Breakdown

Bill Wennington is/was:

A well-traveled 7-footer, Bill Wennington has never been one to light up the scoreboard, but he has provided steady minutes at the center position since entering the NBA in 1985, and in 1996 he earned a championship ring as a reserve center with the Chicago Bulls. He played the same role for the Bulls the next two seasons, although an injured left foot cost him a spot on Chicago's playoff roster in 1997. A Montreal native and two-time member of Canada's Olympic basketball squad, he attended college at St. John's, where he was a teammate of Chris Mullin. As a senior in 1984-85, Wennington put up collegiate career highs of 12.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. The Dallas Mavericks chose Wennington with the 16th overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft. He spent the first five years of his pro career with the Mavericks but didn't make much of an impact. In his rookie campaign he averaged 3.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in 56 games. His best season with Dallas was 1988-89, when he contributed 4.6 points and 4.4 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per game. Dallas sent Wennington to Sacramento in the 1990 offseason, and he had a good year for the Kings in 1990-91. He spent the following two seasons in Italy, where he played for Knorr Bologna. Before the 1993-94 season got underway he returned to the United States to sign with the Chicago Bulls as a free agent. Wennington earned significant playing time after a series of injuries to the Bulls' other centers, and the extra minutes allowed him to post career highs of 7.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He had a lesser role in 1994-95 and averaged 5.0 points, but in 1995-96 he started 20 games and appeared as a reserve in 51 more, contributing 5.3 points per game to the Bulls' 72-win championship season. In 1996-97 he appeared in 61 games, making 19 starts, but went on the injured list on April 2 due to a ruptured plantar fascia of the left foot, knocking him out of the postseason. He came back to play in 48 games in 1997-98 and appeared in 16 playoff contests as the Bulls won their third title in a row. In 1998-99, after the Bulls traded starting center Luc Longley to Phoenix, Wennington played in 38 games but made only three starts, as Chicago went primarily with a smaller, more mobile lineup. Wennington played in 38 games for Chicago, making three starts. He missed six games February 17-25 with a lower back strain and was a DNP-CD six times. Although he and Andrew Lang were the only legitimate centers on the roster, the Bulls preferred to go with a smaller, more mobile lineup and gave most of the playing time in the pivot to natural forwards like Dickey Simpkins and Mark Bryant. Wennington scored a season-high 12 points in the finale on May 5 against Orlando, shooting 6-for-8 from the field in 15 minutes of action. He only scored in double figures one other time, getting 10 points in 17 minutes against Orlando on April 2. He hauled down a season-high eight rebounds on April 10 against Miami.