NBA champion who grew up in Sacramento area writes about journey in new book: ‘Dream big’

As a 7-foot-1 center, Bill Cartwright was a literal NBA giant.

The Elk Grove native won five championships with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, playing alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen before becoming a coach.

As a player, his professional basketball career spanned 16 seasons.

Cartwright, 67, writes about his upbringing in the Sacramento area, his achievements as a player and a coach and his post-NBA career as a successful entrepreneur in his new autobiography, “Living Life at the Center.”

The self-published book titled is available to buy on his website.

“I think the book will appeal to a lot of different people, young and old,” Cartwright told The Sacramento Bee.

“How does a kid from Elk Grove, California, end up in the NBA for basically 30 years?” Cartwright asked. “(It’s) about the lessons that you learned along the way — about the team, about hard work, about possibilities of winning, about possibilities of what you dream of you can do.”

Professional basketball player grew up in Sacramento area

Cartwright grew up on Bean Ranch, about 10 miles south of Franklin Boulevard near the Cosumnes River Preserve, before moving around to the Valley Hi neighborhood in south Sacramento and Elk Grove.

He said his father, James, who worked on the ranch as a farm laborer, taught him the value of hard work.

Bill Cartwright brought that lesson with him onto the basketball court.

“You really learn how hard work and sports align,” Cartwright said.

Having starred at Elk Grove High School, Cartwright was part of a dominant boys’ basketball team that posted a 30-0 record during his junior year in 1974 and a Northern California Tournament of Champions title during his senior year.

After graduating high school in 1975, Cartwright attended the University of San Francisco, a private university.

He gained national recognition after averaging 19.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in 31 games during his sophomore year, landing him on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

As a junior, it was the first time he considered professional basketball as a career. That in turn captured the attention of Don Nelson, who was coaching the Milwaukee Bucks at the time, and Red Holzman, the legendary New York Knicks coach.

“I could have left (University of San Francisco) after my junior year,” Cartwright recalled “I stayed all four years. We had great things happen at USF. The only regret that I have is that we didn’t make it to the Elite Eight, Final Four or win a championship.”

NBA center describes career with New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls

Cartwright was drafted by the Knicks in 1979 as part of the same rookie class that included future Basketball Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

In his book “Living Life at the Center,” Cartwright describes his rocky introduction to the league and what it was like having his NBA idols Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar become rivals.

“I was busy,” Cartwright told The Bee,” I was playing, so I was just really focused on just doing well.”

Life in the NBA wasn’t as glamorous as Cartwright had imagined, he said.

”We flew commercial, and we stayed in not-bad hotels” such as Days Inn, Cartwright said.

With a per diem allowance of about $14 a day, he often ate at Denny’s.

“I remember my favorite was their Super Bird special,” featuring a sliced turkey breast sandwich and French fries, Cartwright recalled. “It was great.”

In 1988, a trade sent Cartwright to the Chicago Bulls, where he teamed up with Jordan and Pippen.

The battle-tested team won three consecutive NBA championships in 1991, 1992 and 1993, creating a basketball dynasty.

“We were lucky enough to keep our same starters for all three championships,” Cartwright said.

Would the Bulls have won more titles if Jordan hadn’t retired after their first three-peat run?

Cartwright considered the question.

“We won six (championships),” Cartwright said of the Bulls.

With Jordan’s help, however, “We could have won eight straight (titles),” he said

Following Jordan’s retirement in 1993, “We still were able to go to the Eastern Conference Finals and ended up losing to the Knicks,” Cartwright said. “Had he been there, that would have been our easiest championship because they played against Houston (in the NBA Finals) and we killed them (during the regular season).”

As it was, the Bulls lost in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1994.

“It’s not important anyway because it’s over,” he added.

Cartwright played a season with the Seattle Supersonics in 1994-95 before he retired as a player.

What happened after Bill Cartwright’s playing career?

After going back to USF to pursue a masters degree in organizational development in 1998, Cartwright had plans to open a business that serviced his community such as a restaurant, daycare or hair salon, he said.

In fact, he thought he’d operate a McDonald’s following his playing days, Cartwright said.

Cartwright was living in El Dorado Hills and working as an eighth grade girls basketball coach when received a call from then-Bulls general manager Jerry Krause.

Krause invited Cartwright to serve as an assistant coach with the Chicago team in 1996.

As Bulls assistant coach, Cartwright won two more championships with the team.

He was eventually promoted to head coach in 2001, becoming the first Black head coach in Bulls history, and served in that capacity until 2003.

Cartwright wasn’t the only Sacramento native leading a professional Chicago sports team at the time.

By 2003, Sacramento natives Jerry Manuel and Dusty Baker were managers of the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, respectively. Both are friends of Cartwright’s.

Cartwright went on to hold assistant coaching positions for the New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns before taking head coaching jobs for professional teams in Japan and Mexico.

What inspired player to write about his past?

Cartwright, who now lives in Gold River with his wife, Sheri, has seen success as a businessman, opening a Mercedes-Benz car dealership in Wisconsin in 2005.

He’s also the owner of French restaurant Froggy’s in Highland, Illinois.

Still, Cartwright said, authoring a book was uncharted territory.

He came up with the idea during the COVID-19 pandemic while living in San Francisco, explaining that the forced downtime allowed him to contemplate what to do next.

It took him about a year to write “Living Life at the Center.” He tasked his buddy, Baker, with writing the foreword.

Cartwright described the process of writing and publishing the book — his first — as “fun and quite the journey.”

It allowed him to reflect on his background, how far he’s come and the changes he’s seen, taking away lessons about teamwork, the importance of family and having a high standard for himself.

Cartwright decided to go the self-publishing route after speaking with industry publishers that made him feel like “just another dog,” he said. “I’m not like everybody else.”

Instead, he decided to “dream big, think big and not be bound” by his own thoughts.

“You’re only bound by your own thoughts,” he said. “I still have a restaurant. ... I’ve been in the car business. I’ve had other different businesses. …If you could dream it and you go to work, you can do it.”

Cartwright says he plans to write more books.

“You’d always want to expand on it, and I would,” Cartwright said. “From a guy who has never written a book, I think we did well for our first go-around.”

How to buy new autobiography ‘Living Life at the Center’

“Living Life at the Center” is available for purchase via Bill Cartwright’s website, bill-cartwright.com.

This story was originally published January 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.