50 Greatest NBA/ABA Players Not In the Hall Of Fame
By Phil Watson
(Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images)
A double-double machine in three years at Maryland, Buck Williams was the third overall pick by the New Jersey Nets in the 1981 NBA Draft and didn’t disappoint.
The Rookie of the Year in 1981-82, Williams was named All-NBA in 1982-83 and was an All-Defensive selection in 1987-88. Williams also led the NBA in minutes played (3,182) in 1984-85.
But even with Williams, the Nets mustered just one playoff series win during his tenure and in advance of the draft in June 1989, Williams was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for Sam Bowie and a 1989 first-round pick.
In his first season with the Blazers, Williams played in as many postseason games (21) than he had in eight years in New Jersey as Portland reached the NBA Finals for just the second time in team history.
Williams was also a three-time All-Defensive pick with the Blazers and led the NBA in field goal accuracy in 1990-91 (60.2 percent) and 1991-92 (60.4 percent).
The Blazers returned to the Finals in 1992, but lost once again, and in July 1996, Williams was released by Portland.
He signed with the New York Knicks three days later and remained in New York for two seasons before retiring after the NBA lockout ended in January 1999.
In 17 seasons, Williams averaged 12.8 points, 10 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 32.5 minutes per game, shooting .549/.167/.664.
He is 19th in NBA history with 1,307 games and 24th with 42,464 minutes played. His 13,017 rebounds place him 16th all-time and his .549 field-goal percentage is 19th. Williams is 50th all-time with an average of 10 rebounds per game.