50 points on the L.A. Clippers in the 2003-04 season and became an all-star the season after that. His name and game are largely a mystery in Orlando, though. "They may have seen flashes of me on SportsCenter," he said. What many Magic fans know about Lewis now is that he will make about $118 million -- and they really don't know what they are getting in this erstwhile free agent. Usually, a player making that kind of money doesn't need his resume Googled. Lewis arrives as an unknown factor, his ability virtually a rumor here, the result of being based in the Pacific Time Zone with the Western Conference also-ran Seattle SuperSonics and playing in the shadow of Ray Allen. It is not an entirely new feeling for him. "Not just now, because I'm with a different team in Orlando, but I've always had that feeling ever since I was playing in Seattle or at least before I finally established myself," Lewis said. "I still have that feeling that a lot of people don't know me or recognize me. "I feel like I have to continue to make a name for myself in the NBA." He had to make up ground from the start as a second-round pick by the Sonics, often on the rebound after his entry as a Houston high school star backfired on a teary-eyed draft night in 1998. He blossomed quietly in the Great Northwest as Allen's respected sidekick, vice presidential in stature, without widespread media acclaim or major endorsements. Lewis thinks he is ready to be cast as a leading man on the floor and a community ambassador for the Magic. He wants to build a Ronald McDonald House here with a home theater for kids, as he did in Seattle. He comes to Orlando still peaking as a player at 27, capable of carrying a team from the perimeter or the post. He said he has matured as a person, still true to his family roots after being raised by a strong-willed mother and The Good Book Jesus. As anecdotal proof of his maturity, he sheepishly pointed to the large, dark tattoo on his left forearm. It is in the shape of the state of Texas. But he got it to blot out a previous tattoo of a cartoon character from his youth. "It was time to cover up Marvin the Martian," he said. At last, Rashard Lewis thinks the time -- and his timing -- is right for him to properly introduce himself. Birth of a future NBA star Fittingly, 18 years before leaving high school for the NBA, Lewis came out early. He was born 41/2 weeks ahead of schedule in Pineville, La., seven minutes behind his twin sister, Kirsten. The twins were a surprise to their mother, Juanita. She scrambled for names. "One of my brothers was a football nut and controlled the TV," Juanita said from Houston. "I remember watching [former NFL receiver and broadcaster] Ahmad Rashad. I thought he was so smooth and graceful. I liked the name." The spelling was a little different, but Rashard it was. Juanita already had picked out Chiffon as her daughter's middle name. A nurse suggested Quovon for Rashard. "So I had Chiffon and Quovon," she laughed. "Rashard hates it. Kids teased him." Rashard appeared destined to become a football star like his namesake. After the family moved to Houston, Juanita took Rashard and Kiah, Rashard's brother, to the local YMCA to sign up for sports. Both boys wanted to play basketball, but Juanita, as a single mother, only had enough money to pay the fees for one of them. Kiah, being the oldest by two years, had first choice, leaving Rashard upset. Rashard played football until taking up basketball in the seventh grade. A four-inch growth spurt had steered him to hoops. He became a star at Alief Elsik High School in Houston, playing for Coach Jerrel Hartfield. "Rashard got better every year," said Hartfield, now retired. "By the time he was a junior, there already was talk about the NBA." A fateful draft night One "horrific night," according to Hartfield, helped drive Lewis to become the player the Magic are getting. Lewis declared for the 1998 draft. He was certain he would be a first-round choice: His hometown Rockets held three of the picks, after all. But no team called his name in the opening round. Devastated and embarrassed -- all of his teammates and friends had gathered at Hartfield's ranch home to watch -- Lewis bolted from the green room. He left to "go cry" in a restroom stall before the Sonics chose him in the second round with the 32nd pick. "I'm over it, because I've been in the league for nine years," he said. "But at the same time . . ." He still can recite the names of the pedestrian players taken before him. Just last week, he sat with his mother and other family members, watching a DVD highlight package of himself put together by Hartfield's sons, Matt and Mark, that included that draft-night snub. "Just sitting there watching it, it just hit me in my heart," Lewis said. "I honestly had a tear in my eye. But there were so many people in the room, I had to kind of laugh it off. "I was 18 then. I didn't know if my dreams were being shattered before my eyes. It motivated me, because my confidence had been shot down." Hometown team comes calling Dreams soon were realized. Lewis repaired his psyche during the '98 NBA lockout, playing against pros in Houston. The Sonics took one look at Lewis' fire and silky jumper in a pickup game and signed him to a two-year deal before camp. The metamorphosis of Rashard Quovon Lewis had begun. After a washout rookie season playing behind veteran Detlef Schrempf, Lewis steadily progressed. By his third season, he became a starter. "Rashard made himself into a [heck of a] player," former Sonics coach Bob Hill said. Lewis' game outgrew the Sonics' plans to rebuild. He knew he had to leave after the club drafted Kevin Durant and traded Allen. So he opted to spend his prime in Orlando with Dwight Howard. "I don't know if anybody knows how good Rashard really is, because he's done a great job of adapting his whole career," Allen said after the draft. "He's played with me, and he's played with Gary [Payton]. "I never thought Rashard played second fiddle; it's just that Gary and myself are very demonstrative." Evidence Lewis had made it big came on July 1, the first day teams could court free agents. He found a box on his doorstep, sent by the Rockets, of all people. There was a jersey with his name on it. "I feel like there are still more steps to take," Lewis said. "I can see more steps on the stairs. I feel like I haven't gained a lot of respect, being in the Pacific Northwest. I wasn't seen very much, because I didn't play in the playoffs a lot. "I hope now people are getting ready to know Rashard Lewis."</div> Source: Orlando Sentinel
