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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and a former head coach of 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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

of the

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

(NBA). A 7'1" (2.16 m) center, he played 16 seasons for the New York Knicks,

and

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conf ...

, helping the Bulls capture consecutive championships in the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

, 1992 and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

seasons. He attended Elk Grove High School in

Elk Grove, California Elk Grove is a city in Sacramento County, California, located just south of the state capital of Sacramento. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade– Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 Census, the population o ...

, and played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The ...

High school and college career

In high school, Cartwright played basketball for the Elk Grove Thundering Herd under coach Dan Risley. In 1974 and 1975, he was named California High School State Basketball Player of the Year. In 1975, he was named California High School Sports Athlete of the Year. On March 6–8, 1975, Cartwright's Elk Grove High School team won the 29th Annual Tournament Of Champions in Oakland (predecessor of the California Interscholastic Federation State Basketball Championship). As a prep star, Cartwright was just as highly regarded as fellow preps Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby. Cartwright played college ball at the University of San Francisco and was a consensus second-team all-American in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 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 (now the Democrati ...

and 1979. During his time at USF, Cartwright played on one of the tallest starting lineups in collegiate history. He graduated as the all-time leading scorer for the Dons, averaging 19.1

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

and 10.2

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

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 and 1979

Professional career

New York Knicks (1979–1988)

Cartwright was the third overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft selected by the New York Knicks, making his only career

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase 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 d ...

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 with the number-one overall pick in the

1985 NBA Draft The 1985 NBA Draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the previous few years lasting up to 10 roun ...

. 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)

Chicago Bulls and New Jersey Nets, March 28, 1991

On June 15, 1988, Cartwright was traded to the

for forward Charles Oakley. 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

, 1992 and

. During the

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first est ...

that fractured his larynx 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. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

the following season following his retirement, made the

1994 NBA playoffs File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

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

. He only played in 29 games for the Sonics, and retired after the 1994–95 NBA season.

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. He was a member of the championship-winning teams in 1997 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 frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. 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, 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 Peter Eddie Myers (born September 15, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player and a former assistant coach for the National Basketball Association, NBA team Chicago Bulls. Early life and college career Born in Mobile, Alabama ...

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 hired Cartwright as an assistant coach under Lawrence Frank. In 2008, Cartwright was named as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns under Terry Porter. 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 ...

Steve Kerr Stephen Douglas Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a nine-time NBA champion, havi ...

hired the former big man to help coach veteran big man

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program '' Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the great ...

, all-star Amar'e Stoudemire, 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 in Japan. In September 2014, Cartwright was hired as the head coach of the Mexico National Basketball Team.

Personal life

Cartwright married his junior high school sweetheart, Sheri, and together they have four children Justin, Jason, James and Kristin and has 2 grandkids names Trey and Gavin. 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 genre 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, Chica ...

music from the 1950s and 1960s, and plays guitar and collects transistor radios as hobbies.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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

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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;",

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

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, 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;",

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, 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;",

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, 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;",

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

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, 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 a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, 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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, 2, , , , 24.5, , .353, , –, , .667, , 6.5, , 0.5, , 0.5, , 0.5, , 10.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1983 , style="text-align:left;",

, 6, , , , 28.7, , .581, , –, , .773, , 5.7, , 0.7, , 0.5, , 1.2, , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1984 , 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 , style="text-align:left;",

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, 17, , 17, , 34.3, , .486, , –, , .700, , 7.1, , 1.2, , 0.5, , 0.7, , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1990 , style="text-align:left;",

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, 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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, 17, , 17, , 30.1, , .519, , –, , .688, , 4.7, , 1.9, , 0.5, , 0.4, , 9.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", 1992† , style="text-align:left;",

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, 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;",

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, 19, , 19, , 23.4, , .465, , –, , .778, , 4.5, , 1.5, , 0.6, , 0.2, , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

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

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, 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;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

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

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, 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 , 21, , 15, , 6, , , , style="text-align:center;", 7th in Western, , , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs

High school and college 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