 |
 |
|
| | Thursday, January 20 | |||||
| BATON ROUGE, La. -- Bobby Ray Phills III perched on his
Uncle Dwayne Phills' shoulder, a Charlotte Hornets jersey with the
number 13 on it hanging loosely on his tiny body as he looked down
into his father's coffin.
The 3-year-old son of the Hornets guard, who died in a car crash Wednesday, leaned forward, raised his right hand and waved a final goodbye as Dwayne slipped a Bible into his older brother's coffin.
"He's alive. He's alive with me. He's alive with his friends
and family," Dwayne Phills said.
Teammates and friends said goodbye to Phills, who was killed
when he lost control of his car while speeding. Police believe he was racing with teammate David Wesley at the time.
Members of the Hornets, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks were honorary pallbearers at Phills' funeral Sunday in his hometown.
"He was what life was all about," said San Antonio's Avery
Johnson, Phills' teammate at Southern University. "This is a time
to remember all the great things about him. We're all going to miss
him."
Phills was killed instantly Wednesday morning when he lost
control of his speeding Porsche and it crashed into another
vehicle. The 30-year-old player left behind a wife and two
children, 3 and 1.
Wesley, who was speeding alongside Phills when
the crash took place, remembered his close friend.
"I have a lot of good memories," Wesley said, his voice
shaking. "Our friendship was always there. I'll miss him all the
time. The only bad memory I have is the accident. It's the toughest
thing I've ever gone through because we all love Bobby."
Phills' wife, Kendall, gave a mostly upbeat speech about her
husband, though she had one regret about the morning Phills died.
"I didn't tell him I love him," she said.
But, she said of the man she met when she was 14 years old, it
was one of the few times in their marriage she hadn't.
"I was lucky to have him as my husband, my protector, the
captain of my ship, my eternal soulmate," she said. "Until we
meet again Bobby, I'll always love you."
The celebrities were far outnumbered by hundreds of people who remembered Phills growing up in Baton Rouge, going to school with them at Southern University Laboratory School or making spectacular plays in the arena where his coffin stood at midcourt.
"I always called it the Bobby Phills Show. Now this is the last
Bobby Phills Show. And this is the place it should be," said Jewel
Jefferson, 73, who once led cheers for Phills during his college
career.
State Senator Cleo Fields read a proclamation and a letter of
condolence from the governor. Southern University Chancellor Edward
R. Jackson announced that the school will retire Phills' number
next month.
"I started following him when he was in high school," said
Rev. Louis Hamilton Sr. "I was at every game and bought he and his
mother a meal after them. See all these people. They all knew Bobby
one way or another and they all loved him. He never forgot where he
came from or got too big for us."
Mourners began filing into the Felton G. Clark Activity Center
on Southern University at 11 a.m. For over two hours, a steady line
of people crossed the basketball court, which was circled by a wall
of flowers and pictures of Phills and his family.
Many had children with them. All seemed to have special stories.
"I went to Glenn Oaks High School and we played him three
times," Patrick Lewis said. "They whipped us pretty good twice,
but we beat them once. It was the high point of our season."
Michael Washington wept openly as he remembered the man he once matched up against in pickup games on Baton Rouge playgrounds and
high school gyms.
"He always beat me, always," Washington said. "He'd beat you
in a game, he'd beat you at horse. You name it, and he'd beat you
at it. But he never humiliated me. That was the thing about him. He
was always a really good guy." | ALSO SEE Hornets struggle in first game since death of Phills Wesley drove with suspended license day of Phills crash Phills' 3-year-old son: 'Daddy is with the angels' NBA postpones Hornets' game Friday vs. Knicks Investigators: Phills was racing at time of fatal crash Phills remembered for his strong character Phills' death hits Cavaliers hard Reporter: Classy Phills will be missed Responses about Bobby Phills NBA.com's tribute to Bobby Phills  | |||||