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| Phills |
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For Kendall Phills, the anniversary of
her husband's death is bittersweet. While she's reminded of her
loss, she's also able to celebrate his memory.
"This is a difficult time for me," she said Thursday night,
the eve of the one-year anniversary of husband Bobby Phills' death.
"I'm reminded he's not here anymore, but I'm also able to focus
all the wonderful times we had and on his wonderful life."
Phills was killed last Jan. 12 in a car accident when he left
the Charlotte Hornets' morning shootaround. Phills was speeding
from the Charlotte Coliseum when he lost control of his Porsche and
slid into oncoming traffic. He was killed instantly.
On Thursday, Kendall Phills was back at the Coliseum to mark the
anniversary before the Hornets played the Portland Trail Blazers.
She stood smiling at midcourt with her children, Trey, 4, and
Kerstie, 2, during a moment of silence for the former Charlotte
captain, then accepted a $10,000 check from the organization for
the Bobby Phills Scholarship Fund.
She'll mark the actual anniversary on Friday night with a
citywide memorial at Charlotte's Calvary Church. Carolina Panther
Reggie White, an ordained minister, is one of the featured
speakers.
The Hornets won't be able to attend the memorial -- they'll be
tipping off against the Bulls in Chicago and the same time it
starts -- and coach Paul Silas said that was a good thing.
"Certainly we will always remember the date and the man, but
not the hurt," Silas said. "To be at the memorial would force us
to relive the accident and the day all over again."
Hornets guard David Wesley, who police said was racing Phills at
the time of the accident, has tried to be accommodating this week
to reporters' questions about the anniversary. But he made
Wednesday the final day he would talk about the situation.
"After a year, I don't have anything new to say," he said
earlier this week. "I wish I could just be left alone to deal with
it the way I've been dealing with it all along. It's my thing."
Kendall Phills, who said she and Wesley will be "friends 'till
the end," said it's been a difficult year for Wesley.
"I don't think a day goes by that he and I don't think about
the accident," she said. "He was the last one to see Bobby that
day and he told me he can still see him sometimes.
"They were partners in crime -- I called them Bip and Bop -- and
it's been hard for him."
It's also been hard for her. She started dating Phills when she
was 14 and they married 10 years later. Now 29, she is without him
for the first time in her adult life.
"Bobby had an aura about himself that was different from any
other guy I ever met," she said. "That magnetic smile just drew
me in. I cherish every moment we had."
Kendall Phills has remained active in both the community and the
Hornets' organization since Phills' death. She still lives in
Charlotte and attends Hornets' home games and team functions.
And she's still a member of Behind the Bench, the NBA wives'
association, and will receive the association's Heart of Courage
Award at the NBA All-Star game next month for her work in helping
other widows cope with their grief.
But her biggest task has been running the scholarship fund,
which has raised over $200,000 -- mostly from donations from NBA
players -- since she started it earlier this year.
The fund provides full scholarships for five students at a time
to Southern University, her and Bobby's alma mater, and for five
other students to go to predominantly black colleges aligned with
the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.
"The fund has allowed me to turn a negative situation into a
positive situation, and I'm able to smile about it," she said.
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