Buck Williams
Buck Williams in 2006
Personal information
Born (1960-03-08) March 8, 1960
Rocky Mount, North Carolina, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolRocky Mount
(Rocky Mount, North Carolina)
CollegeMaryland (1978–1981)
NBA draft1981: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
Selected by the New Jersey Nets
Playing career1981–1998
PositionPower forward
Number52
Career history
1981–1989New Jersey Nets
1989–1996Portland Trail Blazers
1996–1998New York Knicks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points16,784 (12.8 ppg)
Rebounds13,017 (10.0 rpg)
Assists1,646 (1.3 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Charles Linwood "Buck" Williams (born March 8, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player and former assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers. He was well known for his rebounding ability and trademark goggles.

Williams, a 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) power forward born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, ranks 16th all-time in National Basketball Association (NBA) career rebounds.[1] His 17-year NBA career was highlighted by three All-Star Game appearances, a Rookie of the Year award, an All-Rookie team selection, an All-NBA second team selection and four selections to the first and second NBA All-Defensive teams. Williams led the Nets in rebounding for most of the 1980s [2] and as of the beginning of 2017, he remains the Nets’ all-time leader in total rebounds (7,576), games played (635), minutes played (23,100), rebounds per game (11.9), and free throws made (2,476).[3]

High school and college career

Williams attended Rocky Mount High School (then called Rocky Mount Senior High) in Rocky Mount, North Carolina before going off to play collegiately at the University of Maryland. Williams had immediate success at Maryland, capturing the ACC Rookie of the Year Award in 1979. He led the ACC in rebounding twice (1979 and 1981), while averaging 15.5 points per game in his sophomore and junior years. He earned All-ACC honors in 1980 and 1981. National recognition of his performances came when he was selected to the 1980 USA Olympic basketball team, alongside such players as later two-time NBA champions Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre; he, however, never got to represent the national colors in Moscow due to the United States’ boycott. In 2002, Williams was one of eight former Maryland players to be named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team.[4] In 2001, he became a member of the University of Maryland's Athletic Hall of Fame.[5]

NBA career

New Jersey Nets (1981–1989)

Williams (center) dunking the ball for the New Jersey Nets, circa 1987.

After three years at Maryland, Williams decided to leave for the NBA. The New Jersey Nets selected him third overall in the 1981 NBA draft, behind Olympic teammates Aguirre and Thomas. In his first season with the Nets, he averaged 15.5 points and led the team with 12.3 rebounds per game, helping New Jersey win 20 more games (a 44–38 win–loss record) than the previous year and earning 1982 Rookie of the Year honors. Williams established himself as a premier player at the power forward position over the next eight seasons with the Nets; in six of those he was ranked among the best three rebounders in the league, never averaging less than twelve rebounds per game. 1983–84 featured the Nets’ first playoff second-round appearance since the ABA–NBA merger in 1976, when they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Nets failed to subsequently get past the first round until 2002 when Jason Kidd led them to an unsuccessful NBA Finals date.

Portland Trail Blazers (1989–1996)

On June 24, 1989, the Nets traded Williams to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Sam Bowie and a draft pick. In Portland, Williams would continue his solid play and take a complementary frontcourt role to established guard duo Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter. The Blazers’ post-season campaigns ended in the first round four consecutive seasons prior to 1990; contrastingly, Williams’ first three seasons with the Blazers were marked by three Western Conference Finals appearances and two NBA Finals. In 1990 the Blazers succumbed to the powerhouse Detroit Pistons in five games, while in 1992 they fell to the Chicago Bulls in six. Williams was regularly in the starting lineup for the first six of his seven seasons with the Blazers. He is 5th all-time on the franchise career list for both field goal percentage (55.0%) and total rebounds (4861) as of September 2018.[6]

New York Knicks (1996–1998)

In the twilight of his career, after the 1995–96 season, Williams moved back to the Atlantic Division, signing with the New York Knicks, where he played in a much more limited capacity, behind the frontcourt duo of Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley. He spent two years with the Knicks, but was forced to miss 41 games during the 1997–98 season due to knee surgery (the first time in his career he missed more than 12 games in a season). Williams announced his retirement on January 27, 1999, holding career averages of 12.8 points and ten rebounds per game and a field goal average of 54.9 percent. During the course of his 17-year NBA career, Williams racked up more than 16,000 points and 13,000 rebounds — the seventh NBA player to reach both marks.[7][8]

