Athletes - Buck Williams

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	Athletes - Buck Williams

Charles Linwood Williams (born March 8 1960 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina), better known as "Buck", is a former American professional basketball player.

Despite his height (6'8"), Williams was one of the best rebounders in the history of the NBA league. His seventeen year NBA career was crowned with three All-Star Game appearances, a Rookie of the Year award, All-Rookie team selection, an All-NBA second team selection and four selections to the first and second All-Defensive teams.

College

Williams attended the local high school in Rocky Mount before going off to play collegiately at the University of Maryland. While at Maryland, Williams led the Atlantic Conference in rebounding twice (1979 and 1981), while averaging 15.5 points per game in his sophomore and junior years. National recognition of his performances came when he was selected to the 1980 USA Olympic basketball team, along such players as later two-time NBA champions Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre. The team never made it to Moscow's 1980 Summer Olympics, due to the United States' decision not to participate in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

New Jersey years: 1981-1989

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. This period (1984) featured the Nets' best playoffs effort since merging into the NBA from the ABA in 1977 - their first second-round appearance, where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks. (Not until 2002 did the Nets get past the first round of the playoffs again).

Portland years: 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 of Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter. The Blazers' post-season campaigns ended in the first round four consecutive years prior to 1990. Contrastingly, Wiliams' first three seasons with the Blazers were marked by three Western Conference Finals appearances and two NBA Finals, in 1990 and 1992; in 1990 they succumbed to the powerhouse Detroit Pistons in five games, and in 1992 fell to the ever-improving Chicago Bulls in six. Williams was regularly in the starting lineup for the first six of his seven seasons with the Blazers. He remains the franchise leader in field goal percentage (55.0%).

Late years

In the twilight of his career, after the 1995-96 season, he moved back to the Atlantic Division to sign 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 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.

He is also a one-time president of the NBA Players Association.

Awards and accomplishments

USA Olympic Team: 1980

NBA All-Star: 1982, 1983, 1986

NBA All-NBA (2nd team): 1983

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1982

NBA All-Rookie (1st team): 1982

NBA All-Defense (1st team): 1990, 1991

NBA All-Defense (2nd team): 1988, 1992

NBA Field Goal Percentage leader: 1991 (60.2%), 1992 (60.4%)

NBA Minutes Played leader: 1985 (3182)

NBA Offensive Rebounds (total) leader: 1984 (355)

NBA Games Played leader: 1985 (82), 1987 (82), 1990 (82), 1995 (82)

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Buck Williams ]

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