James William Cartwright (born July 30, 1957) 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 and a former coach. A center, he played 16 seasons in the

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) for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

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 ...

and Seattle SuperSonics, helping the Bulls capture consecutive championships in the

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

seasons. He attended Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove, California, and played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the San Francisco Dons. Following his playing career, he served as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, the Osaka Evessa of the

bj League The was a professional basketball league in Japan that began in November 2005 as a six-team league. The league was operated as a competitor to the established Japan Super League which was run by the Japan Basketball Association, the official ...

and the Mexico men's national basketball team as well as an assistant coach for several years in the NBA.

Early life

James William Cartwright was born to James and Marie Cartwright on July 30, 1957, in

Lodi, California Lodi ( ) is a city in San Joaquin County, California, United States, in the center portion of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 66,348 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History When a gro ...

. In high school, Cartwright played basketball for the Elk Grove Thundering Herd under coach Dan Risley. With Cartwright on the squad, the team went undefeated in the 1973–1974 season and was named the best high school basketball team in California in both 1974 and 1975. In 1975, Elk Grove won the NorCal Tournament of Champions. In 1974 and 1975, Cartwright was named California High School State Basketball Player of the Year. In 1975, he was named California High School Sports Athlete of the Year. As a prep star, Cartwright was just as highly regarded as fellow preps Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby. Cartwright graduated from Elk Grove High School in 1975.

College basketball career

Cartwright played college basketball at the University of San Francisco and was a consensus second-team all-American in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. During the 1978/79 USF season, Cartwright played on one of the tallest starting lineups in collegiate history with the 7'1" Cartwright at center, the 7'0" Wallace Bryant at power forward, and the 6'10" Guy Williams at small forward. He graduated as the all-time leading scorer for the Dons, averaging 19.1

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

and 10.2 rebounds per game. Cartwright led San Francisco to three trips to the NCAA tournament, to the first round in the

and to the Sweet Sixteen in both

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

and

Professional career

New York Knicks (1979–1988)

Cartwright was the third overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft selected by the

, making his only career

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

appearance in his first season. He averaged more than 20 points per game in his first two seasons for the Knicks, but after playing no fewer than 77 games in his first five seasons, a series of foot injuries caused him to miss the entire 1984–1985 season. Following that season, the Knicks drafted center

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is a basketball ambassador for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played most o ...

with the number-one overall pick in the

1985 NBA draft The 1985–86 NBA season, 1985 NBA draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "NBA draft lottery, lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the ...

. However, ongoing foot problems limited Cartwright to only two appearances during the 1985–1986 season. When Cartwright returned for the 1986–1987 season, he and Ewing would often start and play together but during the 1987–1988 season Cartwright was relegated to the bench.

Chicago Bulls (1988–1994)

On June 15, 1988, Cartwright was traded, along with two draft picks, to the

for forward Charles Oakley and two draft picks. The Bulls were willing to part with Oakley, the league's second-leading rebounder in the 1986–87 and 1987–88 seasons, because of their need for a center and the rapid development of power forward Horace Grant. Cartwright was the Bulls' starting center during their string of three consecutive NBA championships in

and

. During the 1992–93 season, Cartwright took an elbow to the throat during a regular-season game against 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 fractured his

larynx The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ (anatomy), organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal ...

and left him with a hoarse voice. The Bulls, who were without

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

the following season following his retirement, made the

1994 NBA playoffs The 1994 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1993–94 NBA season, 1993-94 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champion 1993–94 Houston Rockets ...

but were eliminated in a controversial game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Knicks. Cartwright departed the team thereafter as an unrestricted free agent.

Seattle SuperSonics (1994–1995)

Cartwright left the Bulls as a free agent and signed with the Seattle SuperSonics. He only played in 29 games for the Sonics, and retired after the

1994–95 NBA season The 1994–95 NBA season was the 49th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the Houston Rockets defeating the Orlando Magic 4–0 in the NBA Finals to be crowned champions. Notable occurrences *The Housto ...

Coaching career

A year after his retirement, Cartwright joined the Bulls once again as an assistant coach under Phil Jackson ahead of the

1996–97 NBA season The 1996–97 NBA season was the 51st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league used this season to celebrate its 50th anniversary, which included the unveiling of the league's list of its 50 greatest players. This particu ...

. He was a member of the championship-winning teams in

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 ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. The Bulls went through significant changes following the 1997–98 season, with not only Jordan and Pippen leaving, but Tim Floyd taking over as head coach from Jackson. The Bulls had a lengthy rebuilding effort, and Cartwright took over the Bulls 27 games into the 2001–02 season, going 17–38 after the team's 4–23 start under Floyd and interim head coach

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guita ...

, the latter whom coached for two games before Cartwright was named interim head coach. The Bulls finished 21–61 on the year and the following season Cartwright was promoted from interim to permanent head coach. In the 2002–03 season the Bulls finished 30–52, but Cartwright would last only 14 games into the 2003–04 season — going 4–10 — before being fired. Pete Myers and finally

Scott Skiles Scott Allen Skiles Sr. (born March 5, 1964) is an American former basketball coach and player. He coached the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic. A first-round draft pick out of Michigan State University, Skiles played ...

coached the Bulls immediately following Cartwright's tenure. In 2004, the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

hired Cartwright as an assistant coach under Lawrence Frank. In 2008, Cartwright was named as an assistant coach 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 ...

under

Terry Porter Terry Porter (born April 8, 1963) is an American former college basketball coach and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was most recently the head men's basketball coach at the Portland Pilots, University of Portland ...

. Suns

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Steve Kerr Stephen Douglas Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the United States men's national ...

hired the former big man to help coach veteran big man

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

, all-star

Amar'e Stoudemire Amar'e Carsares Stoudemire (born November 16, 1982) is an American-Israeli professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as a player development assistant for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NB ...

, and upcoming draft picks. After the Suns dismissed Porter and promoted assistant Alvin Gentry, Cartwright stayed on as assistant coach with the team. In January 2013, Cartwright was hired to coach Osaka Evessa of the Japanese

bj league The was a professional basketball league in Japan that began in November 2005 as a six-team league. The league was operated as a competitor to the established Japan Super League which was run by the Japan Basketball Association, the official ...

. There, he was credited for turning the franchise around. When Cartwright arrived, Evessa had lost 19 of its 24 games. With Cartwright at the helm, the team won 17 of its final 28 games, including 10 straight at one point, posting a 22–30 record for the season. He did not return the following season, citing his desire to be closer to his family in Chicago. In September 2014, Cartwright was hired as the head coach of the Mexico men's national basketball team ahead of the

2014 Central American and Caribbean Games The 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games were held November 14–30, 2014 in Veracruz, Mexico.Sport page< ...

, replacing recently fired Sergio Valdeolmillos. Five months later, he was replaced by Eddie Casiano who himself was fired after only two months without coaching a game and replaced by the aforementioned Valdeolmillos.

Personal life

Cartwright married his junior high school sweetheart, Sheri, and together they have four children (Justin, Jason, James and Kristin). He also has two grandkids. He earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from USF and later obtained a master's degree in organization development in 1998 from the same institution. In 2016, Cartwright became USF's director of university initiatives. Cartwright is an avid fan of

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

music from the 1950s and 1960s, and plays

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and collects

transistor radio A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Previous portable radios used vacuum tubes, which were bulky, fragile, had a limited lifetime, consumed excessive power and required large heavy batteri ...

