Ronald Robert Williams (September 24, 1944 – April 4, 2004) was an American

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. A 6'3"

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

from Weirton, West Virginia, Williams starred at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

in the mid-1960s, where he was one of the school's first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

basketball players.Profile: Ron Williams
at WVU Varsity Club He was selected by the San Francisco Warriors with the ninth pick of the 1968 NBA draft, and was also drafted as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

in the 14th round of the

1968 NFL Draft The 1968 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, in the second year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players. It took place at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City on January 30–31, 1968. The Min ...

. He played eight seasons in the NBA as a member of the Warriors, the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, and the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. Williams averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 assists per game in his professional career and ranked third in the league in

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

percentage during the

1970–71 NBA season Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condi ...

. After his playing career ended, Williams held several basketball coaching positions, including stints as an assistant coach at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and

Iona College Iona University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Roman Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochell ...

. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in 2004.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1968–69 , align="left" ,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, 75 , , - , , 19.6 , , .420 , , - , , .768 , , 2.4 , , 3.3 , , - , , - , , 7.8 , - , align="left" , 1969–70 , align="left" ,

, 80 , , - , , 30.4 , , .432 , , - , , .822 , , 2.4 , , 5.3 , , - , , - , , 14.8 , - , align="left" , 1970–71 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , - , , 34.3 , , .436 , , - , , .844 , , 3.0 , , 5.9 , , - , , - , , 14.4 , - , align="left" , 1971–72 , align="left" , Golden State , 80 , , - , , 24.2 , , .474 , , - , , .833 , , 1.8 , , 3.9 , , - , , - , , 9.7 , - , align="left" , 1972–73 , align="left" , Golden State , 73 , , - , , 13.9 , , .440 , , - , , .904 , , 1.1 , , 1.6 , , - , , - , , 6.0 , - , align="left" , 1973–74 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, 71 , , - , , 15.9 , , .489 , , - , , .882 , , 1.0 , , 2.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 6.3 , - , align="left" , 1974–75 , align="left" ,

, 46 , , - , , 11.4 , , .376 , , - , , .828 , , 0.9 , , 1.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 3.2 , - , align="left" , 1975–76 , align="left" ,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, 9 , , - , , 17.6 , , .395 , , - , , .769 , , 2.1 , , 2.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 4.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 516 , , - , , 22.2 , , .441 , , - , , .833 , , 1.9 , , 3.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 9.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1968–69 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , - , , 10.5 , , .385 , , - , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 6.0 , - , align="left" , 1970–71 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , - , , 34.4 , , .381 , , - , , .895 , , 3.4 , , 5.8 , , - , , - , , 13.0 , - , align="left" , 1971–72 , align="left" , Golden State , 5 , , - , , 16.6 , , .290 , , - , , style="background:#cfecec;" , .933* , , 1.6 , , 2.0 , , - , , - , , 6.4 , - , align="left" , 1972–73 , align="left" , Golden State , 3 , , - , , 6.7 , , .667 , , - , , 1.000 , , 0.3 , , 1.7 , , - , , - , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , 1973–74 , align="left" ,

, 15 , , - , , 23.6 , , .467 , , - , , .800 , , 1.8 , , 3.1 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 8.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 32 , , - , , 21.0 , , .419 , , - , , .881 , , 1.8 , , 2.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 8.1

College

, - , align="left" , 1965–66 , align="left" ,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, 28 , , - , , - , , .443 , , - , , .728 , , 5.3 , , - , , - , , - , , 19.7 , - , align="left" , 1966–67 , align="left" ,

, 28 , , - , , 37.2 , , .455 , , - , , .710 , , 4.3 , , 7.0 , , - , , - , , 20.1 , - , align="left" , 1967–68 , align="left" ,

, 28 , , - , , - , , .422 , , - , , .783 , , 3.8 , , 5.5 , , - , , - , , 20.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 84 , , - , , 37.2 , , .439 , , - , , .741 , , 4.5 , , 6.3 , , - , , - , , 20.1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ron 1944 births 2004 deaths African-American basketball players Basketball coaches from West Virginia Basketball players from West Virginia Golden State Warriors players Los Angeles Lakers players Milwaukee Bucks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Weirton, West Virginia Point guards San Francisco Warriors draft picks San Francisco Warriors players Shooting guards West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players American men's basketball players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people