Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 33 -- Phil Chenier, 3-Time All-Star & NBA Champ

We are counting down Cal’s top 50 athletes based on their careers as post-collegiate professionals. Their performance as Golden Bears is not factored into the rankings.

33. PHIL CHENIER

Years at Cal: 1968 to 1971

Sport: Basketball 

Pro teams: Baltimore Bullets, Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors

Age: 74

Hometown: Berkeley, Calif.

Why we ranked him here: A 6-foot-3 guard, Chenier was chosen by the Bullets with the fourth pick of the 1971 supplemental hardship draft. He played 10 NBA seasons, the first eight-plus with Baltimore/Washington. He averaged 17.2 points for his career with three seasons above 20 points per game. A three-time All-Star, Chenier scored a career-high 53 points on 22-for-31 shooting in a win over Portland on Dec. 6, 1972. The following year had had eight steals (and 26 points) in a win over the Knicks. Chenier averaged 21.8 points in 1974-75, when he finished eighth in MVP voting and helped the Bullets to a favorite’s role in the NBA playoffs. He scored 39 points in Game 7 of the first-round series win over Buffalo and averaged 24.8 points in the Eastern Conference finals win over Boston. Chenier had a 30-point game in the Finals but the underdog Warriors pulled off a stunning 4-0 sweep. The Bullets finally got their championship three years later, but Chenier missed the Finals due to a back injury that plagued him for the rest of his career. He had brief stints with Indiana and Golden State, retiring in 1981 after being waived by the Warriors. Following his playing career, Chenier served as TV analyst for Washington for three decades, from 1987 through 2017.