Lucas attended Ohio State University where he played 3 years and lead the Buckeyes in scoring all 3 seasons. In total he played in 82 career games and averaged 24 points and 17 rebounds. He was also a member of the highly glorified 1960 United States men’s national team which included Jerry West and Oscar Robertson.

The Cincinnati Royals used a territorial selection on Lucas in 1962. But Lucas would put off playing for the Royals and instead played for the Cleveland Pipers of the ABL. The Pipers where own by George Steinbrenner of New York Yankees fan, and he tried to get the Pipers admitted to the NBA. The ABL sued and the deal became a giant mess and fell through.

Lucas finally joined the Royals in 1963 and ended up having a solid rookie season averaging 17 points and 17 rebounds which earned him a place on the all rookie team and an all-star selection. Lucas averaged a 20/20 in his second year scoring 21 points and game and pulling down 20 rebounds per game and he would follow it up with another 20/20 season in 1966. His 21 rebounds in 1966 was a career high as was his 22 points a game. The Royals seen limited playoff success despite the numbers put up by Lucas. They made only one deep playoff run and that was in Lucas’s rookie season.

After six exceptional seasons with the Royals he was traded to the San Francisco Warriors. His days with the Warriors where no were near his days with the Royals but he still managed to put up respectable numbers averaging 15 points and 14 rebounds.

He lasted only two seasons with the Warriors before he was traded to the New York Knicks. His numbers with the Knicks would decrease some more but he became a key role player for the Knicks in their 1973 NBA championship.

Lucas retired in 1974 after three seasons with the Knicks and 11 total. He appeared in 829 career games and averaged 17 points and 16 rebounds. He was selected to the NBA hall of fame in 1980.

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