subject: Top 20 Cleveland Cavaliers: #17 Bobby Phills [print this page] Top 20 Cleveland Cavaliers: #17 Bobby Phills
Resuming our countdown, we arrive at #17: Bobby Phills. He was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and attended Southern University. Southern is one of the most well-known historically black colleges and universities. As a Southern Jaguar, he played alongside Avery Johnson, and he his senior year he established himself as alegitimate college stud, lighting it up from behind the arc. In the 90-91 season, his senior year, he ranked fourth in scoring with 28.4 a game. That same year, he led the nation in three-pointers made per game with 4.39.
Bobby Phills was not drafed in the first roundof the 1991 NBA Draft, but he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round with the 45th overall pick. As a rookie,he hadn't even played a single minute before the Bucks cut him in December. Maybe see how he plays first?
Determined tomake it with another team, herefined his skills with the Sioux Falls Sky Force of the CBA. That wasa great move for him,because he got a chance to play and develop his skills. He got his game back and averaged 23 points per game. The Cavalierstook noticeand signed him later that same season, and heappeared in 10 games.
A solid defender and tireless worker, they kept a roster spot for him the next year. In his secondseason he appeared in 31 games with the Cavs. In 1993, he finally emerged as a solid NBA player, playing in 72 games. That season, he started 53 of those game and average 8 points. The next year in 1994, he was a regular starter and averaged 11 points per game.
Bobby kept developing his raw talent and in the 1995-1996 Cavaliers season, one of my first as a true fan, he started drilling 3's with consistency.On a team with Shawn Kemp, Terrell Brandon, Danny Ferry, and Bob Sura, he scored almost 15 points a game. Heimproved his shooting percentage over 50 percent from the year before, and shot 44% fromthe behind the arc. That was good enough for 7th in the league, better than Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, andAllan Houston. He also was named to the NBA all-defensive team.
Coached by Mike Fratello, The Cavsfinished 47-35 and madethe playoffs that year, but were knocked out by the Knicks in the first round. Interesting side-note: that year Shaquille O' Nealwas 50% from the 3 point line. Not sure how that works out.
Phillsplayed one more year as a Cavalier, and then was signed by the Charlotte Hornets as a free-agent. That year he missed 20 games due to injury, but still averaged 10.4 points a game. He followed that up with another solid year in 1998, and was averaging 13.6 points per game 28 games into the 1999 season before his life came to atragic end.
On January 12, 2000, Bobby Phills died in a car accident in North Carolinaonthe way home from a morning shoot-around. He was only 30 years of age. According to the police report, Bobby and teammate David Wesley were wrecklesslyracingtheir Porsche'sover 100 miles an hour when his car spun out of control and he veered into oncoming straffic.
It sent shockwaves throughout the Association. He was survived by his wife Kendall and two childern. Later that year, the Hornets retired his #13jersey during a game against the Cavaliers later that year. Bobby Phills was a true NBA good-guy, winning the NBA's SportsmanshipAward in 1998. Bobby helped turn around theCavaliers franchise, at least temporarily. His years in Cleveland willalways be fondly remembered, and his 1996 season will always be remembered as a piece ofCavaliers history. I'm guessing he probably ends up blocking Jordan in that picture. Bobby Phills is underrated