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
 *  Led the league

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1981–82 New Jersey 828234.5.582.000.62412.31.31.01.015.5
1982–83 New Jersey 828236.1.588.000.62012.51.51.11.317.0
1983–84 New Jersey 818137.1.535.000.57012.31.61.01.515.7
1984–85 New Jersey 828238.8.530.250.62512.32.0.81.318.2
1985–86 New Jersey 828237.4.523.000.67612.01.6.91.215.9
1986–87 New Jersey 828236.3.557.000.73112.51.61.01.118.0
1987–88 New Jersey 707037.7.5601.000.66811.91.61.0.618.3
1988–89 New Jersey 747233.1.531.000.6669.41.1.8.513.0
1989–90 Portland 828234.2.548.000.7069.81.4.8.513.6
1990–91 Portland 808032.3.602*—.7059.41.2.6.611.7
1991–92 Portland 808031.5.604*.000.7548.81.4.8.511.3
1992–93 Portland 828230.5.511.000.6458.4.91.0.78.3
1993–94 Portland 818132.5.555.000.67910.41.0.7.69.7
1994–95 Portland 82*82*29.5.512.500.6738.21.0.8.89.2
1995–96 Portland 701023.9.500.667.6685.8.6.6.77.3
1996–97 New York 74420.2.537.000.6425.4.7.5.56.3
1997–98 New York 41618.0.503—7324.5.5.4.44.9
Career 1,3071,14032.5.549.167.66410.01.3.8.812.8
All-Star 3020.3.526—.4558.02.0.3.78.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1982 New Jersey 2—39.5.538—.46710.51.5.51.017.5
1983 New Jersey 2—42.5.500—.80011.52.01.01.019.0
1984 New Jersey 11—43.0.485—.55614.11.51.51.515.5
1985 New Jersey 3341.0.650—.73310.7.31.01.724.7
1986 New Jersey 3342.0.724—.76910.3.72.0.320.7
1990 Portland 212137.0.508—.6769.21.9.6.313.0
1991 Portland 161637.0.500—.6038.9.9.6.310.3
1992 Portland 212136.1.508—.7588.51.01.3.89.6
1993 Portland 4436.1.478—.6847.3.3.3.88.8
1994 Portland 4436.1.679—.8678.8.51.0.512.8
1995 Portland 3336.1.600—.6366.3.31.3.78.3
1996 Portland 5126.6.391.500.7145.0.2.2.84.8
1997 New York 10119.3.486—.5294.0.6.3.44.3
1998 New York 3015.0.444—.7505.3.3.0.34.7
Career 1087734.4.520.500.6728.71.0.8.611.2

After basketball

Williams served as the president of the NBA Players Association from 1994 to 1997. The Nets retired his #52 jersey in April 1999.[9] In 2006, he was named as an inductee into the Rocky Mount Twin County Hall of Fame.[10] In 2018, he was named to the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame.[11]

Coaching career

In July 2010, Williams was hired by Nate McMillan as an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Basketball-Reference.com NBA Career Rebounds Leaders and Records". Archived from the original on July 4, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  2. ↑ "1989–90 Hoops - Buck Williams". Hoops. NBA Properties, Inc. 1989. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Brooklyn Nets Career Leaders".
  4. ↑ theACC.com, ACC 50th Anniversary Men’s Basketball Team Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ The M Club Athletic Hall of Fame Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Portland Trail Blazers Career Leaders".
  7. ↑ "Basketball-Reference.com NBA Career Rebounds Leaders and Records". Archived from the original on July 4, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Basketball-Reference.com NBA Career Points Leaders and Records". Archived from the original on February 25, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  9. ↑ Nets retired Numbers Archived August 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, nba.com
  10. ↑ "Unknown".
  11. ↑ Klingaman, Mike (August 28, 2018). "Former Terps basketball star Buck Williams, three others named to Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame". Greenwich Time.
  12. ↑ Quick, Jason (July 22, 2010). "Trail Blazers legend Buck Williams will be named to Nate McMillan's staff". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 22, 2010.
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