Eric C. Williams (born July 17, 1972) is an American 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 (appro ...

player who played in the

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

(NBA) from 1995 to 2007. He played for seven teams during his career, including two stints with 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 Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

Career

Following a collegiate career which began at Burlington County College in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, then two years at

Vincennes University Vincennes University (VU) is a public college with its main campus in Vincennes, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1801 as Jefferson Academy, VU is the oldest public institution of higher learning in Indiana. VU was chartered in 1806 as the In ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, followed by

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, the 6' 8"

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

was selected by the

with the 14th pick in the

1995 NBA draft The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams that were added for 1995–96 ...

. He played two years with them before being traded to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

during the 1997 offseason for a couple of second round draft picks. The Nuggets only got four games out of Williams during the 1997–98 campaign due to him tearing the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

in his right knee. The following season, he returned, but only played in 38 of 82 regular season games with Denver before they repatriated him back to Boston along with Danny Fortson and Eric Washington plus a future draft pick in exchange for

Ron Mercer Ronald Eugene Mercer (born May 18, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. After his career at the University of Kentucky, Mercer played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA); he ended his career with ...

, Ronald "Popeye" Jones, and Dwayne Schintzius. His second tenure with the Celtics lasted over four seasons until they traded him to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

along with

Tony Battie Demetrius Antonio Battie (born February 11, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He works as an analyst for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). High school and college career Battie attended ...

and

Kedrick Brown Albert Kedrick Brown (born March 18, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Born and raised in Zachary, Louisiana, Brown played college basketball at Okaloosa-Walton Community College (now Northwest Florida Stat ...

in a swap for

Ricky Davis Tyree Ricardo Davis (born September 23, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Biography Davis atte ...

Chris Mihm Christopher Steven Mihm (born July 16, 1979) is an American former professional basketball center who played nine seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball at Texas, he was drafted with the seventh o ...

, Michael Stewart, and a second round draft pick on December 15, 2003. He became a free agent after 50 games with the Cavaliers, and signed with the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

prior to the 2004–05 season. Williams was soon part of a blockbuster player trade when the Nets sent him, Aaron Williams,

Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

and two future first-round draft picks to the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

for franchise player

Vince Carter Vincent Lamar Carter Jr. (born January 26, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who played for 22 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He primarily played the shooting guard and small forward positions, b ...

. In 2005, Williams decided to launch his own line of clothing honoring the fictional Negro Basketball League. On June 21, 2006, Williams was traded with Matt Bonner and a second round pick in the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball p ...

to San Antonio for Rasho Nesterovič and cash. On February 13, 2007, he was traded along with the 2nd round pick in the

that the Spurs got from the Raptors to the Charlotte Bobcats for

Melvin Ely Melvin Anderson Ely (; born May 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who was also an assistant coach for the Canton Charge of the NBA G League. A 6'10", , power forward– center from Fresno State, Ely was drafte ...

. On March 16, Williams was waived by the Bobcats to make room for Alan Anderson. He holds career averages of 8.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

Life outside basketball

Williams, whose wife was Jennifer Williams from 2007 to 2011, appeared in multiple episodes of the reality TV show '' Basketball Wives'' from seasons 1–4. Eric also went on to appear in the 2013 film ''The Caribbean Heist''. In 2015 Williams was featured in the painting, "Freedom from What," an artwork by Pops Peterson based on "

Freedom from Fear Freedom from fear is listed as a fundamental human right according to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948. On January 6, 1941, United States President of the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it one of t ...

" by

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 64, , 6, , 23.0, , .441, , .300, , .671, , 3.4, , 1.1, , .9, , .2, , 10.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72, , 67, , 33.8, , .456, , .250, , .752, , 4.6, , 1.8, , 1.0, , .2, , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, 4, , 4, , 36.3, , .393, , –, , .689, , 5.3, , 3.0, , 1.0, , .0, , 19.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 38, , 8, , 20.5, , .365, , .231, , .799, , 2.1, , 1.0, , .7, , .2, , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 68, , 17, , 20.3, , .427, , .347, , .793, , 2.3, , 1.4, , .6, , .2, , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81, , 11, , 21.5, , .362, , .331, , .714, , 2.6, , 1.4, , .8, , .2, , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 74, , 30, , 23.6, , .374, , .279, , .731, , 3.0, , 1.5, , 1.0, , .1, , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82, , 79, , 28.7, , .442, , .336, , .750, , 4.7, , 1.7, , 1.0, , .2, , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 21, , 0, , 24.4, , .435, , .344, , .716, , 4.5, , 1.2, , 1.0, , .0, , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 50, , 36, , 27.5, , .366, , .253, , .787, , 3.8, , 1.9, , 1.0, , .2, , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 21, , 21, , 35.2, , .470, , .425, , .685, , 4.5, , 2.0, , .8, , .1, , 12.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 34, , 18, , 17.1, , .379, , .333, , .717, , 2.3, , 1.5, , .6, , .1, , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 28, , 11, , 12.6, , .387, , .278, , .737, , 1.8, , .5, , .3, , .1, , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, 16, , 0, , 5.5, , .441, , .471 , , .571, , .9, , .4, , .1, , .0, , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 5, , 0, , 6.6, , .308, , .000, , .571, , .6, , .2, , .2, , .0, , 2.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 658 , , 308 , , 23.9 , , .415 , , .318 , , .736 , , 3.3 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , .2 , , 8.6

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , 16 , , 30.4 , , .500 , , .467 , , .739 , , 4.4 , , 1.3 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 0 , , 31.0 , , .375 , , .200 , , .794 , , 3.2 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , .0 , , 9.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 27 , , 16 , , 30.7 , , .440 , , .378 , , .772 , , 3.9 , , 1.5 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 8.5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Eric 1972 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball players from Newark, New Jersey Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Charlotte Bobcats players Cleveland Cavaliers players Denver Nuggets players Malcolm X Shabazz High School alumni New Jersey Nets players Providence Friars men's basketball players San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards Small forwards Toronto Raptors players Vincennes Trailblazers men's basketball players