Bill Cartwright, born July 30, 1957, grew up in the farming community of Elk Grove, California, where he and his sisters spent summers chopping weeds in the sugar beet fields to help the family get by.
At the University of San Francisco he became a three-time All-American, and in 1979 the New York Knicks made him the third pick of the NBA draft. He was an All-Star in his rookie season.
The Bulls
In 1988 the Chicago Bulls traded Charles Oakley to New York to bring the 7-foot-1 center to Chicago. It was an unpopular deal at the time, but Cartwright became the steady, physical presence in the middle that Michael Jordan’s Bulls had been missing. As the starting center and co-captain alongside Jordan, he anchored the team through its first three consecutive NBA championships in 1991, 1992 and 1993.
Coaching and Later Years
He added two more championship rings as an assistant coach under Phil Jackson in 1997 and 1998, later served as the Bulls’ head coach, and went on to coach and mentor young centers for years. He tells his own story in his memoir, Living Life at the Center.
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