Pat Williams (basketball)
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Pat Williams (born May 3, 1940) is a former American sports executive, who most recently served as senior vice president of the
Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...
. Williams began his career as a
minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
baseball player, and later joined the front office of his team. In the late 1960s he moved into basketball, with his biggest achievements being the 1983 title of the
Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...
and being a partner in the creation of the Orlando Magic.


Early life

Williams was born in 1940 in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, the second oldest of four children and the only son. He was raised in
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, attending
Tower Hill School Tower Hill School is a private college preparatory school in Wilmington, Delaware, offering instruction for pre-school through 12th grade. History Tower Hill was founded in 1919. The school is situated at the high point of Wilmington's neighbo ...
where his father coached and taught. He became a friend of
Ruly Carpenter Robert Ruliph Morgan "Ruly" Carpenter III (June 10, 1940 – September 13, 2021) was an American businessman and baseball executive. He was the principal owner and president of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972 to 1981. Early life Carpenter ...
, son of
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
owner Bob "R.R.M." Carpenter, who would bring Williams to the Phillies’ dugout and clubhouse, as well as to the team's
spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
in
Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...
. His interest in baseball would earn Williams a scholarship to
Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...
. There Williams earned a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1962 while being a catcher on the Demon Deacons baseball team. Williams would later earn a master's of science degree in physical education from
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...
in 1964. Additionally, Pat served for seven years in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
and later got a doctorate in Humane Letters from
Flagler College Flagler College is a private liberal arts college in St. Augustine, Florida. It was founded in 1968 and offers 33 undergraduate majors and one master's program. It also has a campus in Tallahassee. History Founded in 1968, the campus compri ...
. Former
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
owner
Bill Veeck William Louis Veeck Jr. ( ; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Br ...
is credited by Williams as his mentor, with a visit to Veeck in 1962 starting their friendship and giving Williams principles followed in his career, such as "Don’t announce promotions in advance, be out on the speaking circuit, stand at the gates when fans leave, open your own mail and don’t screen your calls".


Baseball career

Williams' baseball career began when the Carpenters signed him in 1962 to the
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Fort Myers, Florida, and play their home games at the Lee County Sports Complex a ...
, their
minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
team in the
Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...
. He was a catcher for two years then retired and moved in to a front office role. Marlins
general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
Bill Durney still saw in Williams an eager and natural leader with a marketing degree, and invited him to be the team's business manager. One year later, the Phillies appointed him to be the general manager of the
Spartanburg Phillies Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat, seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest c ...
. As the Phillies became a powerhouse of the
Western Carolinas League file:John Henry Moss.png, Portion of plaque displaying likeness of John Henry Moss at Municipal Stadium, Hagerstown, Maryland The Western Carolinas League was a Class D (1948–52; 1960–62) and a low Class A (1963–79) full-season league in Am ...
, Williams was later elevated to the position of president of the organization in 1967, and was chosen the Minor League Executive of the Year by ''
The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
''. Afterwards he spent three years in the
Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
organization. Even after moving to basketball, Williams is still active in baseball—every winter, he plays in Major League Fantasy Camps. He was also president of Orlando's Double-A Southern League team from 1990 to 1993.


