Cedric Zelos Ceballos (born August 2, 1969) 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 (appro ...

player. As a

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

, he played mostly for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

and the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, later finishing his

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) career with the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, and

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

Playing career

Ceballos attended college at

Ventura College Ventura College is a Public college, public community college in Ventura, California. Established in 1925, the college has a campus with an enrollment of 13,763 students. It is part of the Ventura County Community College District. History ...

and later

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

. His career highlights include winning the NBA

Slam Dunk Contest The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (officially known as the AT&T Slam Dunk) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The contest was conceived of and started by the American Basketball Associat ...

with a blindfolded dunk in 1992. He also led the NBA in field goal percentage (57.6) in 1992–93 with the Suns. Ceballos played a major role for the Suns during the playoffs, leading the team to a Western Conference Finals Game 1 win over the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

with a team high 21 points. After beating Seattle in a seven-game series, the Suns reached the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, before losing to the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

. He also led the Lakers in scoring in 1994–95 with a 21.7 average and made the All-Star team, but couldn't participate due to an injury. That season, on December 20, 1994, Ceballos set a career high with 50 points scored, including a 3-point shot to secure the win with 5.7 seconds left, in a game against the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

. The following season, on December 3, 1995, Ceballos recorded a career high 6 steals, along with scoring 19 points, in a 104–96 win over 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. That year, Ceballos again led the Lakers with a 21.2 scoring average. In 2002, Ceballos signed with

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i team Hapoel Tel Aviv, but was waived after a couple of games. Shortly after, he moved to Russia and was signed by BC Lokomotiv Mineralnye Vody. He also played for the

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Magnolia ...

in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA). In late 2004, he signed with the

Los Angeles Stars LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

from the ABA. Ceballos later became employed by the Phoenix Suns as their in-arena emcee and host of a weekly

webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, webca ...

, "Nothin' but Net". He also hosted a morning music program for

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

rhythm & blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

radio station MEGA 104.3 FM. In March 2007, the Phoenix Flame of the IBL announced the signing of Ceballos for its inaugural season in the league, but he quickly moved behind the lines as an assistant coach the next month. Ceballos has toured with the "USA Legends". On June 19, 2011, the USA Legends defeated the Indonesian NBL All Star team 97–79, with Ceballos being the unofficial MVP of the game. A notable highlight of Ceballos' performance during the game was when he donned one of the Indonesian player's jerseys and played for the Indonesian team over a stretch of a few possessions, scoring a breakaway dunk during one of them. Ceballos later became part owner of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

's Arizona Scorpions, and also played for the team.

Personal life

Ceballos was invited to play for the

Mexico national basketball team The Mexico national basketball team () represents Mexico in men's international basketball competitions, The team has made 6 appearances in FIBA World Cup and 5 appearances in the Basketball at the Summer Olympics, Summer Olympics. The governing ...

in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. He is also a second cousin of his former Lakers teammate

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

. Their grandfathers were brothers. In 2011, Ceballos suffered "a series of small heart attacks", as described by his publicist. He successfully recovered by undergoing an

angioplasty Angioplasty, also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, is a minimally invasive procedure, minimally invasive endovascular surgery, endovascular Medical procedure, procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructe ...

with two

stents In medicine, a stent is a tube usually constructed of a metallic alloy or a polymer. It is inserted into the Lumen (anatomy), lumen (hollow space) of an anatomic vessel or duct to keep the passageway open. Stenting refers to the placement of ...

placed in his heart. In 2021, he contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and posted photos of himself in the

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

. On September 13, he tweeted that he was free of COVID-19, but was still having difficulty breathing and walking.

In media

In 1996, Ceballos made a guest appearance on the PBS children's series '' The Puzzle Place''. The following year, he played himself on an episode of ''

Living Single ''Living Single'' is an American television sitcom created by Yvette Denise Lee that aired for five seasons on the Fox network, from August 22, 1993, to January 1, 1998. The show centers on the lives of six New York City friends who share perso ...

'' titled "High Anxiety". In 1998, Ceballos was a guest panelist on the Nickelodeon game show ''

Figure It Out ''Figure It Out'' is an American children's panel game show that aired on Nickelodeon. The original series, hosted by Summer Sanders, ran for four seasons from July 7, 1997, to December 12, 1999. The show was revived in 2012, with Jeff Sutph ...

