 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
'Tough to lose a guy like that' Friends, teammates, family mourn Bobby Phills
Posted: Friday January 14, 2000 10:28 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The 3-year-old son of Bobby Phills walked up to the podium, hand in hand with his mother. She picked him up and he spoke into the microphone. "Tell everybody where Daddy is," Kendall Phills said. "In heaven," Bobby Phills III said. Then, he added, "With the angels." The boy then ran off the stage and hugged his 1-year-old sister, Kerstie. Phills' two children were among several hundred mourners who gathered Friday at a memorial service for the Charlotte Hornets player. The 30-year-old guard was killed just after practice Wednesday in what police suspect was a drag-racing accident with teammate David Wesley near the team's arena. Phills' bronze casket was surrounded by floral arrangements, one in the shape of a basketball hoop and ball, and two poster-size photographs of him on the court. Phills' wife, Kendall Phills, said she met her husband when she was just 14. "He adored our beautiful children and he loved his parents," she said tearfully. "It's truly been a blessing for me to have Bobby as my husband, friend and eternal soul mate." She read a poem that she wrote, with the verse concluding: "It broke my heart to lose you. But you didn't go alone. For a part of me went with you the day God called you home." Wesley, the Hornets' point guard, spoke of his close friend and struggled for composure in the service at Central Church of God. He made no mention of the accident. "I don't really know what I want to say, but he was my partner in crime," he began. "We had some fun." Wesley called Phills a fierce competitor on the basketball court and golf course. "He always had to win, and even when he wasn't winning he talked enough trash to make you think he was winning," he said, drawing laughter. Coach Paul Silas said what he will miss most about Phills is his infectious smile. "He would brighten up the room when he entered," he said. "And he was smart and perceptive on and off the court." Silas said Phills took it in stride when he was asked to give up his starting job this season. "When I asked him to go to the bench he said, 'Coach, I'll do whatever I need to do to help this team.'" Police said Phills lost control of his Porsche and skidded into oncoming traffic. The investigation might be wrapped up next week. The NBA postponed Charlotte's Friday night home game against the New York Knicks, but the Hornets will play the Knicks in New York on Saturday night. A contingent of Knicks players and coaches led by Patrick Ewing attended Phills' service. The Charlotte-Chicago game scheduled the night of the wreck also was postponed. "The bad thing I feel," said Hornets vice president Bob Bass, his voice shaking, "was that I never told Bobby that I love him. God, it's tough to lose a guy like that." After the Knicks game Saturday night, the team will take a charter to Charlotte, then fly to Baton Rouge, La., Sunday for Phills' funeral and burial. The service will be held at Southern University, where Phills earned a bachelor's degree in animal science. On Monday, the Hornets play the Toronto Raptors at Charlotte Coliseum. A moment of silence and a video tribute to Phills is planned. His teammates plan to wear a patch bearing Phills' No. 13 on their jerseys for the rest of the season. The Hornets said they will retire his jersey number at their Feb. 9 home game against Cleveland, where Phills spent his first six NBA seasons. Phills' jersey will be the first retired in the 11-year history of the Charlotte franchise.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
