GOOD LUCK CHARM: Pat Williams reaped the benefits of the NBA’s Draft Lottery in two different decades with a pair of dominant centers — first with Shaquille O’Neal in 1992 and then in 2004 with Dwight Howard. (AP (2))
GOOD LUCK CHARM: Pat Williams reaped the benefits of the NBA’s Draft Lottery in two different decades with a pair of dominant centers–first with Shaquille O’Neal in 1992 and then in 2004 with Dwight Howard. (AP (2))
ORLANDO — Pat Williams’ mission was remission from incurable multiple myeloma that had been diagnosed last February. That has been accomplished.
Four days before the NBA hosts its second All-Star Game in the city whose 1986 roundball roots originated in the mind of the Magic’s Senior VP, Williams went home Wednesday following the fabulous news.
He wanted to beat the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute record stay subsequent to a stem cell transplant, divulged his wife in an e-mail to friends, and he did, by two days.
When Ruth got to the hospital the morning after the Feb. 10 double sessions, Pat was walking laps around the bone marrow unit. He did that three times a day and got on the bike daily as well.
“That makes three birthdays,” Pat said: “my physical birth May 3, 1940, my spiritual rebirth at age 28, and now my myeloma birthday Feb. 10.”
***
Pat Williams is actually the most interesting man in the world.
The last 26 years, come June, have been one outrageous theme park ride after another .¤.¤. and that hardly does justice to the rest of his implausibly, fervently full life — minor league catcher/executive, GM of the Hawks, Bulls, 76ers, and Magic, author of 75 books with another deadline looming March 1, motivational speaker, thrice-weekly radio host, and father of 18 adopted children.
He has gone from planting a professional team in a small Florida city that flaunted Disney World and not much else — selling a vision of what could be in 5-10-25 years to omnipresent skeptics — to having 4.9 million of his own cells harvested, frozen, and transplanted by 11 syringes back into healthy soil.
“I’m fortunate the cells are my own. If an outside source is used it becomes more complicated when they enter your body,” Pat told me earlier this week when I invaded his hospital privacy. “They all knew each other so they seem to be getting along and playing well with each other.”
I’ve been pestering him for info since the early ’70s and never was he unavailable for comment. Why should this be any different? We spoke for over an hour but didn’t get to his well-being until very late in the conversation. Like everyone else, Pat was pumped to talk about Jeremy Lin. He’d watched him mangle the Mavericks Sunday on ABC.
“Peter, you and I have seen a lot of crazy stories unfold over the years, but we’ve never lived through anything like this. Fernando Valenzuela is the closest. He came out of Mexico a 20-year-old unknown, won 10 straight over two seasons, eight straight to start the ’81 season, and led the Dodgers to a World Series championship. He was electrifying and got the country whipped up. Lin has the whole world atwitter.
“A beautiful story is unfolding here. For the Chinese people it’s like a miracle coming on the heels of the huge disappointment regarding Yao Ming having to retire due to injuries. I’ve been told when Yao played on national TV he’d attract 300 million viewers throughout Asia.”
I’ll be interested to hear Pat’s reaction to Lin suffering from Heat prostration (1-11 from the field and eight turnovers) in last night’s mauling by Miami.
***
Baseball was Williams’ entire direction until Jack Ramsay out of the blue called in 1968 and offered him a top managerial job. At the time, he was working for the Phillies’ Spartanburg A-club. Born in Philadelphia, he was well acquainted with Ramsay, who left St. Joseph’s to join the 76ers, but had never spoken to him before.
One year later, at 29, the Bulls hired Williams to run their front office. “I spent four memorable years with the inimitable Dick Motta. He was colorful, intense, flamboyant, emotional, driven. He displayed every range of human emotion, the good and the bad. I had to talk him off many a ledge, and other times he was sky high.”
Williams transformed the Bulls into a beast. They had Jerry Sloan and Bob Love. He acquired Norm Van Lier, Tom Boerwinkle, and Chet Walker. Ramsay wanted Villanova’s Jim Washington and was willing to swap Chet the Jet, a vital member of the superior ’67 Sixers.