Basketball management

Williams moved into basketball in 1968, becoming the
Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...
business manager. With promotions that included elaborate
halftime show A halftime show is a performance given during the brief period between the first and second halves, or the second and third quarters, of a sporting event. Halftime shows are not given for sports with an irregular or indeterminate number of div ...
s and a successful 55-27 performance, the 76ers were third in attendance of the
1968–69 NBA season The 1968–69 NBA season was the 23rd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences * ...
. Afterwards the faltering
Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...
hired Williams to become their general manager. Williams immediately revamped the team's roster, trading with the Sixers for
Chet Walker Chester Walker (born February 22, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Bethlehem, Mississippi, Walker played high school basketball for the Benton Harbor High School boys basketball team. He graduated from Bradley ...
, and invested on the promotion, including the creation of mascot
Benny the Bull Benny the Bull, commonly known as Benny, is the mascot of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Chicago Bulls, a role he has filled since 1969." Biography / retired versions Benjamin T. "Benny" Bull, has been the mascot of the Chicago Bul ...
. He succeeded
Richie Guerin Richard Vincent Guerin (born May 29, 1932) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played with the National Basketball Association's (NBA) New York Knicks from 1956 to 1963 and was a player-coach of the St. Louis/Atlan ...
as general manager of the
Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...
on August 6, 1973, in that the Hawks had felt the need for a GM who specialized in
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
. He spent just one year in Atlanta, where his most notable action was trading star
Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised in ...
for two players and five draft picks. As the Sixers had become one of the worst teams in the NBA, owner
Irv Kosloff Irving S. Kosloff (May 10, 1912, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaFebruary 19, 1995, Merion, Pennsylvania) was an American businessman and sportsman. Early life and education He was born in Philadelphia, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants Lillian and L ...
invited Williams to return in 1974. Williams then remained in Philadelphia for 12 years as their general manager, helping to build the team that won the
1982–83 NBA season __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...
, by trading for
Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...
and
Moses Malone Moses Eugene Malone (March 23, 1955 – September 13, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 through 1995. A cent ...
, and drafting
Maurice Cheeks Maurice Edward Cheeks (born September 8, 1956) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as head coach of t ...
and
Andrew Toney Andrew Toney (born November 23, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1980 to 1988. A two-time NBA All-Star, he won an NBA championship with the 76e ...
. Frustrated at his failure to build a 76ers
dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
despite bringing new talent such as
Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons in the Natio ...
, Williams left the organization in 1986. As the year before
Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
executive Jim Hewitt told Williams of his idea of bringing an NBA team to his city, he decided to join Hewitt's investment group. Williams invested in convincing
NBA commissioner The Commissioner of the NBA is the chief executive of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The current commissioner is Adam Silver, who succeeded David Stern on February 1, 2014. List of NBA commissioners Maurice Podoloff (1946–1963) ...
David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of ...
and the league owners of the viability of the small-town Florida city in supporting an NBA franchise. The league awarded the
Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...
an expansion spot in 1987, with the team making its debut in 1989. Serving as the franchise's inaugural manager, Williams helped the Magic reach the
1995 NBA Finals The 1995 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1994–95 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The series pitted the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic against the defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion H ...
by drafting
Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...
and trading a draft pick for
Penny Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway pla ...
. The following year, he was promoted to senior vice president of Magic parent company
RDV Sports, Inc. RDV Sports, Inc. is a Michigan corporation set up by Richard DeVos to purchase the NBA franchise, the Orlando Magic. Established in 1991, its assets have included the Orlando Miracle WNBA team, Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL), Orlando Solar Bears of th ...
In his NBA career, Williams led his teams to 23 NBA Playoffs and five
NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...
. He won four NBA draft lotteries, including back-to-back winners in 1992 and 1993 and most recently in 2004. Williams signed
Billy Cunningham William John Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the ''Kangaroo Kid'' for his leaping and record-setting rebounding abilities. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the ...
,
Chuck Daly Charles Jerome Daly (July 20, 1930 – May 9, 2009) was an American basketball head coach. He led the Detroit Pistons to two consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in 1989 and 1990—during the team's "Bad Boys" era— ...
, and
Matt Guokas Matthew George Guokas Jr. (; born February 25, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. His father, Matt Sr. and uncle, Al, have also played in the NBA. Guokas and his father, Matt Sr., were the first father-son ...
to their first professional coaching contracts. Nineteen of his former players have become NBA head coaches. In April 2019, after a career that has spanned more than 56 years, including 30-plus years with the Magic and 51 years in the NBA Pat Williams announced his retirement.


Major League Baseball expansion efforts

On November 20, 2019, Williams held a press conference announcing the start of an effort to bring a major-league baseball team to Orlando, Florida. The suggested name for this franchise is the Orlando Dreamers. He cited the a strong built-in fan base and the rapidly growing city population as reasons why Orlando should be considered for an expansion team. Williams indicated he will continue to gauge Orlando's interest in a baseball team and then, based on those results, determine what the next steps should be.


Family

Pat met his first wife, Jill, during his time in Chicago. They married in 1973 and divorced in 1996, being the parents of 18 children, 4 biological and 14 adopted from four nations between 1983 and 1993. His daughter
Karyn Karyn is an English-language given name and may refer to: *Karyn Bailey (born 1986), Australian netball player in the National Netball League *Karyn Bosnak (born 1974), American author of two published books: ''Save Karyn'' and ''20 Times a Lady'' ...
is a Christian singer, and son Bobby a pro scout for the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
. In 1997, he married his current wife Ruth, a consultant with FranklinCovey Co., who brought to the house a child of her own.


Awards

He is a member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame after catching for the Deacon baseball team, including the 1962
Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
Championship team. He was inducted into the
Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame is a membership-based organization founded in 1976. The organization runs a museum with exhibits at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware and promotes physical fitness in ...
in 2001. He won the DECA Entrepreneurial Spirit award at DECA's International Career Development Conference in 2011. On February 24, 2012, Williams was announced as that year's winner of the
John Bunn Award The John Bunn Award—in full, the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award—is an annual basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete wit ...
, presented annually by the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...
for significant lifetime contributions to the sport. He formally received the award on September 6, the day before the induction ceremony for the Hall's 2012 class.


References


External links

*
Bio on Williams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Pat 1940 births Living people Atlanta Hawks executives Chicago Bulls executives Indiana University Bloomington alumni Orlando Magic executives Philadelphia 76ers executives Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball players Baseball players from Wilmington, Delaware Baseball players from Philadelphia