Lessons from Bobby Phills: The Maturation of Nick Young and JaVale McGee
Kyle Weidie | February 3, 2009 | 2:37 pm
This is Bobby Phills.
He is dead.He died in an automobile accident when he and teammate David Wesley were racing along the highways in Charlotte, NC after a morning shoot-around.
This is David Wesley.
He lived.Surely Wesley has coped since the tragedy just over nine years ago, but still, he must live the rest of his life knowing that he lost a friend when they were both being stupid and reckless.
This is JaVale McGee.
And this is Nick Young.
Both Nick and JaVale are idiots — albeit, just kids….just humans, and we all make mistakes — but idiots nonetheless.
Nick and JaVale have been ticketed for reckless driving (ht: Bullets Forever). It’s understood that they were both driving in separate cars, but not clear if they were racing each other or in a rush to catch a flight to Boston because they were running late.
Nonetheless, they probably need a talking to from David Wesley. It’s better to be late than dead.
[photo sources: NBA.com and flickr/Keith Allison]
Published in JaVale McGee
Excellent point. It is too easy to flip a car speeding around a turn that bends more than you expect.
Hopefully, this is a lesson that sticks with those guys.
Very good point. The death of Bobby Phills hit me hard. If anyone wants to read more about him, we did a remembrance piece on Hornets247 last month:
http://www.hornets247.com/blog/2009/01/12/remembering-bobby-phills