Gus Williams (basketball) Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Gus Williams
No. 1
Williams in 1981
Point guard
Personal information
Born	(1953-10-10)October 10, 1953 Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
Died	January 15, 2025(2025-01-15) (aged 71)
High school	Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, New York)
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
College	USC (1972–1975)
NBA Draft	1975 / Round: 2 / Pick: 20th overall
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Pro career	1975–1987
Career history
1975–1977	Golden State Warriors
1977–1984	Seattle SuperSonics
1984–1986	Washington Bullets
1987	Atlanta Hawks

Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (1979) 2× NBA All-Star (1982, 1983) All-NBA First Team (1982) All-NBA Second Team (1980) NBA Comeback Player of the Year (1982) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1976) No. 1 retired by Seattle SuperSonics Consensus second-team All-American (1975) First-team All-Pac-8 (1975) No. 10 retired by USC Trojans Second-team Parade All-American (1971)

Career statistics
Points	14,093 (17.1 ppg)
Assists	4,597 (5.6 apg)
Steals	1,638 (2.0 spg)

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. He also played for the Golden State Warriors, Washington Bullets and Atlanta Hawks.

High school and college
Professional career
Personal life and death
NBA career statistics
- Regular season
- Playoffs
See also

High school and college

Williams played high school basketball at Mount Vernon High in New York, 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.

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 ABA 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.

While with Seattle, Williams was 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 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 (23.4). He played three 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

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

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		825	385	31.1	.461	.238	.756	2.7	5.6	2.0	0.4	17.1
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		99	9	32.5	.476	.231	.737	3.1	4.7	1.8	0.4	19.5

Gus Williams (basketball) facts for kids

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