CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Bobby Phills of the Charlotte Hornets was killed in a car wreck Wednesday shortly after a morning practice at the team's arena.
The 30-year-old guard had just left a shootaround at the Charlotte Coliseum when the two-car accident happened, club spokesman Jonathan Supranowitz said.Phills, driving a black Porsche, was killed on impact. Two other people were hospitalized, Hornets owner George Shinn told WCNC-TV. Shinn, coach Paul Silas and forward Elden Campbell had gone to the scene.
The Hornets' game against the Chicago Bulls tonight was postponed.
Phills, a 6-foot-5 defensive stopper and a team leader, was one of the Hornets' top reserves. He joined the Hornets in 1997 after six years with Cleveland. He was in the third year of a seven-year, $33 million contract.
He averaged 10.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists a game for his career at the end of last season. He was fourth on the team in scoring this season.
One of the most active Hornets players in the community, Phills was a tireless volunteer for children's charities and related organizations.
He is survived by his wife, Kendall, and two children.
Phills attended Southern University and his father, Bobby Phills, is dean of agriculture and home economics at Florida A&M University.
This was the second fatal traffic accident in the past nine months involving a professional athlete from North Carolina. Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Steve Chiasson was killed in May after he lost control of his pickup truck in Raleigh. Tests showed he was legally drunk.
This was also the second serious traffic this season involving Hornets players.
In October, Eldridge Recasner of the Hornets was left with a broken shoulder and partially collapsed lung after an accident. Derrick Coleman, driving the sport utility vehicle in which Recasner was a passenger, was arrested for drunken driving. A female passenger was hurt in that collision with a tractor-trailer in Charlotte. Recasner remains on the injured list.