“He became our go-to guy,” Pat said. “Chet wanted the ball in every pressure situation. His head-and-shoulder moves were unstoppable.”
In speaking with Walker several years ago, he spew nothing but venom about Motta, who guided (or not) the Bullets to the ’78 championship. Walker, long overdue for induction into Springfield’s Hall of Fame, claimed Motta had no offensive scheme and didn’t know what to say to the players in huddles.
“I left in ’73 when Dick wanted to coach and handle contracts,” Pat said. “Chet played another year. He wasn’t re-signed. I know he wanted to play longer. He never got over that, I think.”
When Chicago ownership gave Motta dual citizenship, Williams relocated in Atlanta. Williams’ stay lasted but one season ’73-74) because the 76ers again recruited him. However, he left his signature on the organization as a zany promoter (think Bill Veeck and Flint Tropics) and pedigreed flesh peddler.
John Wetzel and John Tschogl played for the Hawks. Williams couldn’t resist. He staged a Wetzel-Pretzel, Tschogl-Bagel Night. “It was one of my better ones, I think,” Pat said. “It had a nice rhythm to it. Fans feasted on the free pretzels and bagels. The Omni concessionaires, on the other hand, were not happy with me.”
On May 20, 1974, Williams traded Pete Maravich to the New Orleans Jazz for the first two expansion draftees (Bob Kauffman and Dean Meminger), a ’74 No. 1 choice (Mike Sojourner), the ’75 first round selection (David Thompson), a ’75 No. 2 pick (Bill Willoughby) and a ’76 second rounder (Alex English).
“Pistol had flamed out that season,” Pat said. “He had all sorts of issues before straightening out his life. New Orleans wanted to make a bang when it came into the league. I thought I’d done great. The Jazz kept giving and giving. After awhile, our owner, Tom Cousins, told me not to ask for any more. He was worried the franchise would go under and we wouldn’t get anything.
I’ll never forget going over to Pete’s condo and breaking the news to him. He just stared at me. Finally, he asked, ‘What did you get for me?’ I told him. There was another pregnant pause. ‘Is that all!?’ “
Two months later, Williams replaced GM Don DeJardin in Philly, a year after the 76ers had posted the still-drooping worst record (9-73) in league history and failed to sign No. 1 pick, Marvin Barnes, who joined the ABA Spirits of St. Louis.
“All the dissatisfaction and unrest was a huge break for me,” Pat said. “I was 34 when owner Irv Kosloff brought me back, the start of a great adventure. Moses Malone had come out of high school the year before. We figured there had to be another one. We scouted Darryl Dawkins and lured him into the ’75 draft.”
Williams was all set to snatch Poodles Willoughby too, but the Hawks beat the 76ers to him with the second pick Pat had received from the Jazz in the Pistol deal.
“We had him signed. He’d agreed to apply for the draft. There was a lot of stuff you could do back then. So instead, we took Lloyd Free. A Dawkins-Free draft. Not bad.”
The recently deceased DeJardin, a West Pointer, left behind assets as well as problems. He’d drafted George McGinnis and Caldwell Jones so when their ABA contracts ran out, the 76ers owned their rights .¤.¤. although Knicks president Mike Burke tried to glom the Wizard of Ahs.
Twenty-three days after replacing Walter Kennedy as NBA commissioner, Larry O’Brien, former Chairman of the Democratic Party, stripped the Knicks of their ’76 No. 1 pick and returned McGinnis’ rights to Philly.
The next year, following the NBA-ABA consolidation, Julius Erving’s holdout helped coerce debt-ridden Nets owner Roy Boe to sell his treasure.
“They never asked for a player. That never came up,” Pat said. “[GM] Billy Melchionni made it very clear it would cost $3 million, and another $3 million (600G per for five years) to sign Julius.”
Fitz Dixon had just bought the club. