Last Updated on July 26, 2026 by Mat Diekhake

Give Cedric Ceballos a sliver of space near the basket and he usually found an inventive way to turn it into points, whether with a quick spin, a soft floater, or an acrobatic finish around taller defenders. His offensive game leaned on timing and touch more than brute force, making him a difficult matchup for forwards who expected every attack to come straight at them.

Here is detailed information about Cedric Ceballos:

Player Profile

  • Full Name: Cedric Z. Ceballos
  • Nationality: American
  • Age: Born August 2, 1969
  • Hometown: Maui, Hawaii, USA
  • Height: 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m)
  • Weight: 220 lbs (100 kg)
  • Wingspan: 6 feet 8 inches
  • Shoe Size: Size 15 (US)
  • Number: 23, 1, 5, 31 (varied by team)
  • Position: Small Forward
  • High School: Dominguez High School (Compton, California)
  • College:
    • Ventura College (Junior College)
    • Cal State Fullerton (1988–1990)
  • NBA Draft 1990 NBA Draft, 48th overall by the Phoenix Suns
  • Teams Played For
    1. Phoenix Suns (1990–1994, 1997–1998)
    2. Los Angeles Lakers (1994–1997)
    3. Dallas Mavericks (1998–2000)
    4. Detroit Pistons (2000–2001)
    5. Miami Heat (2001)
    6. Denver Nuggets (2001, signed but didn’t play a game)

He also played internationally and in smaller leagues later in his career.

  • Championship Rings
    • NBA Championships: None
  • Kids: Cedric has one daughter, Cyndee Ceballos.
  • Siblings: Not widely documented.

Player Archetype / Play Style

Cedric Ceballos’s player archetype was that of a slashing scoring forward, a high-motor wing who created offense through movement, cuts, opportunistic finishing, and relentless scoring activity rather than isolation-heavy play. A Los Angeles Times profile from his breakout Lakers period described him as a “slipping, sliding, sneaking, hiding sort of a ballplayer,” which fits the way he operated offensively: finding seams near the basket, piling up points without dominating the ball, and adding value as a rebounder from the forward spot. Defensively, he was better cast as an active team wing than a shutdown stopper, using effort and mobility more than specialist lockdown technique. Physically, Ceballos was a lean 6-foot-6 to 6-foot-7 forward with enough length, bounce, and fluidity to finish in traffic and run the floor, and his overall play style blended hustle scoring, interior timing, transition play, and secondary rebounding into a productive, unconventional wing package. (Los Angeles Times)

Scouting Report

Cedric Ceballos had a gift for making difficult scoring opportunities look almost casual because he understood how to arrive in the right place a beat before everyone else. He wasn’t obsessed with pounding the ball into the floor to create an advantage. Instead, he thrived by slipping behind ball-watchers, cutting from the weak side at exactly the right moment and filling open space whenever a defence shifted toward a primary creator. That’s what made him such an awkward matchup. Even in half-court settings, he’d use quick spins, long strides and crafty pivots around the basket rather than overwhelming defenders with power, and once he got two feet in the paint his touch with either hand gave him several different ways to finish. The interesting thing is that his scoring often improved when the offence had more movement around him because he instinctively recognised when a help defender had turned their head, particularly during baseline exchanges and post entries. Defensively, Ceballos competed with size and anticipation more than lateral quickness. He could hold his own against bigger forwards, rotate across as the low man to challenge at the rim and finish possessions with strong rebounding position, but offences that repeatedly forced him through staggered screens or isolated quicker wings in space could expose some limitations changing direction. The trade-off was that while he could put points on the board in bunches, he wasn’t naturally inclined to organise an offence for others once defences collapsed, often looking to finish plays himself before considering the next pass. To me, his ideal role is as an off-ball scoring forward playing beside an initiator who bends the defence first, allowing Ceballos to attack seams, crash the offensive glass and punish scrambling rotations rather than creating every advantage from scratch. His offensive style shared elements with Corey Maggette’s knack for generating efficient scoring without elaborate dribble packages, while there were also flashes of Richard Jefferson in the way intelligent cuts and transition instincts quietly produced a significant portion of his offence before defenders even realised where the threat had come from.

Fun Facts

  • 1992 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion: Known for his unique “blindfolded” dunk, which became one of the most iconic moments in Slam Dunk Contest history.
  • Scoring Prowess: Ceballos averaged 21.7 points per game during the 1994–95 season with the Lakers and was selected as an NBA All-Star that year.
  • Music Career: Cedric dabbled in music and released an album, reflecting his interests outside basketball.
  • Post-Retirement: He has worked as a broadcaster and community ambassador for the Phoenix Suns.

Sources:

Los Angeles Times — Ceballos Escapes Shadow of Suns : Laker Forward Steps Into Spotlight After Serving as Backup in Phoenix
NBA.com — Cotton Express: Rude Awakening