Last Updated on August 7, 2026 by Mat Diekhake

Bill Cartwright was a skilled low-post center whose size and toughness made him a reliable presence throughout a long NBA career. Although he was an All-Star earlier in his career, many fans remember him most for the important role he played on the championship teams led by Michael Jordan in Chicago.

Here’s the information about Bill Cartwright:

Player Profile

  • Full Name: James William “Bill” Cartwright
  • Nationality: American
  • Age: Born July 30, 1957
  • Hometown: Lodi, California, USA
  • Height: 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)
  • Weight: 245 lbs (111 kg) during his playing career
  • Wingspan: 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m)
  • Shoe Size: US size 17
  • Number: Primarily wore #24 during his NBA career
  • Position: Center
  • High School: Elk Grove High School (Elk Grove, California)
  • College: University of San Francisco (played for the Dons, 1975–1979)
  • NBA Draft: Selected 3rd overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks
  • Teams Played For:
    1. New York Knicks (1979–1988)
    2. Chicago Bulls (1988–1994)
    3. Seattle SuperSonics (1994–1995)
  • Championship Rings: 3 NBA Championships (with the Chicago Bulls, 1991, 1992, 1993)
  • Kids: 4 children (Justin, Jason, James, and Kristin Cartwright)
  • Siblings: Information on siblings is not widely publicized.

Player Archetype / Play Style

Bill Cartwright’s player archetype was that of a traditional back-to-the-basket center, the kind of old-school big man who gave structure to a team through size, screens, interior scoring, and rugged positional defense. At 7-foot-1 and 245 pounds, he had the frame and strength to hold ground in the paint, and his offensive role leaned toward post touches, mid-range face-ups, offensive rebounding, and the sort of bruising screen-setting that helped create space for teammates. Defensively, he was more anchor than roamer, using his length, physicality, and experience to battle opposing centers, protect the lane by presence, and absorb difficult matchups without needing flashy block totals to make his value felt. The broader play style was steady rather than explosive: Cartwright brought toughness, polish, and a calming interior presence, which made him especially useful as a dependable veteran center on contending teams. (Basketball Reference)

Scouting Report

Bill Cartwright was never the kind of center who overwhelmed opponents with speed, and that’s exactly why his game is often misunderstood. He played at his own tempo, using strength, balance and remarkably soft touch to make defenders work long before the shot went up. The interesting thing is that many of his post catches were won before he even received the ball, sealing his man early, establishing deep position and forcing the defense to decide whether to send help immediately or live with a difficult one-on-one assignment. Once he caught it, he rarely hurried. His high release made the turnaround jumper and short hook extremely difficult to contest, and while he wasn’t a flashy passer, he recognized double teams well enough to move the ball back out before they completely collapsed the possession. The trade-off was obvious against quicker defensive schemes that fronted the post or forced him to defend in space. He was far more comfortable protecting the paint from a set position than chasing mobile bigs through repeated screening actions, and his footspeed limited how aggressively teams could ask him to hedge beyond the lane. That said, he consistently understood where to be as the back-line defender, using positioning instead of highlight blocks to discourage drives. To me, his ideal offensive environment was one built around structured half-court execution, where patient entry passes and disciplined spacing allowed his post game to dictate the rhythm rather than asking him to run end-to-end possessions. It’s easy to overlook how much his screening contributed to an offense as well. He created separation by making solid contact, opening driving lanes that didn’t exist without his willingness to absorb the initial collision. His style shared similarities with Jack Sikma in the reliance on skill and timing over explosiveness, while there were elements of Brad Daugherty in the way he combined polished low-post scoring with calm decision-making whenever defenses tried to speed him up.

Fun Facts

  • He had an unusual free throw shooting technique and jump shot. He would start with the ball not facing the rim and rotate his wrists around to the eventual shooting position. To this day, I’ve never seen another basketball player shoot the ball similar to Cartwright.

Sources:

NBA.com — Bill Cartwright | Center | New York Knicks
Basketball-Reference — Bill Cartwright Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more
Chicago Bulls — Ring of Honor – Bill Cartwright
Los Angeles Times — He’s Creating Elbow Room in the Middle : Bulls center Bill Cartwright has overcome obstacles of race and injuries to become an important member of his team
University of San Francisco Dons — William “Bill” Cartwright (1986) – Hall of Fame