Gus Williams (born October 10, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Wizard", he played for the Seattle SuperSonics, winning an NBA championship in 1979. He also played for the Golden State Warriors, Washington Bullets and Atlanta Hawks.
 Williams in 1981 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 10, 1953 Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, New York) |
| College | USC (1972–1975) |
| NBA draft | 1975: 2nd round, 20th overall pick |
| Selected by the Golden State Warriors | |
| Playing career | 1975–1987 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 1 |
| Career history | |
| 1975–1977 | Golden State Warriors |
| 1977–1984 | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 1984–1986 | Washington Bullets |
| 1987 | Atlanta Hawks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career statistics | |
| Points | 14,093 (17.1 ppg) |
| Assists | 4,597 (5.6 apg) |
| Steals | 1,638 (2.0 spg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
High school and college
editWilliams played high school basketball at Mount Vernon High in New York, where he was selected player of the year in 1971 by the New York State Sportswriters Association. He played college basketball at the University of Southern California.
Professional career
editWilliams was selected in the second round of the 1975 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors and in the first round of the 1975 ABA draft by the Spirits of St. Louis. Williams signed with the Warriors for the 1975–76 season and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in his first season.[1] Williams played two seasons with the Warriors before he was allowed to leave as a free agent before the 1977–78 season, when he signed with the Seattle SuperSonics.
While with Seattle, Williams was twice selected to the NBA All-Star Game, and was an All-NBA First Team (1982) and All-NBA Second Team (1980) selection. Williams, whose style of play earned him the nickname "the Wizard",[2] led the Sonics to the 1979 league title while averaging a team-high 28.6 points per game in the Finals.
While in the prime of his career, Williams sat out the entire 1980–81 season due to a contract dispute. He returned in 1981–82 and was named the NBA Comeback Player of the Year after finishing seventh in the league in scoring (23.4).[3] He played three more seasons with the Sonics after that. In 1984, he signed with the Washington Bullets. During the 1984–85 season Williams played alongside the similarly named Guy Williams.
He finished his career with a 17.1 point-per-game scoring average in a career spanning 12 years from 1975 to 1987. In 2004 Williams' #1 jersey was retired by the Sonics. In 2016 Williams' jersey was retired by USC.
Williams' younger brother Ray (1954–2013) also played in the NBA.[4]
Popular culture references
editWilliams is one of five 1970s Seattle SuperSonics players whose names are featured on characters in "The Exterminator," the third episode of Season 1 of iZombie. The other four are Freddie Brown, Wally Walker, Marvin Webster and Don Watts.[5]
NBA career statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won an NBA championship |
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975–76 | Golden State | 77 | – | 22.4 | .428 | – | .742 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 11.7 |
| 1976–77 | Golden State | 82 | – | 23.5 | .464 | – | .747 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 9.3 |
| 1977–78 | Seattle | 79 | – | 32.6 | .451 | – | .817 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 18.1 |
| 1978–79† | Seattle | 76 | – | 29.8 | .495 | – | .775 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 19.2 |
| 1979–80 | Seattle | 82 | – | 36.2 | .482 | .194 | .788 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 22.1 |
| 1981–82 | Seattle | 80 | 80 | 36.0 | .486 | .225 | .734 | 3.1 | 6.9 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 23.4 |
| 1982–83 | Seattle | 80 | 80 | 34.5 | .477 | .047 | .751 | 2.6 | 8.0 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 20.0 |
| 1983–84 | Seattle | 80 | 80 | 35.2 | .458 | .160 | .750 | 2.6 | 8.4 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 18.7 |
| 1984–85 | Washington | 79 | 78 | 37.5 | .430 | .290 | .725 | 2.5 | 7.7 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 20.0 |
| 1985–86 | Washington | 77 | 67 | 29.7 | .428 | .259 | .734 | 2.2 | 5.9 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 13.5 |
| 1986–87 | Atlanta | 33 | 0 | 14.6 | .363 | .278 | .675 | 1.2 | 4.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 4.5 |
| Career | 825 | 385 | 31.1 | .461 | .238 | .756 | 2.7 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 17.1 | |
| All-Star | 2 | 1 | 20.5 | .429 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.5 | 6.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 14.0 | |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Golden State | 11 | – | 16.2 | .353 | – | .667 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 6.7 |
| 1977 | Golden State | 10 | – | 18.4 | .500 | – | .857 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 8.8 |
| 1978 | Seattle | 22 | – | 31.9 | .477 | – | .726 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 18.3 |
| 1979† | Seattle | 17 | – | 36.4 | .476 | – | .709 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 26.7 |
| 1980 | Seattle | 15 | – | 37.6 | .514 | .200 | .721 | 4.0 | 5.6 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 23.7 |
| 1982 | Seattle | 8 | – | 39.4 | .441 | .333 | .786 | 3.3 | 8.1 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 26.3 |
| 1983 | Seattle | 2 | – | 40.5 | .553 | .000 | .867 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 32.5 |
| 1984 | Seattle | 5 | – | 43.0 | .510 | .333 | .714 | 2.4 | 11.4 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 23.4 |
| 1985 | Washington | 4 | 4 | 39.8 | .423 | .300 | .750 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 18.0 |
| 1986 | Washington | 5 | 5 | 39.8 | .481 | .100 | .778 | 2.0 | 6.6 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 18.2 |
| Career | 99 | 9 | 32.5 | .476 | .231 | .737 | 3.1 | 4.7 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 19.5 | |
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ "BasketballReference.com Gus Williams page". Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
- ^ "Gus Williams". NBA.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2006.
- ^ "Gus wins comeback player award". The News Tribune. June 16, 1982. p. B-4. Retrieved April 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ BASN's Hometown Hero[usurped], by Peter Vecsey; published on March 13, 2007
- ^ Nussbaum, Danielle. "iZombie recap: 'The Exterminator,'" Entertainment Weekly, Wednesday, April 1, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2023.