Occasionally here in Player Profiles, I like to profile players who maybe didn't have a stellar career, but who nonetheless had productive NBA tenures. Today is one of those days. Today, we will focus on a player in the middle, literally, of the first Chicago Bulls three-peat in the early 1990s, center Bill Cartwright.

Bill Cartwright was born July 30, 1957 in Lodi, California. He attended Elk Grove High School, then attended the University of San Francisco, where he became the school's most accomplished center since Bill Russell. The Dons won at least 22 games in each of Cartwright's four years there, as he averaged double-double numbers in his junior and senior seasons (highs of 24.5 PPG and 15.7 RPG as a senior). Cartwright led the Dons to the Sweet Sixteen in both 1978 and 1979, and left as San Francisco's all-time leading scorer. He was then drafted #3 overall (behind Magic Johnson and David Greenwood) in the 1979 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks.

Cartwright had a rookie season (stats wise) that compared favorably to highly touted rookies Johnson and Larry Bird, averaging 21.7 PPG and 8.9 RPG (both would remain his career highs) as the focus of the Knicks' attack. Cartwright was selected to his only All-Star Game that season, scoring 8 points and grabbing 3 boards in the East's win. Cartwright put up solid numbers over his first four years (never averaging below 14.4 PPG or 5.8 RPG) as the Knicks played respectable ball over that period, but things changed after the 1983-84 season. He fractured his left foot four times, missing the entire 1984-85 season and all but two games the following year. By that time, the Knicks had drafted Patrick Ewing, and with neither center comfortable as a backup or at power forward, the Knicks struggled.

After spending the 1987-88 season as Ewing's backup, Cartwright was traded to the Chicago Bulls for Charles Oakley. Though many people in Chicago (including star guard Michael Jordan) questioned the move, Cartwright played soldily for the emerging Bulls, providing badly needed size at center. Though his playing time decreased over his tenure in Chicago, Cartwright started on all three Bulls titlist teams from 1991-93. He played in Chicago through the 1993-94 season, then concluded his career in 1995 with the Seattle Supersonics. When he retired, he had scored 12,713 points (13.2 career PPG) and grabbed 6,106 rebounds (6.3 RPG). He has since become a coach, briefly head coaching the Bulls from 2002-04, and is currently an assistant with the Phoenix Suns.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review:
1979-80: 82 GP, 21.7 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 2.0 APG, 54.7 FG%, 79.7 FT%
1980-81: 82 GP, 20.1 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.4 APG, 55.4 FG%, 78.8 FT%
1981-82: 72 GP, 50 GS, 14.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 56.2 FG%, 76.3 FT%
1982-83: 82 GP, 82 GS, 15.7 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.7 APG, 56.6 FG%, 74.4 FT%
1983-84: 77 GP, 77 GS, 17.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.4 APG, 56.1 FG%, 80.5 FT%
1984-85: missed entire season with injury
1985-86: 2 GP, 0 GS, 6.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 42.9 FG%, 60.0 FT%
1986-87: 58 GP, 50 GS, 17.5 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 1.7 APG, 53.1 FG%, 79.0 FT%
1987-88: 82 GP, 4 GS, 11.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.0 APG, 54.4 FG%, 79.8 FT%
1988-89: 78 GP, 76 GS, 12.4 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.2 APG, 47.5 FG%, 76.6 FT%
1989-90: 71 GP, 71 GS, 11.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.0 APG, 48.8 FG%, 81.1 FT%
1990-91: 79 GP, 79 GS, 9.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.6 APG, 49.0 FG%, 69.7 FT%
1991-92: 64 GP, 64 GS, 8.0 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, 46.7 FG%, 60.4 FT%
1992-93: 63 GP, 63 GS, 5.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.3 APG, 41.1 FG%, 73.5 FT%
1993-94: 42 GP, 41 GS, 5.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.4 APG, 51.3 FG%, 68.4 FT%
1994-95: 29 GP, 19 GS, 2.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 0.3 APG, 39.1 FG%, 62.5 FT%