Lance Allred, First Deaf Player in NBA, Invited to Pacers Training Camp

Filed under: Pacers, NBA D-League

Lance Allred, the first legally deaf player to ever play in the NBA, has signed a contract with the Indiana Pacers and has already arrived in Indiana in preparation for training camp next week.



"I arrived in Indiana (Sunday) night and had a good day of training for my first day," Allred told FanHouse. "(Tyler) Hansbrough and (Jeff) Foster are both out with injuries, and so I was very excited to come, knowing I would get some reps."



Allred, a 6-foot-11 power forward-center, played in three games for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2007-2008 season after being called-up from the NBA Development League's Idaho Stampede. After his initial 10-day contract, Allred was signed for the remainder of the regular season as well as the postseason, though didn't appear in any playoff games and was unable to make the team out of training camp the following season.



Since then, the 29-year-old Allred played briefly in Italy sandwiched around two separate stints with the Stampede for which he's played in 156 career games. Allred's averaged 13.7 points and 8.4 rebounds in 27 minutes of playing time in his D-League career, developing from a sporadically used role player in 2006-2007 to the most consistent, fundamentally-sound big man in the D-League over the course of the following three seasons.

 

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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/09/21/lance-allred-first-deaf-player-in-nba-invited-to-pacers-traini/