Former Golden State Warriors champion Damion Lee has announced his retirement from basketball, having been in the NBA for eight years which included four in the Bay Area.
Lee played 201 of his 315 regular season games with the Warriors between 2018 and 2022, including 63 with the franchise during their triumphant campaign to the NBA championship in 2021-22.
Damion Lee announces retirement from basketball
Lee signed with the Atlanta Hawks in March 2018 out of Golden State's G League program in Santa Cruz, playing 15 games for the franchise where he averaged 10.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals.
The 6'6" shooting guard would find a home at the Warriors, signing a two-way contract in the 2018 offseason. It was the following season where Lee really broke out thanks to Golden State's spate of injuries in a disastrous 2019-20 campaign, having appeared in 49 games where he posted a career-high 12.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
Lee maintained a considerable role over the next two years as the Warriors surged back into relevance, averaging 19 and 20 minutes per game where the individual highlight may have been a game-winning 3-pointer against the Chicago Bulls in December 2020.
The former Drexel and Louisville product played in 16 games during Golden State's 2022 playoff campaign, averaging eight minutes in a limited role as the franchise defeated the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
Forever a champion in the Bay.@Dami0nLee, who suited up for the Dubs from 2018 to 2022, announced today that he is retiring from professional basketball.
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 12, 2026
Wishing him all the best in his next chapter. pic.twitter.com/bcNpkHpdEW
Injury put a dent in Damion Lee's NBA career
Lee departed Golden State following the championship, signing with the pacific rival Phoenix Suns where he made an immediate impression with a game-winner against the Dallas Mavericks. Lee was impressive in his first year at the Suns, averaging 8.2 points on a career-high and scorching 44.5% from 3-point range.
Unfortunately for Lee and Phoenix, he would suffer a meniscus tear in 2023 training camp that would subsequently see him miss the entire year and ruin the momentum he'd built from the previous season.
Lee would return to play 25 games for the Suns in the 2024-25 season, but he was never able to recapture the same form and impact as he averaged just 3.3 points on 24.3% 3-point shooting.
The 33-year-old briefly played with Israieli team Irona Ness Ziona last season, but has now announced his retirement from professional basketball a decade after he went undrafted in 2016. While Lee's career was full of ups-and-downs, no one can take away his stature in history as a Warrior champion.
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