Thursday, January 13, 2000; Page D01 He was my partner in crime, he said. Youre right. After the New Orleans team re-branded themselves as the New Orleans Pelicans - 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. It took a split second for him to realize that its tires were squealing and smoking as it spun out of control and headed toward him. The emotion hung in Kendall Phillss voice as she addressed the crowd. player. belong there," Ben Jobe, Phills' former coach at Southern, said Wednesday. Bridges said Phills' 1997 convertible, with the vanity plate Shinn was sued by a woman who claimed he sexually assaulted her. There was no time to react before his Cutlass and the Porsche collided. He played college basketball for the Yale Bulldogs and now plays for the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League. And there was a box there where I had to check if I was a Miss, a Mrs., or a Ms. And I thought to myself, Im not a Mrs. anymore. After six seasons in Cleveland, Phills was signed by the Hornets on Aug. 19, 1997, as a free agent. What's more impressive, however, is that Bobby was a true man. Upon hearing the news, George Shinn, the Charlotte Hornets owner, said, "This is the ultimate tragedy.". I dont know anything about him. A few minutes later, according to Silas, the coach received a call from David Wesley. "We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of this outstanding ", Active in the community, Phills volunteered for children's charities and related organizations. A minivan rear-ended the other car, police said. For years, I tried to get him He should be upset right now. The next month, Wesley was charged with two misdemeanors: speed competition and reckless driving. He was known as a defensive stopper,[2] averaging 1.3 steals per game for his career, and an excellent perimeter shooter, with a 39.0% career three-point shooting percentage. Claude Mills, the father of Phills's former teammate, Chris Mills, was called soon after the accident by Baron Davis, the Hornets' rookie point guard. You even have thoughts here he was with a family and everything. A female passenger was hurt in that collision with a tractor-trailer. He meant a lot to this city, Jordan said at a press conference before the ceremony. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. The Hornets returned to the court January 15, three days after Phillss death, with a loss to the Knicks in New York. (Charlottes game against the Knicks that night was also postponed.) Kerstie Phills is in her freshman season at Wagner College, where she also plays guard. Phills agreed, and a couple weeks later, he approached the coach. Report Browse more videos Playing next 1:01 Basketball | Golden State Warriors vs Hornets Charlotte I blamed his parents. David Stern, the N.B.A. And as if the axle of a wheel suddenly gave way, everyone connected to Bobby Phills fell apart. A few days after being charged, Wesley made his first public statement about the incident. Stunned and tearful teammates and Hornets officials gathered at the accident scene less than a mile from the Charlotte Coliseum, where minutes earlier Phills and the other . Everything hurt. It took firefighters more than two hours to pry Phills's body from the car. Phills is survived by his wife, Kendall, and two children, Bobby Ray III, 3, and Kerstie, 1. The two other drivers were hospitalized and listed in stable condition. Jobe asked how many points Phills had scored. He averaged 26 points and 13 rebounds his senior year and helped the team to a state championship. The basketball was our way of connecting, and thats how Trey and I have been., A few other factors played into Treys budding confidence. We come down to the front of the arena, out to the light, and Im calling my wife to meet at the Pancake House. Any kid that tells me he wants to be a doctor now, Ill give him a scholarship and just let him practice, Jobe said. Mike Fratello, the former Cleveland coach, remembered a young, unproven Phills returning to the Cavaliers training camp without a guaranteed contract in the fall of 1992. But those were two guys I fell in love with.. He was far enough back to where I wasnt even sure he was going to make the light, but he made the light. Wesley said they both accelerated: It couldnt have been a mile, and that was kind of it. While there, Phills Sr. had slipped off a deck and fallen into a lake near Bobbys home. The family referred to Bobby Phills as Rob. We had some great talks and some great times. In October, Hornets guard Eldridge Recasner suffered a broken shoulder and a collapsed lung and teammate Derrick Coleman was charged with drunken driving in a traffic accident. She broke free. It was a chaotic few weeks. His wife. He advised Phills to pursue professional basketball for a couple of years, and if it didnt work out, to return to school. Afterward, the team chartered to Charlotte before flying to Baton Rouge for Phillss funeral. Its shocking.. country," he said. Phills was killed instantly, and two people in vehicles involved in an accident were hospitalized. Bobby Phills, a guard with the NBA's Charlotte Hornets, was killed Wednesday in a car accident following a team practice. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. Phills lost control of his car on a hilly bend. Police said he was driving drunk. Thats what shooting is all about.. This was the second fatal traffic accident in the past nine months involving a professional athlete from North Carolina, and the second serious traffic accident this season involving Hornets players. Phills and teammate David Wesley were racing each. We never got beside each other and was like, OK, vroom, vroom. It was just a road that was fairly straight, and you wouldnt go through that whole street at that speed, but you might kind of gun it, see what its like., Wesley maneuvered around a bend in the road and looked in his rearview mirror. The day of the accident, Miller had returned to the Hornets practice facility after shootaround to lift weights. Absolutely not, Wesley responded. Those guys were Bobby Phills and Muggsy Bogues, he said. One of the most active Hornets players in the community, Phills was a tireless volunteer for childrens charities and related organizations. Look, I understand the way things are with you guys, Silas told his shellshocked team. Then a few more. "He had the brain power, he had the great family background. He was every girls husband, every childs father. There was none of the normal jabbering among players. Phills earned a bachelor's degree in animal science from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. You hope no one would ever have to feel that, Miller said. He wont let them.. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. We just couldnt play hard anymore, Silas said. Phills would sign autographs until his hand hurt. Ben Jobe, Phills's former coach at Southern, said today that he tried to steer Phills away from the NBA. Kids started acting different. He is a longtime friend of Indiana Pacers consultantand former New York Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh. When the Hornets returned to playing, Shinn visited the locker room before a game shortly after the accident. The 30-year-old player left behind a wife and two children,. He heard the news about 10 minutes into his workout. Blydenburgh, the crash investigator. Phills died instantly. So I feel like even he knew that there was more to life than just the sport. Wesley, the Hornets' starting point guard, has refused to talk to police, His father, Dr. Bobby Phills, is dean of agriculture and home economics at Florida A&M University. He dont have to play., But Phills insisted. I was always told: Dont fall in love with the horses talking about the players. to go on to med school like he talked about when he was a kid.". And thats what happened. The Bobby Phills Scholarship Fund (www.bobbyphillsfund.com) has been set up in his honor. Not only was Bobby a tremendous person, but a great husband, father and role model that everyone respected and admired. Phills, 30, was leaving a team practice at the Charlotte Coliseum about 11 a.m. Wednesday when he lost control of his car less than a mile from the arena. He heard the name Phills. A jolt of recognition hit Woolard: Oh my gosh. Through Sunday, every N.B.A. The pair rebuilt Phillss shot, with Jobe urging Phills to keep the elbow of his shooting hand under the ball. I blamed the Charlotte Hornets. Standing a chiseled 6 feet 5 inches and 232 pounds, Phills looked more like a National Football League linebacker or a sculpted bodybuilder than a lithe N.B.A. "What did we do to deserve this? tremendous person, but a great husband, father and role model that He was exceptionally strong, and while coaches and general managers debated whether he was a shooting guard or a small forward, Phills merely transformed himself into one of the game's most menacing defenders. Trey loved the game, but his mother could see him struggling with his confidence. Phills was killed instantly. He was a three-and-D wing more than a decade before that became a regular part of the NBA vernacular; he finished as a 39 percent shooter from three-point range and was named to the 1995-96 All-Defensive second team. Im trying to keep the flesh lovers away from him. He had to tighten his elbow, the same way his father had learned to shoot under Ben Jobe at Southern decades earlier. Several hundred feet of skid marks, estimated by witnesses to be about 150 yards, were made by Phills's vehicle. Once I opened that floodgate, Wesley said, I had to say it to that person and to the next person and the next person., Wesleys performance suffered. Every day, every night, he told reporters. The 30-year-old guard had just left a shootaround at the Charlotte Coliseum when the two-car accident happened, club spokesman Jonathan Supranowitz said. And I didnt [do anything wrong]. Filed Under: NBA, NBA History, Sports Tragedies, Bobby Phills, Charlotte Hornets, Paul Silas, David Wesley, Baron Davis, Brad Miller, Michael Jordan, Charlotte Bobcats, New Orleans Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans. After Silas was named interim coach, Phills asked him, Coach, you want to keep this job? Silas answered yes, and Phills told him, OK, youre going to have it. Phills encouraged his teammates to dig in and finish the 50-game season strong, and Charlotte went 22-13 under Silas that year, good enough for the Hornets to name him the full-timehead coach. Thats Rob, David, and God as far as the exact events that happened., Every morning, we went to breakfast, David Wesley said. It really hits home with me because he has two kids about the same age as mine, and I know the impact a father has on kids like that its a very tragic day for this league.. I was up the street a good ways, and [when I got back] he was no longer with us., Phills and Wesley had both signed lengthy contracts with the Hornets in the summer of 1997. He was fourth on the team in scoring this season with 13.6 points per game. Like when Phills and his high school teammates had lifted and moved Wallaces car after a game Wallace suspected a rival team had stolen the vehicle, before realizing his players had pranked him. Coleman was arrested on a drunken driving charge. Do you know why you were able to do that without even seeing your feet and shoes? Jobe asked. He was in his car, lifeless. She prayed for him, told him that she loved him, and promised to take care of their children. I was on the phone with my wife at the time, and I said, Oh my gosh, Bobby just got in an accident. I turned around. She drove closer and saw the police and emergency personnel. He was 30. [1] He was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1991 NBA draft (45th overall). 65-mph zone on Interstate 485. The day of the accident, George Shinn, then the owner of the Hornets, was preparing to leave a meeting when he received a phone call from Paul Silas. That night, Charlotte was scheduled tohost the Chicago Bulls. Kendall Phills went running with a friend the morning Bobby died.
