Pali High Basketball’s Avery Lee Follows in Footsteps of His Older Sibling
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
If you had to pick one phrase to describe Avery Lee on the basketball court, “tough as nails” would be an accurate description. The Palisades High senior attributes much of his success to the battles he had growing up with older brother Kyle—most of which ended with him on the losing end and with bumps and bruises to boot.
“What did I learn from him? I learned how to get my butt whooped,” Lee said after scoring a season-high 30 points in a double-overtime loss to Anaheim Servite in the Harvey Kitani Classic at Farifax on January 14. “My competitive nature comes from wanting to keep up with my brother all those years. It taught me to push through pain and adversity. It definitely toughened me up. Now when we go one-on-one I can hold my own most of the time.”
Kyle is currently a sophomore guard at Colorado College, an NCAA Division III school in Colorado Springs, where he also plays lacrosse. Avery is dead set on playing collegiately as well, possibly at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he received an early decision offer.
“Right now it’s the frontrunner,” he said.
As a junior point guard in 2019-20, Kyle helped Palisades win the City Division I title—its first boys basketball championship since 1969—and reach the SoCal Regional Division IV finals. Avery was a freshman on JV who remembers the varsity team’s magical run and he hopes to engineer one himself come March.
“That group was very experienced and very team-oriented—they moved the ball around and looked for the best shot,” Lee said. “This team should emulate that. My brother got a ring, so it would be great to get one too. This is my last chance.”
Lee has led the Dolphins in scoring in nearly every game so far this season but it is his defensive tenacity that most impresses head coach Donzell Hayes.
“He’s a killer… you don’t get to coach kids like him very often,” Hayes said. “Avery made All-City as a sophomore, which says a lot about his talent. He’s a deadly shooter and he’s fearless under pressure—you have to hope he misses!”
Asked to compare the brothers, Hayes said it is like apples and oranges: “They’re so different. All I can say is that the game means the world to Avery.”
Fellow senior Drew Kerkorian has the unenviable task of trying to guard Lee in practice and described what it is like: “He has bulked up a lot since last year, which makes him harder to defend. He’s shifty, he has a quick first step, he can fade away, he has great footwork and he’s not afraid to take it to the basket so you have to be on your toes at all times. He definitely makes me better because I know there aren’t many guys around who are as good as him.”
Kerkorian can relate to his teammate’s desire to make his family proud in that his older brother (Nick) also graduated from Pali High, where he was an All-City guard and two-year captain for the Dolphins, before going on to play in college (he is now a senior at Haverford, a Division III school in Pennsylvania). In fact, Drew proudly wears the same number—12—as Nick.
“When my brother was playing they ran the same plays we run now and just like I remember going to all of his games, now he comes to my games whenever he’s in town,” Kerkorian said.
Lee grew up in Westwood near UCLA, went to Westwood Charter Elementary and Paul Revere Middle School and honed his skills on travel teams like Fastbreak and Pacific Hoops. He also played AYSO until he was 8 and enrolled in Taekwondo as a kid, stopping after he earned his white belt with yellow stripe. Since age 3 he has been fueled by a desire to be the best.
Lee prides himself on coming through in the clutch and makes good on the motto: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Taking the last shot is something he thrives on and there is no better example of his clutch play than his halfcourt heave at the buzzer to stun host Venice in overtime 55-52 in Palisades’ regular season finale last winter—a victory that clinched the Dolphins’ first-ever Open Division playoff berth. Lee made the All-Western League second team.
Lee’s court vision and pinpoint passing make him one of the team’s assist leaders. He can mix it up in the low post or light it up from the perimeter, playing guard or forward, and his free throw percentage ranks among the highest in the City. He has been held under double digits only twice all season and is averaging around 20 points per game, but despite his gaudy stats the only number he cares about is the one in the win column.
“I got a lot stronger over the summer because I knew that with guys like Charlie [Moore] and Bowdoin [Brazell] graduating I was going to need to play a bigger role,” Lee said. “My main focus this season has been on leadership. It’s my turn to step in and be the one who sets the example. It all starts in practice and hopefully that intensity carries over to the games.”
Lee scored 17 points to spark a comeback win at LACES a week ago Monday, had a team-best 11 two nights later at Fairfax and added 20 last Friday against Hamilton. He netted 22 points in a losing effort Monday against Westchester. Three league games remain before the Dolphins embark on another playoff journey and whatever division it is, Lee hopes it is a long one.
“We know we can play with anyone but teams overlook us because of our record,” Lee said. “That’s what happened the year Pali won it so maybe it’ll be a repeat of that. How far we go is up to us.”
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