s as hobbies.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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, 82 , , , , 35.7 , , .554 , , .000 , , .788 , , 7.5 , , 1.4 , , 0.6 , , 1.0 , , 20.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , 50 , , 28.6 , , .562 , , – , , .763 , , 5.8 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.9 , , 14.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 30.1 , , .566 , , – , , .744 , , 7.2 , , 1.7 , , 0.5 , , 1.5 , , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 77 , , 77 , , 32.3 , , .561 , , .000 , , .805 , , 8.4 , , 1.4 , , 0.6 , , 1.3 , , 17.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 18.0 , , .429 , , – , , .600 , , 5.0 , , 2.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 58 , , 50 , , 34.3 , , .531 , , – , , .790 , , 7.7 , , 1.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 17.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 4 , , 20.4 , , .544 , , – , , .798 , , 4.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 78 , , 76 , , 29.9 , , .475 , , – , , .766 , , 6.7 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 12.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 71 , , 71 , , 30.4 , , .488 , , – , , .811 , , 6.5 , , 2.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 79 , , 28.8 , , .490 , , – , , .697 , , 6.2 , , 1.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 64 , , 64 , , 23.0 , , .467 , , – , , .604 , , 5.1 , , 1.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 63 , , 63 , , 19.9 , , .411 , , – , , .735 , , 3.7 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 42 , , 41 , , 18.6 , , .513 , , – , , .684 , , 3.6 , , 1.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, 29 , , 19 , , 14.8 , , .391 , , – , , .625 , , 3.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 2.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 963 , , 676 , , 28.5 , , .525 , , .000 , , .771 , , 6.3 , , 1.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.7 , , 13.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 1 , , 0 , , 14.0 , , .500 , , – , , – , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 8.0

Playoffs

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1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

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, 2, , , , 24.5, , .353, , –, , .667, , 6.5, , 0.5, , 0.5, , 0.5, , 10.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

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

, 6, , , , 28.7, , .581, , –, , .773, , 5.7, , 0.7, , 0.5, , 1.2, , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

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

, 12, , , , 33.2, , .556, , –, , .863, , 8.3, , 0.4, , 0.2, , 1.2, , 17.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988 , style="text-align:left;",

, 4, , 0, , 19.0, , .500, , –, , .733, , 4.8, , 1.5, , 0.0, , 0.8, , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

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

, 17, , 17, , 34.3, , .486, , –, , .700, , 7.1, , 1.2, , 0.5, , 0.7, , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

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

, 16, , 16, , 28.9, , .413, , –, , .674, , 4.7, , 1.0, , 0.3, , 0.3, , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:left;",

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† , style="text-align:left;",

, 22, , 22, , 37.8, , .474, , –, , .419, , 4.5, , 1.7, , 0.5, , 0.2, , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 19, , 19, , 23.4, , .465, , –, , .778, , 4.5, , 1.5, , 0.6, , 0.2, , 6.3 , - , 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;",

, 9, , 8, , 21.0, , .326, , –, , .813, , 4.9, , 1.2, , 0.3, , 0.2, , 4.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 124 , , 99 , , 28.2 , , .482 , , – , , .725 , , 5.4 , , 1.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 8.9

Head coaching record

NBA

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, style="text-align:left;", , 55, , 17, , 38, , , , style="text-align:center;", 8th in Central, , , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 30, , 52, , , , style="text-align:center;", 6th in Central, , , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 14, , 4, , 10, , , , style="text-align:center;", (fired), , , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", — , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 151, , 51, , 100, , , , , , —, , —, , —, , —, ,

Japan

, - , style="text-align:left;", Osaka Evessa , style="text-align:left;", 2013 , 28, , 17, , 11, , , , style="text-align:center;", 7th in Western, , , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs

References

External links

*
Official NBA bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright, Bill 1957 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Japan American men's basketball players Basketball players from Sacramento County, California Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls assistant coaches Chicago Bulls head coaches Chicago Bulls players NBA All-Stars New Jersey Nets assistant coaches New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Osaka Evessa coaches Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Phoenix Suns assistant coaches San Francisco Dons men's basketball players Seattle SuperSonics players Sportspeople from Elk Grove, California Sportspeople from Lodi, California

Early life

College basketball career

Professional career

New York Knicks (1979–1988)

Chicago Bulls (1988–1994)

Seattle SuperSonics (1994–1995)

Coaching career

Personal life

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Head coaching record

NBA

Japan

See also

References

External links