.'' Ceballos also worked on the album titled '' B-Ball's Best Kept Secret'', a 1994 record featuring tracks of an array of early 1990s NBA players. He is featured on multiple tracks performing with hip-hop star

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and DJ who helped popularize West Coast hip hop during the 1990s.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. ...

on "Flow On" and later on the track "Ya Don't Stop" also featuring fellow

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Traditionally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

Dana Barros and rappers

Grand Puba Maxwell Dixon (born William Brewster Dixon III; March 4, 1966), known professionally as Grand Puba, is an American rapper and record producer, best known as a member of Brand Nubian from New Rochelle, New York. He was formerly a member of Mast ...

Sadat X Derek W. Murphy (born December 29, 1968), better known as Sadat X, is an American rapper, best known as a member of alternative hip hop group Brand Nubian. Originally known as Derek X, Sadat takes his name from former Egyptian president Anwar ...

, AG and Diamond D. Ceballos appeared along with Shawn Marion in the 30th season of ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...

''. They finished in ninth place, having raced a total of four legs.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 63 , , 0 , , 11.6 , , .487 , , .167 , , .663 , , 2.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 8.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 64 , , 4 , , 11.3 , , .482 , , .167 , , .736 , , 2.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 74 , , 46 , , 21.7 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .576* , , .000 , , .725 , , 5.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 53 , , 43 , , 30.2 , , .535 , , .000 , , .724 , , 6.5 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.4 , , 19.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 58 , , 54 , , 35.0 , , .509 , , .397 , , .716 , , 8.0 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 21.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 78 , , 71 , , 33.7 , , .530 , , .277 , , .804 , , 6.9 , , 1.5 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 21.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 8 , , 8 , , 34.9 , , .410 , , .238 , , .867 , , 6.6 , , 1.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 42 , , 32 , , 27.3 , , .464 , , .259 , , .737 , , 6.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 15.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 35 , , 16 , , 17.9 , , .500 , , .300 , , .714 , , 4.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 9.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, 12 , , 9 , , 30.3 , , .478 , , .300 , , .770 , , 6.0 , , 2.1 , , 0.9 , , 0.7 , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 5 , , 27.1 , , .421 , , .393 , , .694 , , 6.5 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 12.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 69 , , 25 , , 29.9 , , .446 , , .328 , , .843 , , 6.7 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 16.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 13 , , 0 , , 12.8 , , .394 , , .275 , , .800 , , 2.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, 27 , , 0 , , 14.6 , , .462 , , .333 , , .879 , , 3.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 6.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 609 , , 313 , , 24.2 , , .500 , , .309 , , .753 , , 5.3 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 14.3

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:left;”, Phoenix , 3, , 0, , 8.0, , .583, , –, , .333, , 1.7, , 0.7, , 0.7, , 0.0, , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, style="text-align:left;”, Phoenix , 8, , 8, , 23.5, , .550, , –, , .667, , 6.4, , 1.5, , 0.8, , 0.8, , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:left;”, Phoenix , 16, , 3, , 11.6, , .571, , –, , .727, , 2.3, , 0.8, , 0.3, , 0.4, , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:left;”, Phoenix , 10, , 8, , 21.2, , .462, , .000, , .833, , 4.4, , 0.8, , 0.8, , 0.2, , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, style="text-align:left;”, L.A. Lakers , 10, , 10, , 34.0, , .381, , .360, , .737, , 6.1, , 1.8, , 1.2, , 0.7, , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, style="text-align:left;”, L.A. Lakers , 4, , 4, , 35.5, , .484, , .313, , .917, , 8.3, , 1.3, , 1.0, , 0.3, , 19.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:left;”, Phoenix , 5, , 0, , 21.4, , .333, , .250, , 1.000, , 5.2, , 0.6, , 0.8, , 0.6, , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:left;”,

, 3, , 0, , 5.0, , .286, , –, , .500, , 2.0, , 0.3, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 1.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 59 , , 33 , , 20.6 , , .466 , , .325 , , .743 , , 4.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 9.8

References

External links

NBA.com Profile
*

Arizona Scorpions profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceballos, Cedric 1969 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Russia American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Mexican descent Basketball players from Hawaii Cal State Fullerton Titans men's basketball players Dallas Mavericks players Detroit Pistons players Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C. players Harlem Globetrotters players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Los Angeles Lakers players Miami Heat players NBA All-Stars People from Maui Sportspeople from Maui County, Hawaii Philippine Basketball Association imports Phoenix Suns draft picks Phoenix Suns players San Miguel Beermen players Small forwards Ventura Pirates men's basketball players Participants in American reality television series Manuel Dominguez High School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen