charlotte guard bobby phills killed today

He had a wife and two children. A terrible tragedy.

[This message has been edited by grummett (edited January 12, 2000).]

 

I just heard the shcoking news a few minutes ago on the radio. Man, this has got to be one of the worst years in history when it comes to athletes passing away. Greg Moore, Wilt Chamberlin, Steve Chaisson, Joe Dimaggio, Walter Payton, a few others that have slipped my mind and now Phills. If thats true what you said Clutch that Phills saved a man's life, it just makes that much more tragic, and my heart goes out to his family. This is the second death a Carolina-based team has suffered in the span of 7-8 monthes, as Steve Chaisson of the Carolina Hurricanes also died in a car accident.

Rest in Peace, Bobby.

Azim da Dream

 

According to my North Carolinian fiancee, Phills indeed rescued a man from a motorcycle accident last summer.

This year, North Carolina has seen the deaths of Phills and Chiasson, the wreck of Coleman and Recasner, and the tragedies surrounding Ray Carruth. Unbelievable.

God bless the Phills family.

 

Ohh man.. I just heard.. What a tragedy, bobby phills was a really nice and caring guy.


I feel really sorry for his family.

 

Found on G.S. Board....
An older article from '97 talks about Phil's background and aspirations outside of basketball...

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
PHILLS WAS BROUGHT UP TO BE A CLASS ACT
CAVS GUARD'S PARENTS EMPHASIZED EDUCATION
Friday, August 15, 1997
By RICK BONNELL, Staff Writer

Dads talk about their sons, particularly if they're great athletes.

Dr. Bobby Phills Sr. loves talking about his son, and that's not because Bobby Jr. plays in the NBA.

The Hornets want to sign Phills, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, possibly as soon as today if the NBA salary cap increases as expected. Phills will make tens of millions off that contract. That's great, Dr. Phills says, but he'd be just as happy if his namesake delivered calves as a veterinarian back in Louisiana.

That was the plan until the Cleveland Cavaliers signed him in 1992: Bobby would spend a year or so poking around the Continental Basketball Association, then head off to Cornell or Louisiana State for veterinary school.

``I guess the best way to put it is we instilled a balance in his life between academics and athletics,'' said Dr. Phills, dean of Florida A&M's Engineering, Technology and Agriculture College.

``We said, Being an athlete is great, but it can't last your whole life. An education will.' ``

That wasn't just a message, it served as a rule. Phills was told all through high school that if his grades slipped below a ``B'' average, he'd have to drop basketball. He ended up with the highest grade-point average in his high school class - over 3.8 on a 4.0 scale. When he narrowly missed a 3.0 one semester at Southern University, his parents took away his car the next semester.

``The thing I'm so proud of about my son is that if he scored 50 points in a basketball game, he was still studying an hour later,'' said Dr. Phills.

That just made sense; Phills was always more equipped to be a Ph.D. than an MVP. He once said he wasn't even the best player on his high school team. Lightly recruited, he ended up at Southern, a predominantly black school in Baton Rouge where his father was then dean of the agriculture school.

Phills led college basketball in three-pointers his senior season (4.39 per game), but the NBA looked skeptically at his awkward jump shot. (Right-handed, he used to launch the ball from the left side of his head.) Phills was drafted 45th overall by Milwaukee in 1991, then was waived a month into his first season.

Phills already had researched the best veterinary schools, and had the academic credentials to attend any of them. But he wanted to give basketball one last chance, so he signed on with Sioux Falls (S.D.) in the Continental Basketball Association.

Time in the CBA seems almost obligatory these days for a Hornet. Recently signed point guard David Wesley spent a season there. So did forward Anthony Mason, who recruited Phills by telephone this summer.

``He reminds me a lot of myself,'' Mason said. ``When he first showed up, the NBA said, Puh-leeze, we aren't even entertaining the idea of keeping you.' He showed a lot of determination to get this far.''

Cavs general manager Wayne Embry gave Phills a second chance, signing him to a 10-day contract in March of 1992. Before offering that deal, Embry called Phills' college coach, Ben Jobe, expecting a sales pitch. Instead, Jobe warned Embry not to sign Phills unless he was serious about the player's prospects. Jobe didn't want Embry messing with Phills' head and delaying his veterinary career.

``I explained to Wayne, This isn't a jock, this is an honor student,' `` said Jobe, a former assistant with the Denver Nuggets. ``There are a lot of crazy guys in the NBA. I just didn't think that was the right place for him.''

For awhile it looked like Phills would soon enter vet school. He played little his first 1-1/2 seasons in Cleveland, and was told at least once he was about to be cut.

Dr. Phills told his son to apply his study skills to basketball - to use bench time as class time.

``I said, Look at it, and absorb what your opponents are doing. Get into their heads before they have a chance to get into yours.' `` Dr. Phills recalled.

Gary Fitzsimmons, then the Cavs director of player personnel, saw just what Dr. Phills advised in Bobby's development.

``Bobby Phills is a very intelligent guy,'' said Fitzsimmons, now with Golden State. ``He knows who he is, he knows how to work hard and he knew what skills he had to improve.

``Guys like that show the patience to keep improving until they get their chance to perform.''

That chance came when Mike Fratello replaced Lenny Wilkens as Cavs coach in 1993. Phills' burly build and tough defense blended well with Fratello's deliberate, physical style.

``He's very quick for his position, and he's stronger than most guards in this league,'' said Mason, who sees Phills as the countermeasure to New York guards John Starks and Allan Houston. The Hornets couldn't guard either and were swept from the playoffs.

Offensively, Phills was 22nd in the league last season in three-pointers (39.4 percent), but his inside skills might be more useful to the Hornets. Coach Dave Cowens wants a slasher, someone who can cut to the basket to better exploit the low-post passing skills of Mason and Vlade Divac.

If all this is so right with Phills, then why aren't the Cavs more intent on keeping him? Cleveland insiders say re-signing a sixth-year veteran to a big contract doesn't make much sense for a team so in need of rebuilding. Signing Phills would consume about $3 million a season on Cleveland's salary cap and limit the development of younger guards Bobby Sura and Derek Anderson.

Dr. Phills is excited about his son ending up a Hornet. He visited Charlotte a few weeks ago with his son, and played golf with Cowens. Everything he saw and heard, he liked.

``It's never, ever a done deal until the deal is done. There are other teams interested,'' Dr. Phills said.

``But certainly he wants to be there, and I know I want him to be there.''

*

Education is a star player at Phills' basketball camp

Bobby Phills charges just $50 per student to attend his summer basketball camp. For teens in Baton Rouge, La., the real cost involves a pencil and paper.

To be accepted into Phills' ``Educational Awareness Basketball Training Camp,'' a player must have at least a 2.0 grade-point average (a ``C'' average) and write an essay on why the camp would help him.

Phills runs the not-for-profit camp in his hometown to stress the importance of education. Speakers are as likely to be a Ph.D. as a famous player or coach.

Phills graduated from Southern with a 3.2 grade-point average, and planned to be a veterinarian. Basketball turned out so well for him that by the time he retires it might seem too late to enter vet school.

``But I can certainly see him owning a ranch,'' said Phills' father, Dr. Bobby Phills Sr. ``I know he'll do some type of work with animals.''

Phills may add a second youth camp next summer at Florida A&M.

``He's a kind, devoted person,'' said Dr. Phills, ``who tries to be a role model to kids at a time when most athletes don't want that responsibility.

``And to me, he's an ideal role model.'' - RICK BONNELL

 

Man, this is awful. I hadn't heard anything about it till i came into this forum.

My prayers are with the family

[This message has been edited by 2Sandwiches (edited January 12, 2000).]

 

My condolences go out to the Phills family.

It is always a tragedy whenever someone dies, but here's guy in a time when professional athletes aren't always thought of highly, and he seemed to play with sportsmanship and class night in and night out. The NBA just dropped a notch on the "class-o-meter".

 

I just couldn't believe my eyes when I read this.

Bobby Phills killed in car accident.

I kept reading that phrase over and over and I still couldn't believe it.
It's hard to accept when something so terrible happens to a class act like Bobby Phills.
He was a great player and he will be sorely missed.

Still can't believe it...