# Gus Williams (basketball)

Gus Williams (October 10, 1953 – January 15, 2025) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Wizard", he was a two-time NBA All-Star playing for the Seattle SuperSonics, winning an NBA championship in 1979.
Williams played college basketball for the USC Trojans and was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the 1975 NBA draft. He later played for the Warriors, SuperSonics, Washington Bullets and Atlanta Hawks.

## Early life

Williams was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He played high school basketball at Mount Vernon High, 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, where both he led the Pac-8 in scoring and was named an All-American in 1975.

## Professional career

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 American Basketball Association 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 in his first season. Williams played two seasons with the Warriors before he was allowed to leave as a free agent before the 1977–78 season, when he signed with the Seattle SuperSonics. With the SuperSonics, Johnson was immediately paired with renowned defender Dennis Johnson to form a dynamic backcourt duo, and helped the team to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances.
While with Seattle, Williams was eventually 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", led the Sonics to the 1979 league title while averaging a team-high 28.6 points per game in the 1979 NBA Finals.
While in the prime of his career, Williams sat out the entire 1980–81 season due to a contract dispute. He returned in 1981–82 and was named the NBA Comeback Player of the Year after finishing seventh in the league in scoring with a career-high 23.4 points per game. He played two more seasons with the Sonics after that. In 1984, he was traded to the Washington Bullets for Ricky Sobers and the draft rights to Tim McCormick. 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' No. 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.

## Personal life and death

Williams suffered a stroke in February 2020 and later moved to an assisted care facility in the Baltimore area. He died from complications on January 15, 2025, at the age of 71.

## NBA career statistics
### 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 | Career | 825 | 385 | 31.1 | .461 | .238 | .756 | 2.7 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 17.1 |
| All-Star | 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 | Career | 99 | 9 | 32.5 | .476 | .231 | .737 | 3.1 | 4.7 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 19.5 |