Bobby Ray Phills II (December 20, 1969 – January 12, 2000) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He played

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

for the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

and

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

. A native of

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, Phills attended Baton Rouge's

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

. He was a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

. He was selected by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in the 1991 NBA draft (45th overall). After being cut in December 1991 without playing a game for the Bucks, Phills had a stint with the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

before being signed by the Cavaliers and rejoining the NBA late in the 1991–92 season. Over his nine-year career, he averaged 11.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. He was known as a defensive stopper,Hornets guard Bobby Phills killed in car wreck
''

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal ''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'' is a newspaper based in Lubbock, Texas, United States. It is owned by Gannett. History ''The Lubbock Avalanche'' was founded in 1900 by John James Dillard and Thad Tubbs. According to Dillard, the name "Avalanche" ...

'', January 13, 2000. averaging 1.3 steals per game for his career, and an excellent perimeter shooter, with a 39.0% career three-point shooting percentage.

College

Phills attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was a member of the

fraternity. He led the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in three-point field goals per game (4.39) his senior year.

Professional career

Cleveland Cavaliers

Charlotte Hornets

Player profile

Though he made a name for himself as a shooter during his college career, Phills became known as a tenacious wing defender in the NBA. At 6' 5" and 220 pounds,An Animal Intensity Cavaliers Guard Bobby Phills Is That Rarest Of Breeds: A Demon On D Who Can Also Nail The Three
''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'', January 20, 1997. he was said to more resemble an

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

than a basketball player.PRO BASKETBALL; Hornets' Phills Killed in Car Crash
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 13, 2000. In 1996,

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

remarked that Phills was the toughest defender he had ever faced.

Death

On January 12, 2000, while a member of the Charlotte Hornets, Phills was killed in a car accident in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. Phills was traveling behind teammate

David Wesley David Barakau Wesley (born November 14, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the current television color analyst for the New Orleans Pelicans. He is the cous ...

at over when his

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spun and crossed into oncoming traffic. It hit another car, which in turn was struck in the rear by a minivan.Chris Tomasson
Wesley to Smith: 'Only time heals'
''

Rocky Mountain News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...

'', June 13, 2007. The drivers of the other two vehicles recovered, while Phills was pronounced dead at the scene. A police report said Phills and Wesley were driving "in an erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner." Wesley was later convicted of reckless driving after being cleared of a racing charge.

Personal life

Phills was survived by his parents, his wife Kendall, and three children; a daughter Brittany Dickson, a son Bobby Ray Phills III, known as Trey and a daughter Kerstie. Trey gained statewide recognition in North Carolina while playing for

Charlotte Christian School Charlotte Christian School is a private, college preparatory, non-denominational Christian school for grades K–12. It is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. History In 1950, D.L. Pointdexter McClenny began a ministry at Calvary Presb ...

. He played college basketball for the

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Bulldogs and now plays for the

Greensboro Swarm The Greensboro Swarm are an American basketball team of the NBA G League based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and are affiliated with the Charlotte Hornets. The Swarm play their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse. The team became ...

of the

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. After starting her college career at Wagner, Kerstie transferred and is currently a redshirt sophomore for

Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is a public university in Lee County, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is its second youngest member. The university was established on May 3, 1991, and is accredited by the ...

Legacy

The Hornets retired Phills' #13 jersey on February 9, 2000, during halftime of a game vs. Phills' former team, the Cavaliers. It was the first number that the Hornets franchise had ever retired. Phills' Hornets teammates also wore a patch bearing his' #13 on their jerseys for the remainder of the 1999–2000 season."Hornets will play Saturday, not Friday"
''

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

'' His jersey hung from the rafters of the Charlotte Coliseum until the franchise relocated to New Orleans in 2002; it was then displayed in the New Orleans Arena until 2013. In 2004, the NBA added an expansion team, the Charlotte Bobcats. After the New Orleans team re-branded themselves as the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

- thereby relinquishing the Hornets name and their previous history in Charlotte - the Bobcats became the Hornets and merged the team's past tenures into a new history for the franchise. On November 1, 2014, the newly renamed team re-honored his jersey; it currently hangs from the rafters of the Spectrum Center.

References

External links

*
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Hornets 24/7/2009 Remembrance Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phills, Bobby 1969 births 2000 deaths African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Burials in Louisiana CB Zaragoza players Charlotte Hornets players Cleveland Cavaliers players Liga ACB players Milwaukee Bucks draft picks National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Road incident deaths in North Carolina Shooting guards Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players Small forwards Southern Jaguars basketball players 20th-century African-American sportspeople