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.
 Williams in 1981 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 10, 1953 Mount Vernon, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| 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 / Round: 2 / Pick: 20th overall |
| 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 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
| 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 | 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
| 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
- List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff steals leaders
- List of National Basketball Association players with most steals in a game
- List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game
Notes
- "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.
- BASN's Hometown Hero Archived December 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, by Peter Vecsey; published on March 13, 2007