Gus Williams (basketball)

Gus Williams (born October 10, 1953) is a retired American professional basketball player most noted for his play with the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics, although he also played for the Golden State Warriors, Washington Bullets and Atlanta Hawks.

Gus Williams
Williams in 1981
Personal information
Born (1953-10-10) October 10, 1953
Mount Vernon, New York
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolMount Vernon
(Mount Vernon, New York)
CollegeUSC (1972–1975)
NBA draft1975 / Round: 2 / Pick: 20th overall
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Playing career1975–1987
PositionPoint guard
Number1
Career history
19751977Golden State Warriors
19771984Seattle SuperSonics
19841986Washington Bullets
1987Atlanta Hawks
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points14,093 (17.1 ppg)
Assists4,597 (5.6 apg)
Steals1,638 (2.0 spg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Williams played high school basketball at Mount Vernon, 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.

Williams 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.[1] Williams played only two seasons with the Warriors and was allowed to leave as a free agent before the 1977–78 season, signing with the Seattle SuperSonics.

While with Seattle, he 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 championship while averaging 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 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.[3]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  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

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1975–76 Golden State 7722.4.428.7422.13.11.80.311.7
1976–77 Golden State 8223.5.464.7472.83.61.50.29.3
1977–78 Seattle 7932.6.451.8173.23.72.30.518.1
1978–79 Seattle 7629.8.495.7753.24.02.10.419.2
1979–80 Seattle 8236.2.482.194.7883.44.82.40.522.1
1981–82 Seattle 808036.0.486.225.7343.16.92.20.523.4
1982–83 Seattle 808034.5.477.047.7512.68.02.30.320.0
1983–84 Seattle 808035.2.458.160.7502.68.42.40.318.7
1984–85 Washington 797837.5.430.290.7252.57.72.30.420.0
1985–86 Washington 776729.7.428.259.7342.25.91.20.213.5
1986–87 Atlanta 33014.6.363.278.6751.24.20.50.24.5
Career 82538531.1.461.238.7562.75.62.00.417.1
All-Star 2120.5.429.0001.0001.56.51.00.014.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1976 Golden State 1116.2.353.6671.32.41.00.06.7
1977 Golden State 1018.4.500.8571.52.50.80.18.8
1978 Seattle 2231.9.477.7263.94.02.00.518.3
1979 Seattle 1736.4.476.7094.13.72.00.626.7
1980 Seattle 1537.6.514.200.7214.05.62.30.523.7
1982 Seattle 839.4.441.333.7863.38.11.60.626.3
1983 Seattle 240.5.553.000.8673.54.02.50.032.5
1984 Seattle 543.0.510.333.7142.411.41.60.623.4
1985 Washington 4439.8.423.300.7502.05.01.30.318.0
1986 Washington 5539.8.481.100.7782.06.62.20.018.2
Career 99932.5.476.231.7373.14.71.80.419.5

See also

Notes

  1. "BasketballReference.com Gus Williams page". Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
  2. "Gus Williams". NBA.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2006.
  3. BASN's Hometown Hero Archived December 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, by Peter Vecsey; published on March 13, 2007
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