50 Greatest NBA/ABA Players Not In the Hall Of Fame
By Phil Watson
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Gus Williams made the trek from New York to L.A. to play college basketball, where he was a standout at USC before being taken in the second round by the Golden State Warriors in the 1975 NBA Draft.
Williams spent two seasons as a backup at point guard for Golden State before signing as a veteran free agent with the Seattle SuperSonics in October 1977.
“The Wizard” became a big part of Seattle’s run to back-to-back NBA Finals in 1978 and 1979, leading the Sonics with 28.6 points per game while also averaging 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and a steal in the 1979 NBA Finals as Seattle avenged their loss to the Washington Bullets the previous season.
After earning All-NBA honors in 1979-80 for the Sonics, Williams sat out the 1980-81 season in a contract dispute and the team collapsed to 34 wins.
He returned in 1981 and wound up earning an All-NBA spot in 1981-82, when he finished fifth in the MVP voting.
But in June 1984, Williams was traded to the Bullets in exchange for Ricky Sobers and Tim McCormick.
He spent two seasons in Washington, signing as a veteran free agent with the Atlanta Hawks midway through the 1986-87 season, with the Bullets receiving a 1990 second-round pick as compensation.
Williams retired after that season, finishing his 11-year career with averages of 17.1 points, 5.6 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 31.1 minutes per game, shooting .461/.238/.756.
Williams is 27th on the NBA’s all-time list with 1,638 steals and ranks 13th in steals per game.