7/29/2006 4:00:00 AM Ceballos at ease with life after NBA
Doug Cook
Courier Reporter
Cedric Ceballos enjoys basking in the limelight, although not to the point of complete immersion.
It's certainly not the portrait one would envision of Ceballos, who distances himself from the narcissism typically associated with ex-pro athletes of his caliber.
Ceballos, the former Phoenix Suns star small forward of the early and late 1990s, today dabbles in several facets of the entertainment business but has remained humble to a great degree.
Ceballos played an injury-plagued 12 NBA seasons, including six with the Suns, and retired in 2002 ‹ utterly thankful for what he accomplished.
Thursday afternoon at Pine Summit Camp in Prescott, where Ceballos was visiting nearly 300 children attending this summer's Junior Suns camp, the showman exhibited a unique side of his personality. After his retirement from basketball, Ceballos successfully pursued his childhood dream of entertaining audiences. He now appears in TV shows and movies and hosts a morning show on an FM-radio station in Phoenix.
Ever since a blind-folded Ceballos threw down a monster jam during the 1992 All-Star Game weekend's ever-popular dunk contest, pro basketball fans across the globe took notice of the Cal State-Fullerton standout that had a hard time believing he'd ever amount to much in the talent-laden NBA.
"For a lot of people, that kind of put me on the map," Ceballos said of his spectacular dunk. "A lot of people do remember that. It hadn't been done before and a lot of media really juiced it up. But it wasn't one of the most memorable moments for me. Not even close."
Instead, Ceballos focuses on those early years with the Suns in which he, Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle, among others, came ever so close to winning an NBA Championship.
Ceballos rode the bench during his first two seasons in Phoenix. However, through his tireless effort and dedication, the ambitious, energetic star soon earned a starting role and proved his worth as a clutch scorer and rebounder.
He blossomed into a part-time starter during the stunning 1992-93 season in which the Suns advanced to the NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls. Ceballos was subsequently traded to the Lakers before the 1994-95 season started and was named an NBA Western Conference All-Star in 1995, averaging a team-best 21.2 points per game.
"It was never meant, in my mind, to try to be an NBA player or try to put myself in a position to be an NBA player," Ceballos said. "The opportunity was presented to me and I took full advantage of it. I worked as hard as I could, and every injury I had had nothing to do with me. Every time I was hurt, it was a flagrant foul ‹ somebody else broke my wrist, my foot."
On the surface, Ceballos seems tormented by the disappointments of his playing days. But the happy-go-lucky, personable Ceballos is clearly happy now with being a DJ and an actor.
"Ever since I was able to, I've been entertaining in some form or fashion," Ceballos said. "Either I've been the host of a family reunion, making jokes in class, the class clown, all that stuff. For some reason, I just have a knack for helping people enjoy themselves. Whatever aspect it is, I'm an entertainer. Basketball's just another form of that."
Above all, Ceballos feels as content as he ever has with the state of his adult life. Currently, he is one of two morning disc jockeys for Mega 104.3 FM, an "old school and modern-day rhythm and blues radio station," where he's on the air Monday through Friday from 6-10 a.m.
"Everything that I tried to do as a kid, I'm doing now ‹ what I went to school for, my passions and my dreams," Ceballos said. "Basketball was never really my main focus. I understood the reality. I understood the numbers of it. I understood that I wasn't good enough, basically, to try to make a life or career out of it. And even if I did, I knew it was only going to last a short period of time in my life."
Ceballos said he's busy but he will continue to help out occasionally with the Suns' youth basketball camps. For the first time this year, he will sponsor his own children's hoops camp Aug. 7-13 at Fort McDowell Casino.
Ceballos originally had his camp set for an earlier date, but he postponed it after landing a small role in the new Jamie Foxx movie "Kingdom" that is being filmed in Phoenix.
"I get tons of offers to do all kinds of stuff, but I kind of limit it," he said.
Yes, like most people, Ceballos has a limit. But the sky's not a bad place to start.
