Alfred Lee a.k.a. "Butch" (born December 5, 1956 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is the first Puerto Rican to play in the NBA (National Basketball Association).

Lee born in the area of Santurce in San Juan is the son of an American couple. Lee's family moved to the Bronx, when he was a young child. He went on to study at the De Witt Clinton High School there.

Lee showed talent for basketball since an early age, and he impressed many college scouts with his game style. He accepted an offer to play for Marquette, starring there from 1974 to 1978. In 1974 Lee asked his coach to allowed him to play for the U.S. Olympic Basketball Team . However, his coach had sent someone else and Lee went to Puerto Rico where he qualified for The Puerto Rican National Basketball Team. When Puerto Rico played against the U.S. in the Olympics , Lee made 15 out of 18 field goals and scored 35 points. The U.S. avoided an upste by beating Puerto Rico by one point 95-94.

Lee then went on to become the first Puerto Rican born player to play in the NBA, when he was chosen in the first round of the 1978 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks.

After scoring 7.7 points per game during 49 games with the Hawks, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he enjoyed what was perhaps his best games in the NBA, scoring 11.5 points per game in the remaining 33 games of the season. He ended up scoring an average of 9.6 points per game in his first season as an NBA player, with his numbers as a Hawk and a Cavalier combined.

After three games with the Cavs in the 1979-1980 season, Lee suffered an injury that would prove to be too big of an obstacle for him to overcome as far as his basketball career was concerned. He only scored 1.3 points per game on those three games. After the season was over, he would be traded once again, to the Los Angeles Lakers, where, he played alongside Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, among others, for eleven games, before his injury recurred, forcing him to retire as a basketball player. He did, however, get an NBA championship ring, as the Lakers went on to beat the Philadelphia 76ers in that season's NBA finals.

Lee scored 773 points in the NBA, for a total of 8.1 points per game, with 137 rebounds (1.4 per game) and 307 assists (3.2 per game).

Lee, who is fluid in Spanish, returned to Puerto Rico after his experience as an NBA basketball player was over. There, he became a well known and respected head coach with multiple BSN teams.

As of 2004, he is still coaching basketball at Puerto Rico's professional basketball league.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans