After being cut in December 1991 without playing a game for the Bucks, Phills had a stint with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association before being signed by the Cavaliers and rejoining the NBA late in the 1991–92 season. Over his nine-year career, he averaged 11.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. He was known as a defensive stopper,[2] averaging 1.9 steals per game for his career, and an excellent perimeter shooter, with a 39.0% career three-point shooting percentage. In 2000, he was killed in an automobile accident.
Though he made a name for himself as a shooter during his college career, Phills became known as a tenacious wing defender in the NBA. At 6' 5" and 220 pounds,[3] he was said to more resemble an NFLlinebacker than a basketball player.[4] In 1996, Michael Jordan remarked that Phills was the toughest defender he had ever faced.[4]
Death
On January 12, 2000, while a member of the Charlotte Hornets, Phills was killed in a car accident in Charlotte, North Carolina. Phills was traveling behind teammate David Wesley at over 100 mph (160 km/h) when his Porsche spun and crossed into oncoming traffic. It hit another car, which in turn was struck in the rear by a minivan.[5] The drivers of the other two vehicles recovered, while Phills was pronounced dead at the scene.[5] A police report said Phills and Wesley were driving "in an erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner."[6] Wesley was later convicted of reckless driving after being cleared of a racing charge.[5]
Personal life
Phills was survived by his parents, his wife Kendall, and three children; a daughter Brittany Dickson, a son Bobby Ray Phills III, known as Trey and a daughter Kerstie. Trey gained statewide recognition in North Carolina while playing for Charlotte Christian School. He played college basketball for the Yale Bulldogs and now plays for the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League. After starting her college career at Wagner, Kerstie transferred and is currently a redshirt sophomore for Florida Gulf Coast University.[7]
Legacy
The Hornets retired Phills' #13 jersey on February 9, 2000, during halftime of a game vs. Phills' former team, the Cavaliers. It was the first number that the Hornets franchise had ever retired. Phills' Hornets teammates also wore a patch bearing his #13 on their jerseys for the remainder of the 1999–2000 season.[8] His jersey hung from the rafters of the Charlotte Coliseum until the franchise relocated to New Orleans in 2002; it was then displayed in the New Orleans Arena until 2013. In 2004, the NBA added an expansion team, the Charlotte Bobcats. In 2013, the New Orleans Hornets changed their name to the New Orleans Pelicans. The following year, the Bobcats also re-branded, bringing the Hornets name back to Charlotte. Additionally, the original Charlotte Hornets' history from 1998 to 2002 was transferred to the renamed team. On November 1, 2014, the Charlotte Hornets retired Phills' jersey number a second time; it currently hangs from the rafters of the Spectrum Center.[9][10] The Pelicans have since returned the number 13 to circulation.
