Philip Chenier (born October 30, 1950) 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 who was a

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

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 ten seasons. He was also a television sports broadcaster for the NBA's

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

Early years

Born and raised in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, Chenier graduated from Berkeley High School 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 California Golden Bears in Berkeley.

NBA playing career

Chenier was selected fourth in the 1971 NBA Hardship Draft by the Baltimore Bullets (as well as the

Carolina Cougars The Carolina Cougars were a basketball franchise in the American Basketball Association that existed from 1969 through 1974. The Cougars were originally a charter member of the ABA as the Houston Mavericks in 1967. The Mavericks moved to North Ca ...

in the 1971 ABA Special Circumstances Draft, the

Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, a ...

in the 1973 ABA Senior Draft, and the

New York 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 ...

in the 1974 ABA Draft of NBA Players), and played for the Bullets for eight seasons, from

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

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 ...

. The franchise moved from Baltimore to Washington in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, after his second season. He was one of the better

shooting guards The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's ...

in the NBA for the first six seasons in his career, but he suffered a back injury early in the 1977–78 season and had season-ending surgery. The Bullets went on to win the NBA title with Kevin Grevey as the shooting guard. Chenier was never the same player after that; he came back from his surgery late the next season, but never could crack the Bullets' starting lineup again. Chenier was released by the Bullets after the 1978–79 season, and played briefly for 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 ...

and

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

and retired after the 1980–81 season. Chenier, who was a 1972

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

selection, averaged 17.2 points per game for his career, and was named to three NBA All-Star teams. In 2017, the Wizards announced that they would retire Chenier's number 45 jersey. On March 23, 2018, Chenier's jersey was retired.

Broadcasting career

Chenier, who got his start in television sports broadcasting with Home Team Sports back in 1985, has announced black college games alongside broadcasters Charlie Neil and

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

for

Black Entertainment Television Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

. He was the color analyst for the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

and

games on television from 1987 to 2017, with a final pairing for NBC Sports Washington alongside play-by-play commentator, Steve Buckhantz.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, 81 , , , , 30.6 , , .415 , , , , .737 , , 3.3 , , 2.5 , , , , , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 71 , , , , 39.1 , , .452 , , , , .795 , , 4.1 , , 4.2 , , , , , , 19.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Capital , 76 , , , , 38.7 , , .434 , , , , .820 , , 5.1 , , 3.1 , , 2.0 , , .9 , , 21.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 77 , , , , 37.3 , , .450 , , , , .825 , , 3.8 , , 3.2 , , 2.3 , , .8 , , 21.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 80 , , , , 36.9 , , .483 , , , , .827 , , 4.0 , , 3.2 , , 2.0 , , .6 , , 19.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 78 , , , , 36.4 , , .444 , , , , .841 , , 3.8 , , 3.8 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , 20.2 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 36 , , , , 26.0 , , .443 , , , , .790 , , 2.8 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 14.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 27 , , , , 14.3 , , .437 , , , , .643 , , .7 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , .2 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2, , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 20 , , , , 23.5 , , .393 , , .500 , , .756 , , 2.2 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .3 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, 23 , , , , 16.5 , , .385 , , .333 , , .692 , , 1.5 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .4 , , 5.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 9 , , , , 9.1 , , .333 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , .9 , , .8 , , .0 , , .0 , , 3.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 578 , , , , 33.1 , , .444 , , .400 , , .806 , , 3.6 , , 3.0 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , 17.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 3 , , 0 , , 16.0 , , .500 , , , , .500 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , .0 , , 7.3

Playoffs

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

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

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

, 6 , , , , 25.5 , , .373 , , , , .833 , , 2.7 , , .8 , , , , , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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

, 5 , , , , 42.2 , , .506 , , , , .750 , , 4.2 , , 3.4 , , , , , , 17.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1974 , style="text-align:left;", Capital , 7 , , , , 44.3 , , .453 , , , , .892 , , 6.1 , , 1.7 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , 22.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, style="text-align:left;", Washington , style="background:#cfecec;", 17* , , , , 40.7 , , .470 , , , , .895 , , 4.5 , , 3.2 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , 24.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, style="text-align:left;", Washington , 7 , , , , 37.9 , , .438 , , , , .824 , , 3.7 , , 1.6 , , .9 , , .4 , , 18.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, style="text-align:left;", Washington , 9 , , , , 40.0 , , .476 , , , , .804 , , 4.4 , , 2.6 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , 25.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", Washington , 9 , , , , 10.8 , , .217 , , , , .455 , , 0.9 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 2.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 60 , , , , 34.8 , , .450 , , , , .845 , , 3.8 , , 2.2 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , 18.1

Personal life

Chenier resides in

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...

, with his wife Gerry Chenier. He has two daughters, one son and grandchildren.

References

External links

Phil Chenier stats at Basketball Reference.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chenier, Phil 1950 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) draft picks Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Basketball players from Berkeley, California Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni California Golden Bears men's basketball players Capital Bullets players Carolina Cougars draft picks Golden State Warriors players Indiana Pacers players Mid-Atlantic Sports Network NBA All-Stars NBA players with retired numbers Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Sportspeople from Columbia, Maryland Point guards Virginia Squires draft picks Washington Bullets announcers Washington Bullets players Washington Wizards announcers