Phil Chenier

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Phil Chenier

| image = Phil Chenier.jpg

| image_size = 220

| width =

| caption = Chenier in 2011

| position = Shooting guard

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 3

| weight_lb = 180

| number = 45, 30, 15

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|10|30}}

| birth_place = Berkeley, California, U.S.

| high_school = Berkeley (Berkeley, California)

| college = California (1969–1971)

| draft_year = 1971

| draft_round = Hardship

| draft_pick = 4

| draft_team = Baltimore Bullets

| career_start = 1971

| career_end = 1981

| years1 = {{nbay|1971|start}}–{{nbay|1979|start}}

| team1 = Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets

| years2 = {{nbay|1979|full=y}}

| team2 = Indiana Pacers

| years3 = {{nbay|1980|end}}

| team3 = Golden State Warriors

| highlights =

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 9,931 (17.2 ppg)

| stat2label = Rebounds

| stat2value = 2,063 (3.6 rpg)

| stat3label = Assists

| stat3value = 1,742 (3.0 apg)

| bbr = cheniph01

}}

Philip Chenier (born October 30, 1950){{Cite web|title=Phil Chenier Stats|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/cheniph01.html|access-date=2020-07-06|website=Basketball-Reference.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=NBA Players: Phil Chenier Profile and Basic Stats|url=https://www.landofbasketball.com/nba_players/c/phil_chenier.htm|access-date=2020-11-07|website=www.landofbasketball.com}} is an American former professional basketball player who was a shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA){{Cite web|title=Phil Chenier|url=https://stats.nba.com/player/76386/|access-date=2020-07-06|website=NBA Stats|language=en}} for ten seasons.{{Cite web|title=Phil Chenier – National Basketball Retired Players Association|date=February 8, 2012 |url=https://www.legendsofbasketball.com/alumni/phil-chenier/|access-date=2020-11-07|language=en-US}} He was also a television sports broadcaster for the NBA's Washington Wizards.{{Cite web|date=2017-09-14|title=Wizards will retire Phil Chenier's No. 45 jersey|url=https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/washington-wizards/wizards-will-retire-bullets-legend-phil-cheniers-no-45-jersey|access-date=2020-07-06|website=NBC Sports Washington}}

Early years

Born and raised in Berkeley, California, Chenier graduated from Berkeley High School and played college basketball for the California Golden Bears in Berkeley.{{Cite news|last=Allen|first=Scott|title=Phil Chenier on his jersey retirement: 'It's going to be a surreal kind of moment'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2018/03/22/phil-cheniers-jersey-will-finally-hang-alongside-wes-unselds-51-years-after-they-met/|newspaper=Washington Post}}

NBA playing career

Chenier was selected fourth in the 1971 NBA Hardship Draft by the Baltimore Bullets (as well as the Carolina Cougars in the 1971 ABA Special Circumstances Draft, the Virginia Squires in the 1973 ABA Senior Draft, and the New York Nets in the 1974 ABA Draft of NBA Players), and played for the Bullets for eight seasons, from 1971 to 1979. The franchise moved from Baltimore to Washington in 1973, after his second season.{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Albert|date=2018-03-23|title=Here are 5 facts on Phil Chenier's playing career|url=https://www.bulletsforever.com/2018/3/23/17155642/phil-chenier-washington-bullets-playing-career|access-date=2020-07-06|website=Bullets Forever|language=en}} He was one of the better shooting guards in the NBA{{Cite book|last1=Abrams|first1=Brett L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5dyOeOoA3TYC&q=Philip+Chenier+shooting+guard&pg=PA155|title=The Bullets, the Wizards, and Washington, DC, Basketball|last2=Mazzone|first2=Raphael|date=2013|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8108-8554-7|language=en}} 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.{{Citation| last =| first =| year =1978| title =Bullets' Chenier Faces Back Surgery| publisher=The Sacramento Bee| publication-place = web | page=| url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/620943564/?terms=Michael%20Droese%20sprinter| access-date = 13 March 2023}}{{Cite news|date=1977-11-19|title=Phil Chenier back injury Nov. '77|pages=10|work=The Evening Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28316334/phil-chenier-back-injury-nov-77/|access-date=2020-07-06}} 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 and Golden State Warriors and retired after the 1980–81 season.

Chenier, who was a 1972 NBA All-Rookie Team selection, averaged 17.2 points per game for his career, and was named to three NBA All-Star teams.{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Albert|date=2018-03-23|title=Here are 5 facts on Phil Chenier's playing career|url=https://www.bulletsforever.com/2018/3/23/17155642/phil-chenier-washington-bullets-playing-career|access-date=2020-11-07|website=Bullets Forever|language=en}}

In 2017, the Wizards announced that they would retire Chenier's number 45 jersey.{{cite news|last1=Steinberg|first1=Dan|title=Wizards will retire Phil Chenier's jersey|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2017/09/14/wizards-will-retire-phil-cheniers-jersey/|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=September 15, 2017|date=September 14, 2017}} On March 23, 2018, Chenier's jersey was retired.{{cite news|last1=Buckner|first1=Candace|title=Phil Chenier 'humbled to the deepest' as Bullets jersey finds home in rafters|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wizards-insider/wp/2018/03/23/phil-chenier-humbled-to-the-deepest-as-bullets-jersey-finds-home-in-rafters/|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=March 24, 2018|date=March 23, 2018}}

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 for Black Entertainment Television. He was the color analyst for the Washington Bullets and Washington Wizards 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;"|{{nbay|1971}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Baltimore

| 81 || {{sort|-|—}} || 30.6 || .415 || {{sort|-|—}} || .737 || 3.3 || 2.5 || {{sort|-|—}} || {{sort|-|—}} || 12.3

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1972}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Baltimore

| 71 || {{sort|-|—}} || 39.1 || .452 || {{sort|-|—}} || .795 || 4.1 || 4.2 || {{sort|-|—}} || {{sort|-|—}} || 19.7

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1973}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Capital

| 76 || {{sort|-|—}} || 38.7 || .434 || {{sort|-|—}} || .820 || 5.1 || 3.1 || 2.0 || .9 || 21.9

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1974}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Washington

| 77 || {{sort|-|—}} || 37.3 || .450 || {{sort|-|—}} || .825 || 3.8 || 3.2 || 2.3 || .8 || 21.8

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1975}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Washington

| 80 || {{sort|-|—}} || 36.9 || .483 || {{sort|-|—}} || .827 || 4.0 || 3.2 || 2.0 || .6 || 19.9

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1976}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Washington

| 78 || {{sort|-|—}} || 36.4 || .444 || {{sort|-|—}} || .841 || 3.8 || 3.8 || 1.5 || .5 || 20.2

| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|{{nbay|1977}}†

| style="text-align:left;"|Washington

| 36 || {{sort|-|—}} || 26.0 || .443 || {{sort|-|—}} || .790 || 2.8 || 2.0 || 1.0 || .3 || 14.1

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1978}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Washington

| 27 || {{sort|-|—}} || 14.3 || .437 || {{sort|-|—}} || .643 || .7 || 1.1 || .1 || .2 || 5.8

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2|{{nbay|1979}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Washington

| 20 || {{sort|-|—}} || 23.5 || .393 || .500 || .756 || 2.2 || 2.1 || .9 || .3 || 10.1

| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana

| 23 || {{sort|-|—}} || 16.5 || .385 || .333 || .692 || 1.5 || 2.0 || .7 || .4 || 5.4

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1980}}

| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State

| 9 || {{sort|-|—}} || 9.1 || .333 || .333 || 1.000 || .9 || .8 || .0 || .0 || 3.2

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career

| 578 || {{sort|-|—}} || 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 || {{sort|-|—}} || .500 || 1.7 || 1.0 || .7 || .0 || 7.3

=Playoffs=

| style="text-align:left;"|1972

| style="text-align:left;"|Baltimore

| 6 || {{sort|-|—}} || 25.5 || .373 || {{sort|-|—}} || .833 || 2.7 || .8 || {{sort|-|—}} || {{sort|-|—}} || 9.0

| style="text-align:left;"|1973

| style="text-align:left;"|Baltimore

| 5 || {{sort|-|—}} || 42.2 || .506 || {{sort|-|—}} || .750 || 4.2 || 3.4 || {{sort|-|—}} || {{sort|-|—}} || 17.8

| style="text-align:left;"|1974

| style="text-align:left;"|Capital

| 7 || {{sort|-|—}} || 44.3 || .453 || {{sort|-|—}} || .892 || 6.1 || 1.7 || 1.9 || 1.1 || 22.4

| style="text-align:left;"|1975

| style="text-align:left;"|Washington

| style="background:#cfecec;"|17* || {{sort|-|—}} || 40.7 || .470 || {{sort|-|—}} || .895 || 4.5 || 3.2 || 1.3 || .6 || 24.2

| style="text-align:left;"|1976

| style="text-align:left;"|Washington

| 7 || {{sort|-|—}} || 37.9 || .438 || {{sort|-|—}} || .824 || 3.7 || 1.6 || .9 || .4 || 18.0

| style="text-align:left;"|1977

| style="text-align:left;"|Washington

| 9 || {{sort|-|—}} || 40.0 || .476 || {{sort|-|—}} || .804 || 4.4 || 2.6 || 1.7 || .4 || 25.0

| style="text-align:left;"|1979

| style="text-align:left;"|Washington

| 9 || {{sort|-|—}} || 10.8 || .217 || {{sort|-|—}} || .455 || 0.9 || 1.0 || .3 || .0 || 2.8

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career

| 60 || {{sort|-|—}} || 34.8 || .450 || {{sort|-|—}} || .845 || 3.8 || 2.2 || 1.2 || .5 || 18.1

Personal life

Chenier resides in Columbia, Maryland, with his wife Gerry Chenier. He has two daughters, one son and grandchildren.

References

External links

[https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/cheniph01.html Phil Chenier stats at Basketball Reference.com]
{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110708233744/http://databasebasketball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=CHENIPH01%20 Phil Chenier stats at Database Basketball.com]}}

Category:1950 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen

Category:20th-century American sportsmen

Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen

Category:21st-century American sportsmen

Category:American men's basketball players

Category:Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) draft picks

Category:Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players

Category:Basketball players from Berkeley, California

Category:Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni

Category:California Golden Bears men's basketball players