James William Cartwright was born to James and Marie Cartwright on July 30, 1957, in Lodi, California.[1][2][3]
In high school, Cartwright played basketball for the Elk Grove Thundering Herd under coach Dan Risley. With Cartwright on the squad, the team went undefeated in the 1973–1974 season and was named the best high school basketball team in California in both 1974 and 1975. In 1975, Elk Grove won the NorCal Tournament of Champions.[4] In 1974 and 1975, Cartwright was named California High School State Basketball Player of the Year. In 1975, he was named California High School Sports Athlete of the Year.[5]
Cartwright played college basketball at the University of San Francisco and was a consensus second-team all-American in 1977 and 1979. During his time at USF, Cartwright played on one of the tallest starting lineups in collegiate history. He graduated as the all-time leading scorer for the Dons, averaging 19.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Cartwright led San Francisco to three trips to the NCAA tournament, to the first round in the 1977 and to the Sweet Sixteen in both 1978 and 1979.[7][failed verification]
Year
Team W-L
G
FG
FGA
FG%
FT
FTA
FT%
RBs
Avg
Pts
Avg
1976
22–8
30
151
282
53.0
72
98
73.5
207
6.9
374
12.5
1977
29–2
31
241
426
56.6
118
161
73.3
262
8.5
600
19.4
1978
23–6
21
168
252
66.7
96
131
73.3
213
10.2
432
20.6
1979
22–7
29
268
443
60.6
174
237
73.4
455
15.7
710
24.5
Total
96–23
111
828
1406
58.9
460
627
73.4
1137
10.2
2116
19.1
Professional career
New York Knicks (1979–1988)
Cartwright was the third overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft selected by the New York Knicks, making his only career All-Star Game appearance in his first season.[8] He averaged more than 20 points per game in his first two seasons for the Knicks, but after playing no fewer than 77 games in his first five seasons, a series of foot injuries caused him to miss the entire 1984–1985 season.[9] Following that season, the Knicks drafted center Patrick Ewing with the number-one overall pick in the 1985 NBA draft. However, ongoing foot problems limited Cartwright to only two appearances during the 1985–1986 season.[10][11] When Cartwright returned for the 1986–1987 season, he and Ewing would often start and play together but during the 1987–1988 season Cartwright was relegated to the bench.[12]
Chicago Bulls (1988–1994)
Cartwright playing for the Chicago Bulls in 1991
On June 15, 1988, Cartwright was traded, along with two draft picks, to the Chicago Bulls for forward Charles Oakley and two draft picks.[13] The Bulls were willing to part with Oakley, the league's second-leading rebounder in the 1986–87 and 1987–88 seasons, because of their need for a center and the rapid development of power forward Horace Grant.[14] Cartwright was the Bulls' starting center during their string of three consecutive NBA championships in 1991, 1992 and 1993. During the 1992–93 season, Cartwright took an elbow to the throat during a regular-season game against the Indiana Pacers that fractured his larynx and left him with a hoarse voice.[15]
The Bulls, who were without Michael Jordan the following season following his retirement, made the 1994 NBA playoffs but were eliminated in a controversial game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Knicks. Cartwright departed the team thereafter as an unrestricted free agent.
Seattle SuperSonics (1994–1995)
Cartwright left the Bulls as a free agent and signed with the Seattle SuperSonics. He only played in 29 games for the Sonics, and retired after the 1994–95 NBA season.
Coaching career
A year after his retirement, Cartwright joined the Bulls once again as an assistant coach under Phil Jackson ahead of the 1996–97 NBA season. He was a member of the championship-winning teams in 1997 and 1998. The Bulls went through significant changes following the 1997–98 season, with not only Jordan and Pippen leaving, but Tim Floyd taking over as head coach from Jackson. The Bulls had a lengthy rebuilding effort, and Cartwright took over the Bulls 27 games into the 2001–02 season, going 17–38 after the team's 4–23 start under Floyd and interim head coach Bill Berry, the latter whom coached for two games before Cartwright was named interim head coach. The Bulls finished 21–61 on the year and the following season Cartwright was promoted from interim to permanent head coach. In the 2002–03 season the Bulls finished 30–52, but Cartwright would last only 14 games into the 2003–04 season — going 4–10 — before being fired.[16]Pete Myers and finally Scott Skiles coached the Bulls immediately following Cartwright's tenure.
In January 2013, Cartwright was hired to coach Osaka Evessa of the Japanese bj league.[18][19] There, he was credited for turning the franchise around.[20] When Cartwright arrived, Evessa had lost 19 of its 24 games. With Cartwright at the helm, the team won 17 of its final 28 games, including 10 straight at one point, posting a 22-30 record for the season.[21][22] He did not return the following season, citing his desire to be closer to his family in Chicago.[23]
Cartwright married his junior high school sweetheart, Sheri, and together they have four children (Justin, Jason, James and Kristin). He also has two grandkids. He earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from USF and later obtained a master's degree in organization development in 1998 from the same institution. In 2016, Cartwright became USF's director of university initiatives.[27]
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