Earl "the Twirl" Williams (born March 24, 1951) is an American-Israeli former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who in 1990 and 1991 was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier League.

Early life and education

Williams played high school basketball while attending Woodrow Wilson High School in

Levittown Levittown is the name of several large suburban housing developments created in the United States (including one in Puerto Rico) by William J. Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. Built after World War II for returning white veterans and their ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is a historically black public university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina. History Winston-Salem State University was founded as Slater Industrial Academy o ...

, with the Winston-Salem State Rams.

Professional career

United States

In the 1974

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

draft, Williams was selected by the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

in the 3rd round, with the 13th pick (49th overall). He made his NBA debut on October 17, 1974, with Phoenix. During the next four years, he played for other NBA teams as well: the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

, the

New York Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, and the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. On September 30, 1975, he was traded by the Suns to the Detroit Pistons, for a 1976 2nd round draft pick (

Earl Tatum William Earl Tatum (born July 26, 1953) is a retired American professional basketball player from Mount Vernon, New York. He was a 6'4½" (194 cm) 185 lb (84 kg) guard who played high school basketball at Mount Vernon, where he w ...

Sweden

In the 1977–78 season, Williams played for the Swedish League team

Alvik Alvik is a residential district in western Stockholm municipality and part of the Bromma borough. The Alvik outdoor Metro station in adjacent Traneberg was opened in 1952 and is also a connection to the Tvärbanan light railway and the Nockeby ...

. Alvik came in 2nd in the league that year.

Israel

Williams later played professionally in the Israeli League. He starred for a portion of the time with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

and

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club ( he, מועדון הכדורסל הפועל חולון), known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Atsmon Playgrounds Holon (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli ...

, and he also played with Maccabi Ramat Gan. In 1990, at age 39, he was the oldest player in the Israeli League. In 1990 and 1991 he was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier League.

Italy

Williams played two seasons for Italian teams as well:

Fortitudo Bologna Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Kiğılı Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division. Histor ...

in 1984–1985, and Libertas Brindisi in 1988–1989.

Personal life

In 1982, Williams converted to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

. Williams also became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

Israeli citizen, becoming a dual US-Israeli citizen. After ending his active player career at the age of 43, Williams worked as an educator and basketball coach in New Jersey. He is married to Merav, who is originally from Israel. They have two children.

References

External links

Williams' NBA stats
at basketballreference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Earl 1951 births Living people African-American basketball players African-American Jews American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American men's basketball players Basketball players from Pennsylvania Bnei Hertzeliya basketball players Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) Converts to Judaism from Methodism Detroit Pistons players Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna players Hapoel Holon players Israeli American Israeli men's basketball players Jewish men's basketball players Jewish Israeli sportspeople Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players Naturalized citizens of Israel New York Nets players People from Levittown, Pennsylvania Phoenix Suns draft picks Phoenix Suns players Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Winston-Salem State Rams men's basketball players Alviks BK players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople