Philip Chenier (born October 30, 1950) is an American former 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 who was a
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 ...
in 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 ...
(NBA) for ten seasons. He was also a television sports broadcaster for the NBA's
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...
.
Early years
Born and raised in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
, Chenier graduated from
Berkeley High School and played
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
at the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
in Berkeley.
NBA playing career
Chenier was selected fourth in the
1971 NBA Hardship Draft by the
Baltimore Bullets, and played for them for eight seasons, from
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
to
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
. The franchise moved from Baltimore to Washington in
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
, after his second season. He was one of the better
shooting guards
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 ...
in the NBA for the first six seasons in his career, but he suffered a back injury early in the
1977–78 season and had season-ending surgery. The Bullets went on to win the NBA title with
Kevin Grevey
Kevin Michael Grevey (born May 12, 1953) is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'5" (1.96 m) swingman, the left-handed Grevey played for the Washington Bullets from 1975 to 1983 and the Milwaukee Bucks from 1983 to 1985. He is ...
as the shooting guard. Chenier was never the same player after that; he came back from his surgery late the next season, but never could crack the Bullets' starting lineup again.
Chenier was released by the Bullets after the
1978–79 season, and played briefly for the
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...
and
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...
and retired after the
1980–81 season.
Chenier, who was a 1972
NBA All-Rookie Team
The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...
selection, averaged 17.2 points per game for his career, and was named to three NBA All-Star teams.
In 2017, the Wizards announced that they would retire Chenier's number 45 jersey. On March 23, 2018, Chenier's jersey was retired.
Broadcasting career
Chenier, who got his start in television sports broadcasting with
Home Team Sports
NBC Sports Washington is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis's Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, the channel broadcasts regio ...
back in 1985, has announced black college games alongside broadcasters Charlie Neil and
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
for
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
. He was the color analyst for the
Washington Bullets
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
and
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...
games on television from 1987 to 2017, with a final pairing for
NBC Sports Washington
NBC Sports Washington is an American regional sports network owned by Ted Leonsis's Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, the channel broadcasts regio ...
alongside play-by-play commentator,
Steve Buckhantz.
Personal life
Chenier resides in
Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages.
Columbia began with ...
, with his wife Gerry Chenier. He has two daughters, one son and grandchildren.
References
External links
Phil Chenier stats at Basketball Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chenier, Phil
1950 births
Living people
African-American basketball players
American men's basketball players
Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players
Basketball players from Berkeley, California
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
California Golden Bears men's basketball players
Capital Bullets players
Golden State Warriors players
Indiana Pacers players
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players with retired numbers
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
People from Columbia, Maryland
Point guards
Sportspeople from the Baltimore metropolitan area
Washington Bullets announcers
Washington Bullets players
Washington Wizards announcers
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople