[Bill Cartwright, the ZaZa of the Bulls]Olajuwon fractured bone in eye socket

Never forget


Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: SAT 01/05/1991
Section: Sports
Page: 5
Edition: 2 STAR

Cartwright earns rugged reputation

By EDDIE SEFKO
Staff

They don't call Chicago's Bill Cartwright the "Towering Infirmary" for nothing.

The Bulls' 7-foot-1 center is one of the nicer players in the league off the court, but his reputation as an elbow-flinger on the court has made him one of the most feared players in the league.

Now the Rockets know how Cartwright can be a health hazard. His elbow has put Akeem Olajuwon out for a month, and the Rockets are not the least bit happy about it.

"Any time you have a player with a history like Cartwright's, I think you have to take a closer look when something like this happens," Rockets general manager Steve Patterson said. "Throwing elbows is a function of the style he plays.

"But if you know a guy is going to play that way, then you should call the fouls because he's hurting people.

"I'm not saying Bill Cartwright is a bad guy, but when people keep getting hurt, you have to wonder."

And people do keep getting hurt by Cartwright. Six times in the last two seasons, he's been responsible for sending players to the sideline with injuries.

On Friday, Patterson made a telephone call to Rod Thorn, the NBA's vice president for operations. Thorn is in charge of administrative procedures on all acts of violence within the league.

"Rod said he reviewed the tape, and the elbow looked unintentional," Patterson said. "But I can't think of anybody else who has been fined for the use of his elbows more than Cartwright has."

There will be no fines administered in the case of Olajuwon's injury.

Cartwright and Olajuwon were going for a rebound when Cartwright's elbow dug into Olajuwon's right eye socket. Olajuwon has a blowout fracture of the floor and medial wall of the orbit, which houses the eyeball.

The Rockets, naturally, think there should be some restitution paid by Cartwright. But the blow came during the course of physical play under the basket.

"We've got a history of a guy hurting other players," Patterson said. "As we all know, you can make something look unintentional, even if it's intentional."

Though the Rockets might forever think Cartwright was trying to inflict harm on Olajuwon, the only sure thing is that Olajuwon felt Cartwright's brunt for the second time in his career.

In 1986, Olajuwon injured his right knee when he became entangled with Cartwright in New York when Cartwright was with the Knicks.

"Akeem's a two-time loser to Cartwright," Patterson said. "In New York, he rolled right over on Akeem to injure his knee."

Last season, the NBA investigated Cartwright's style of play, and Rod Thorn said: "Bill's a good guy, but there have been complaints. And he's been known to throw his elbows around."

Cartwright has had to defend himself in the past. And he will have to defend himself again this time.

He always throws up the same defense. When he had four incidents in the span of a month in the 1988-89 season, he claimed it was just coincidence.

"You collide with four or five guys over several years," he said. "It just happens that it's all coming at one time now.

"It's like you don't get stopped for speeding for years, then you get stopped three times in a month.

"As far as guys getting hurt, that's not good, but it's just something that happens in this game."

But when Cartwright is around, it just seems to happen more often. .................................................................

Struck down

Players who have felt the point of Bill Cartwright's elbows, with date, player injured, team, injury inflicted and time missed or recovery period:

Nov. 25, 1986 - Akeem Olajuwon, Houston, sprained right knee, missed 7 games.

Jan. 3, 1989 - Greg Kite, Sacramento, severely bruised cheekbone (4 games).

Jan. 31, 1989 - Isiah Thomas, Detroit, facial cut (6 stitches).

Feb. 16, 1989 - Fred Roberts, Milwaukee, fractured cheekbone (surgery; missed 2 months).

April 7, 1989 - Isiah Thomas, Detroit, fractured left hand in a fight with Cartwright (missed rest of regular season).

Nov. 7, 1990 - Horace Grant, Chicago, cut over right eye (4 stitches).

Jan. 3, 1991 - Akeem Olajuwon, Houston, fractured bone in eye socket (out indefinitely).

 

LOL
Harden ain't dirty, it's the women he's with that are

Look at Steve Patterson calling the league and sending them tapes, dude's a hero in Clutch City. No love from Les.

 

When Olajuwon was out the team, other players stepped up like Larry Smith grabbing tons of rebounds. They actually went a winning streak without Dream showing how great the role players were. Kenny Smith and Otis Thorpe were unstoppable.

When Dream came back with his confident teammates, the chemistry only got better and destiny, Clutch City, arrived.

And F the Bulls, I remember that, we could have lost Dream.

 

Kenny Smith just mentioned this very Cartwright incident

 

Kenny remembers! Crazy timing that he said this after I posted this article

 

Patterson chronology

1976-1983 -- Begins Rockets career as part-time worker in ticket sales and other areas.

1984 -- After earning a law degree from the University of Texas, joins his father, Rockets president and general manager Ray Patterson, in the front office as counsel to the president and marketing director.

1986 -- Takes control of the team's business operations, installing a computer system to handle ticketing, accounting and player personnel operations.

Feb. 12, 1989 -- After accepting Houston's bid coordinated by Patterson, NBA holds its All-Star Game at The Summit.

Sept. 11, 1989 -- Named at age 32 as the Rockets' general manager, succeeding his father in that role and becoming the youngest GM in the NBA.

Sept. 27, 1990 -- Acquires point guard Kenny Smith from Atlanta along with Roy Marble for Tim McCormick and John Lucas.

Feb. 21, 1990 -- Acquires starting guard Vernon Maxwell from San Antonio Spurs for an undisclosed amount of cash.

June 27, 1990 -- Trades the rights to Alec Kessler to Miami for the rights to Dave Jamerson and Carl Herrera.

July 2, 1990 -- Signs guard Sleepy Floyd to four-year contract; Floyd is released after the 1992-93 season.

Sept. 3, 1991 -- Negotiates three-year contract with top draft choice John Turner, who fails to stick with the Rockets.

Oct. 23, 1991 -- Signs Kenny Smith to five-year contract.

Feb. 18, 1992 -- Fires Rockets coach Don Chaney and names Rudy Tomjanovich as interim head coach.

March 23, 1992 -- Suspends center Hakeem Olajuwon without pay, claiming he has failed to play when physically able to do so. Olajuwon claims he is suffering from a hamstring injury and is unable to play, and suggests he is unsure if he wants to play for the Rockets if Patterson remains as general manager.

May 20, 1992 -- Names Tomjanovich as head coach.

June 24, 1992 -- Despite a chorus of boos from The Summit fans, makes the decision to draft forward Robert Horry, who goes on to become a productive forward in his rookie season.

March 15, 1993 -- Olajuwon signs a four-year extension with the Rockets worth $25.4 million that places him under contract with the team through 1999.

July 30, 1993 -- Rockets owner Charlie Thomas completes the sale of the team to businessman Les Alexander.

Aug. 30, 1993 -- Alexander fires Patterson as Rockets general manager.

 

I got his autograph at the clipper game that year cause he was walking around in street clothes
The rockets were all about the community