Gus Williams, guard who led Seattle to NBA title, dies at 71

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Gus Williams, guard who led Seattle to NBA title, dies at 71

Gus Williams, a fast-blinking guard identified for his quantity objectives and electrical fashion on the courtroom, who in 1979 helped the Seattle SuperSonics win their solely Nationwide Basketball League championship, died Wednesday. He was 71.

His loss of life was introduced in a statement from the College of Southern California, his alma mater. The college didn’t cite a trigger or the place he died, however famous that Johnson suffered a stroke 5 years in the past.

Recognized for his elastic, improvisational sport and relentless drive, Williams, a two-time All-Star, was outstanding, if underrated, throughout an 11-season profession. That profession included stints with the Golden State Warriors, Washington Bullets and Atlanta Hawks along with his six seasons with the Sonics, who moved to Oklahoma Metropolis and have become the Thunder in 2008.

Unusually for his period, Williams was some extent guard identified extra for scoring than assists. Defensively, he tripped up opponents who dared attempt to dribble previous him – in a 1978 sport. in opposition to the New Jersey Nets, he had 10 steals, making him one of many solely ones 24 players to achieve double digits in that class in a single sport.

Though not large by NBA requirements at 6-foot-2 and 175 kilos, Williams nonetheless did loads of injury in and across the paint with attacking, acrobatic pictures to the ring. He additionally had a deadly mid-range leap shot.

What Williams, who was often known as the Wizard, lacked in dimension, he made up for in pace. In a current interview with The Seattle Instances, Wally Walker, a former Sonics teammate, recalled that Williams as soon as stated that “there was solely two kinds of peoplethe short and the lifeless.

“He was flashy and quick, each, and he was a quick break on his personal,” Walker added. “He took the ball and weaved his manner by site visitors. He was so quick. Nobody ever caught him.”

Williams was born on October 10, 1953. in Mount Vernon, New York, in Westchester County. His youthful brother Ray, drafted by the New York Knicks in 1977, additionally had an extended NBA profession

Gus Williams was named USC’s MVP in 1975 when he led the then-Pacific-8 Convention in scoring with 21.2 factors per sport.

Regardless of his offensive prowess, he slipped to the second spherical of the 1975 NBA draft. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors, then primarily based in Oakland, California, have been a talent-laden workforce led by future Corridor of Famer Rick Barry and received their first NBA crown since 1956, once they have been nonetheless enjoying in Philadelphia.

Nonetheless, Williams established himself as a priceless rotation participant in his first season, averaging 11.7 factors per sport for a workforce that received 59 video games — at that time a franchise file — en path to being named to the NBA All-Rookie Workforce.

Williams spent yet another season with Golden State earlier than heading north to Seattle as a free agent for the 1977-78 season. Though he was thought of an unheralded signing on the time, he and fellow star guard Dennis Johnsonoften known as DJ, shaped some of the highly effective backcourts of that period. The Sonics superior to the NBA Finals of their first season in Seattle earlier than shedding to the Bullets in seven video games.

The next 12 months, Williams averaged greater than 19 pointsand the Sonics went 52 wins and received the Pacific Division. Going through Washington once more within the 1979 Finals, the Sonics acquired their revenge, defeating the Bullets in 5 video games for the league crown. Williams led the Finals with a glowing common of 29 factors per sport and scored 36 factors in Game 4.

He took one other step towards stardom the next season, averaging 22.1 factors per sport. However the glory years have been to not final.

Johnson, his star assistant, was traded to the Phoenix Suns earlier than the 1980-81 season. (He received two championships with the mighty Boston Celtics within the Nineteen Eighties.) Caught in a contract dispute with the Sonics, Williams ended up sitting out the 1980-81 season, costing him a 12 months of his greatest success.

“At first I believed it was the right thing” he stated in an interview with The New York Instances after becoming a member of the Sonics in 1981. on a five-year, $3 million contract. “Some nights I could not sleep as a result of I needed to play a lot.”

In his return, Williams confirmed no rust, averaging a career-high 23.4 factors within the 1981-82 season. He earned Comeback Participant of the 12 months honors and was named to the All-NBA first workforce.

He remained with the franchise for 2 extra seasons earlier than the Sonics traded him to the Bullets in 1984. He performed two seasons in Washington and completed his profession with the Hawks in 1987.

Data on survivors was not instantly out there.

Regardless of the accolades he obtained, many followers — in addition to another NBA stars — have lengthy insisted that Williams by no means acquired his due.

“Gus Williams has been underrated all these years,” Julius Irving, the previous Philadelphia 76ers star, stated in tribute video posted on the NBA web site after Williams’ loss of life. “He was the entire package deal as a participant. The whole lot with Gus was simple for him and troublesome for the opposite.”

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