Thomas Doane Chambers (born June 21, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a four-time NBA All-Star. He was a two-time All-NBA Second Team selection during his career. He played for the San Diego Clippers, Seattle Supersonics, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, Charlotte Hornets, and Philadelphia 76ers.
A key offensive threat at the power forward position, Chambers bloomed in Seattle by averaging 20 points per game in his five seasons with the team. With the advancement of league agreement over free agency, Chambers became the first unrestricted free agent in league history, and he soon signed with the Suns. With encouragement to shoot the ball profusely, Chambers peaked with 27 points per game in the 1989–90 season. He made his only appearance in the NBA Finals in 1993 while being used as a sixth man option and departed the Suns for Utah in free agency. He played two seasons with the team off the bench but became the 24th player to score 20,000 career points in NBA history, doing so in 1996. Internationally, he played one season with Maccabi Tel Aviv, winning the Israeli League. He closed out his career with spot appearances for Charlotte and Philadelphia before retiring in 1997. Chambers was inducted into the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor in 1999 and his number was later formally retired by the team.
In December 2021, he was nominated as a first-time finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame but was not elected. He is one of two eligible players with 20,000 career points to not be a member of the Hall of Fame, alongside Antawn Jamison. but did not advance to the list of finalists. Currently, Chambers works for the Suns as a community relations representative.
Thomas Doane Chambers was born on June 21, 1959 in Ogden, Utah. He grew up in Utah but spent his junior year of high school at Aurora Central in Aurora, Colorado after his father found a job that necessitated a move. Hailing from an athletic family, Chambers was a promising 6-2 guard at the end of his sophomore year. Suddenly, he grew six inches during the next six months. As a junior, teammates marveled that he had not lost any coordination with his growth. A new job opportunity came up during the year that saw the family move to Boulder, Colorado prior to his senior year of high school. Chambers starred at Fairview High School for his senior year and led the state in scoring. He scored 50 points with 22 rebounds in his final high school game. A broken wrist as a senior forced him to use his left hand more, improving his game. An all-Colorado high school player, he was hotly recruited and enrolled at Utah.
At Utah, Chambers played center with star forward Danny Vranes. The two led successful teams in the Western Athletic Conference. He ran the floor well and had good shooting range. On February 5, 2022, Chambers' jersey and number, 42, were retired during the Utes' game against Oregon. At the NBA level, he moved to the power forward position.
San Diego Clippers (1981–1983)
Chambers was drafted by the San Diego Clippers (now the Los Angeles Clippers) with the 8th pick in the 1981 NBA draft. After signing a $1.5 million four-year contract, he played at forward for the first time after being a center in college. On the injury-riddled young Clippers roster his rookie year, Chambers ended up the team's top scorer at 17.2 points per game, and he made 52.5% of his shots. He logged his first career 30-point game (November 7) and first double-double (November 12) in his first six games as a player. On April 15, 1982, he set a then-career-high points total of 39 points in a 129–123 win against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The next season, on October 29, 1982, Chambers scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in San Diego's home opener, a loss to the Phoenix Suns. In the same season, the team had drafted power forward Terry Cummings, who was the Rookie of the Year that year, and the club felt it had to choose between the two young prospects. They traded Chambers and Al Wood for James Donaldson, Greg Kelser, Mark Radford, a 1984 first-round draft pick (Michael Cage was later selected) and a 1985 2nd round draft pick (Calvin Duncan was later selected).
Seattle SuperSonics (1983–1988)
Teaming with center Jack Sikma and guard Gus Williams, Chambers became a key piece to a winning team in his third NBA season. He played all 82 games and averaged 18.1 points per game. In 1983, though, Williams was traded, and the point guard who starred was Gerald Henderson. After posting a team-high 21.5 points per game the season before, Chambers fell to third-most on the team in shot attempts, taking only 28 more shots more than Henderson that season. He still led the team at 18.5 points per game, but felt he was being passed around in the offense.
1986–87, however, was a big season for Chambers. Rookie Nate McMillan took over Henderson's spot and Chambers became one of three key scorers for the Sonics. He posted 23.3 points per game to reach All-Star status for the first time. Chambers made 85% of 630 free throw tries that season. He also again played all 82 games. In the 1987 NBA All-Star Game, Chambers was a late selection to the game, having been inserted as an injury replacement for Ralph Sampson, who tore his knee the week before the game. In the game itself, played in Seattle, Chambers scored 34 points on 13-of-25 shooting (leading the way in shots taken) and was named the Most Valuable Player of the game. In five seasons with the SuperSonics, he averaged 20.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists.
An avid hunter and horseback rider, Chambers had no interest in playing outside of the western United States. At the end of the 1987-88 season, Chambers was advised by the players union head Larry Fleisher to not accept the qualifying offer by Seattle because of the possibility of getting "unrestricted free agency". Not long after, a new collective bargaining agreement came that would give this classification for those who had played in the league at least seven years and played through two NBA contracts. Chambers subsequently signed a lucrative contract with the Phoenix Suns that summer as the first of the unrestricted free agent bargains. He subsequently made three All-Star appearances as a Suns player.
In Phoenix, coach Cotton Fitzsimmons expected Chambers to shoot the ball. In the 1988–89 season, Chambers scored 25.7 points per game. The following season saw him peak with 27.2 points per game. Just as his scoring hit new highs, his team also improved. Point guard Kevin Johnson was the passer Chambers had long-awaited, and the duo became an outstanding NBA tandem. On March 24, 1990, Chambers scored a Suns-franchise-record 60 points during a win over his former team the Sonics, while playing through a hamstring injury.
Former Seattle teammate, Xavier McDaniel, joined the team in 1990–91, and the now 31-year-old Chambers again accepted a more team-oriented role for the SunsHe had been twice named All-NBA Second Team, but now just tried to fit in. The arrival of head coach Paul Westphal, combined with the acquisition of Charles Barkley for the 1992–93 season saw Chambers play mostly off the bench as a sixth man due to the glut of forwards with Barkley, Richard Dumas, Cedric Ceballos, and Chambers, with Westphal not regarding Chambers as a "true small forward". Chambers noted his feelings about his relationship with Westphal in an interview after departing Phoenix:
Paul is a real creative coach and will do a lot of different things. But he just wasn't comfortable with me. I think that's one of the reasons why I didn't play as well. I was always second-guessing myself. I'm not good at that. When a coach is confident in me, I usually perform pretty well. When there are doubts, I don't do a great job.
Chambers struggled in parts of the 1993 playoff run, later stating he "looked awful". An injury to Ceballos led to Chambers getting his first (and only) start of the playoffs, where he logged 17 points in 29 minutes in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against Seattle as the Suns won 123-110 to reach their first Finals since 1976. In the Finals versus the two-time defending champion Chicago Bulls, Chambers played 20 minutes each in Game 2, 3 and 4 and played a key role in Game 3 by hitting the tying lay-up to force double OT in a game the Suns won in triple overtime. He had 12 points in Game 6, which saw the Suns lose on a three-pointer late as Chicago won their third straight title. In the last game of the series, and in what would be the last game of his Suns tenure, Chambers scored 12 points in a 99–98 Game 6 loss.