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

player. As a

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular c ...

, he played mostly for the

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

and the Los Angeles Lakers, later finishing his

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) 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 Western Conference Southwest Division. The ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

Playing career

Ceballos attended college at

Ventura College Ventura College is a 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 Ventura College ...

and later

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

. 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. ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote "the dunk contest was the best halftime inventio ...

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 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 ...

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 (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, 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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

. 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 are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

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

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

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i team

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

, but was waived after a couple of games. Shortly after, he moved to Russia and was signed by

BC Lokomotiv Mineralnye Vody PBC Lokomotiv Kuban (russian: ПБК «Локомотив Кубань») is a Russian professional basketball team based in Krasnodar. The club participates in the VTB United League. The team is one of the top tier basketball teams in Russia ...

. 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 the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra ...

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 franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA). In late 2004, he signed with the Los Angeles Stars from the

ABA ABA may refer to: Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, United States * Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Japanese television station * Australian Broadcasting Authority Education * Académie des Beaux- ...

. 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, web ...

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

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

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

radio station MEGA 104.3 FM. In March 2007, the

Phoenix Flame The Arizona Flame, formerly the Phoenix Flame and the Scottsdale Flame, were an International Basketball League (IBL) team based in Casa Grande, Arizona. The team played home games at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum and on the campus of ...

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 player 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 men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

Arizona Scorpions Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

, and also played for the team.

Personal life

Ceballos was invited to play for the Mexico national basketball team in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. 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 spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely ...

. 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, is also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), is a minimally invasive endovascular procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atherosclero ...

with two stents placed in his heart. In 2021, he contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

and posted photos of himself in the

intensive care unit 220px, 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 intensi ...

. 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 Puzzle Place'' is an American children's television series produced by KCET in Los Angeles and Lancit Media in New York City. Although production was dated and premiered on two Los Angeles PBS stations, KCET and KLCS, on September 15, 1994 ...

''. The following year, he played himself on an episode of ''

Living Single ''Living Single'' is an American television sitcom created by Yvette Lee Bowser that aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 22, 1993, to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who shared personal and profess ...

'' titled "High Anxiety". In 1998, Ceballos was a guest panelist on the Nickelodeon game show '' Figure It Out.'' 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 and producer known for his role in West Coast rap's 1990s ascent.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. Along with Snoop Dogg and N ...

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. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

Dana Barros and rappers Grand Puba, Sadat X, AG and

Diamond D Joseph Kirkland (born April 5, 1968), better known by his stage name Diamond D, is an American hip hop MC and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, and one of the founding members of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew, abbreviated as D.I.T ...

. Ceballos appeared along with Shawn Marion in the 30th season of ''

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

''. 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 the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, 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 largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, 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 ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

, 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 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 ...

, 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 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

, 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 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 ...

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

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

, 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 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

, 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 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, 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 September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, 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 African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Russia 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 National Basketball Association All-Stars People from Maui Philippine Basketball Association imports Phoenix Suns draft picks Phoenix Suns players San Miguel Beermen players Small forwards The Amazing Race (American TV series) contestants Ventura Pirates men's basketball players American men's basketball players