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ODDS and EVENS | Bill Cartwright Details Basketball Success Stories in New Book

Bill Cartwright recalls his rise to stardom, the thrill of winning a trio of NBA titles as a Chicago Bulls player and coaching in the NBA and Japan.

By Ed Odeven

In his new memoir, retired basketball player and coach Bill Cartwright dispenses wisdom from a well-lived life. And, as he writes in the final chapter, “I am filled with gratitude for the journey.” 

Cartwright also devotes one of 16 chapters in the book to looking back at his successful experience coaching the bj-league’s Osaka Evessa in 2013.

The third overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft reflects on his upbringing, his loving family, his humble roots and his rise to stardom as a player, first at Elk Grove High School in Sacramento County, California, and then his success at the University of San Francisco.

A 216-cm (7-foot-1) center, Cartwright collected a paycheck as an NBA player from 1979-95 with the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Seattle SuperSonics.

Along the way, he played for some of the NBA’s best coaches. His NBA career began with the Knicks under two-time title-winning bench boss Red Holzman.

“Looking back, I realize how lucky I was to have Red as my first NBA coach,” the California native wrote in Bill Cartwright: Living Life at the Center. (Copies of the self-published book are available for purchase on his website.)

What was memorable about Holzman’s leadership style?

“He rarely yelled or screamed,” noted Cartwright, who now serves as the University of San Francisco’s director of university initiatives. “[And] he was a very good basketball teacher; he had to be since we were rebuilding and had several young guys.”

Bill Cartwright Recalls Hubie Brown’s Approach to Coaching

During Cartwright’s tenure with the Knicks (1979-88), he also played for Hubie Brown, who also left an additional lasting impression on him.

“Hubie was the first NBA coach to hand out scouting reports to the players,” Cartwright wrote before adding, “He watched tons of tape. We had some of the most extended film sessions and pre- and post-practice huddles. He would not only talk about the upcoming game and what we should read in the newspaper but also make sure our banking was taken care of or whatever was on his mind at the time.”

Cartwright, now 68, also played under head coaches Bob Hill and Rick Pitino during his Knicks years.

His recollections of those years are upbeat and informative, and he dishes out a lot of quick impressions of many people on the Knicks. For example, about Bernard King: “[He] was a great player. Not only was he a prolific scorer, but he was also a great competitor. He was a bad matchup for teams. If the player were taller, he would go around him; if he were his size, he would bully his way to the basket.”

Traded to the Chicago Bulls

When Bill Cartwright was traded to the Bulls in June 1988, he was nearly 31 years old. The acquisition bolstered Chicago’s frontline, giving the team a rock-solid defender and a value leader in the locker room.

When and where did Bill find out he was no longer a New York Knick?

At Royal Hawaiian hotel in Honolulu, “not five minutes after arriving, I received a phone call,” Cartwright recalled. Bulls general manager Jerry Krause was the caller.

Vacation plans changed abruptly.

Cartwright flew from Hawaii to Chicago for an introductory news conference (and he stayed at the Knickerbocker Hotel in the Windy City). Then he went back to the Aloha State to resume his vacation.

Cartwright’s sense of humor and work ethic shined through in his descriptions of the season-long grind from the preseason to the playoffs.

Decades after reading articles about his career, it was enjoyable being reminded of his daily routines and his sense of duty.

“On the Knicks, I was a scorer; on the Bulls, I was a defender first and a scorer second,” wrote Cartwright, whose No 24 was retired by the University of San Francisco. (All-time great Michael Jordan was the well-established leading scorer for Chicago.)

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