Contrary to the lyrics in the intro song to the hit TV show “Friends,” a lot of people have told Vanderbilt basketball freshman guard Chandler Bing that life was going to be this way.
Bing, who told The Tennessean in May 2025 that he had never seen an episode of “Friends,” despite sharing a name with one of the shows stars, played by Matthew Perry, has garnered plenty of attention during the No. 5 seed Commodores‘ run through the SEC Tournament heading into their NCAA first-round matchup against No. 12 seed McNeese (28-5) on March 19 (2:15 p.m., TruTV).
“My parents weren’t even thinking about the show,” Bing told The Tennessean. “My mom has seen the show, but when they were naming me, I guess she didn’t watch it that much, wasn’t even thinking about that.
“I never really had a problem with (the jokes). Once people told me about it, I was like, ‘OK, well, I know I’m going to get it a lot now.’ “
No, he was named after a bishop, not the TV character, he said.
Chandler Bing’s parents are Tara and Calvin Bing.
The 6-foot-6, 215-pounder out of Atlanta is averaging 3.6 points and 1.5 rebounds for the Commodores (26-8), a No. 5 seed in the South Regional in Oklahoma City.
Bing was a three-star recruit for 247Sports. He was the No. 21-ranked basketball player in Georgia for the class of 2025.
Yes. Dave Bing is Chandler Bing’s grandfather’s first cousin, making him a distant cousin.
Dave Bing is a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, former Mayor of Detroit, a member of both the NBA’s 50th and 75th anniversary teams and was a seven-time NBA All-Star, the 1967 NBA Rookie of the Year, the 1968 NBA scoring champion and a two-time All-NBA first-team selection. He also is the godfather to former NBA player Jalen Rose.
He is 6-foot-6 and weighs 215-pounds.
He is from Atlanta.
Bing attended Pace Academy.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
