Lance Allred

Lance Collin Allred is an American professional basketball player. Allred is Deaf, with a 7580 hearing loss. He is the first legally Deaf player in National Basketball Association history. He is also the author of Longshot The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA, his memoirautobiography published by Harper Collins. The book was critically acclaimed and featured in several sports publications. In summer 2015, Allred retired from professional basketball, after a successful 10year career around the world, established his own company, L Squared Productions LLC and transitioned into keynote motivational speaking and sports commentary in both television and radio. In August 2015, Allred signed with the American Programs Bureau as a motivational speaker. In September 2015, Allreds second book, Basketball Gods The Transformation of the Enlightened Jock, went numberon Amazon.com in three separate categories.

Allred was born in Pinesdale, MT, a fundamentalist Mormon Polygamist Commune. He is a grandson of Rulon C. Allred, a prophet of the Apostolic United Brethren, a fundamentalist polygamous sect. However, his family became disenchanted with the group. They moved to Salt Lake City when he was seven, and completely broke away from the church six years later. He did not play organized basketball until eighth grade, when he joined a team in the local LDS Church league.

Source: Wikipedia