Lewis has become adept at taking the ball to the basket. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

Sitting in the Sonics locker room in KeyArena an hour before the team is to tip off its 2003-04 preseason schedule, Lewis makes it clear that he understands this change and what it means for him. “I feel that I know what’s going on around here, what the offense and defense is like,” Lewis says. “I feel that I have to be more vocal and go out and (show) by example what’s really going on and how the organization likes its team run.”

Talking about maturity is one thing, demonstrating it quite another.

Lewis does just that when the ball goes up against the Rockets. Though Coach Nate McMillan has emphasized a fast-break offense giving his players more freedom with their shot attempts in the open court, Lewis resists the urge to fire up ill-advised jump shots. He lets the game come to him, extricating himself from his defender with savvy off-the-ball movement and hitting a pair of early layups.

It is quickly evident that Lewis is hot, and the Sonics begin feeding him the basketball. Lewis takes what the defense gives him, getting to the free-throw line or shooting from the perimeter as appropriate. By the time McMillan replaces Lewis with Ansu Sesay early in the second quarter - this is only a preseason game, after all - Lewis is 7-for-7 from the field and has scored 17 points, nearly matching his average from a year ago. The second half brings more of the same, with the Sonics guards looking for Lewis in transition. He throws down a pair of alley-oop dunks, emphatically finishing them with a slap of the backboard. Lewis finishes with 35 points in just 28 minutes, making 13 of 15 shots.

Afterwards, McMillan testifies to the media about the maturity Lewis has shown. “I see it in the way he carries himself and in the way he goes about his business, his approach to the off-season,” McMillan says. “I've seen that maturity in him from the beginning of this last summer, and tonight he came out and played a solid game in his quiet way. And he was very effective.”

Nothing shows the maturation and development in Lewis’ game better than his offensive repertoire. When he came into the league, Lewis’ primary shot was the dunk. He shot just 36.5 percent from the field as a rookie. By the end of his second season, when he broke into the Sonics starting lineup for the end of the regular season and the team’s playoff series with the Utah Jazz, Lewis was a dangerous threat from the perimeter. By his third season, Lewis was the NBA’s leading three-point percentage shooter for an extended period and participated in the 1-800-CALL-ATT Shootout at the All-Star Game.

To get better, however, Lewis knew he would have to learn how to create his own offensive opportunities, whether off the dribble from the perimeter or in the post. The departure of forward Vin Baker afforded Lewis the looks he needed to pursue this goal, but success did not come easily. After a quick start to the season, including a career-high 37-point outing against the Washington Wizards that earned him Western Conference Player of the Week honors for the week of November 11-17, Lewis struggled. His field-goal percentage plummeted during the months of December (42.2%) and January (43.0%).

By the end of the season, Lewis had become a dangerous threat in the post, a player who needed to be accounted for in opponents’ game plans. Over the final 30 games of the season, he averaged 18.7 points per game, pushing his season scoring average to a career-best 18.1 points per game, the fourth straight season he had improved his scoring average. As important was boosting his field-goal percentage down the stretch to a robust 47.6%.

Lewis’ own observations back up the statistics. “It was my first year learning how to play with the ball, so I got better as the year went on,” he notes. “I really started getting it down towards the second half of the season.”

Lewis displays the results of his off-season work. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

Much of the credit has to go to guard Ray Allen, with whom Lewis formed a close rapport following Allen’s arrival in a mid-February trade. Initially, the two scorers struggled to integrate their games. After a pair of subpar performances, Lewis took his concerns public. The result was a change in the Sonics offensive strategy, with Lewis getting fed the ball in the post early to get him going. The result was one of the finest and most aggressive performances of Lewis’ career, 30 points and 10 rebounds against the Dallas Mavericks.

Now, Lewis’ respect for Allen is obvious. “That’s definitely gone now,” he says of the tension, explaining that it changed, “Just by, when he came to the team, the way he carried himself. He came to the team to help us win ballgames. He wasn’t upset about the trade, didn’t get ahead of himself, tried to fit himself in and took off from there.”

For all the improvement Lewis has made during his NBA career, he feels there is more room to grow, especially in addressing one of his biggest criticisms last season –consistency. “I feel I can get a whole lot better,” Lewis says. “I don’t think I’ve scratched the ceiling yet. I think I still have a lot in my game that I have to explore. Especially, to be one of the elite players, you have to bring it every night. I’m trying to prepare myself to compete every night.”

Making those kinds of strides each season is something Lewis cites as critical. “I think I’m getting better each year,” he says. “I have to take a step forward – whether it’s points, rebounds, percentages, anything. I feel I have to improve my total game because I’m trying to get to that All-Star level. The way you get there is by improving each year.”

To ensure his continued improvement, Lewis worked hard during this past off-season. He was the first player to return to Seattle for good, working out with the training and coaching staff throughout the month of September. The regimen has left him in the best shape of his career, and improved definition is noticeable in Lewis’ biceps.

“That’s part of growing up and learning what I have to do,” Lewis explains. “By being experienced in the NBA, I know what I have to do during the off-season to make myself a better player. That’s part of being here during the summer. I work out back in Houston, there’s a lot of pro players I work out with, but coming back here, working out, I feel that I get that full attention with the strength coach and with the coaching staff.”

Lewis’ maturation extends beyond the court. McMillan named him a captain two years ago, at the tender age of 22, hoping that he would take a more vocal role in the locker room. At first, that was a challenge. Lewis was still uncomfortable leading more experienced players. Now, he is ready to lead – with the help of co-captains Allen and Brent Barry.

“Right now, I feel real comfortable with that position, because I’ve been here a while and I know what’s going on around here,” Lewis says. “Ray, he’s helping me a lot by talking to me all the time, putting knowledge in my head and saying that we have to keep these guys confident and motivated throughout the year.”

With his off-season work and maturation, Lewis has set the table for an excellent 2003-04 season. Too old to be the Young Fella and still a long ways from being the Old Fella, Lewis must set his sights on a new nickname this season: Good Fella.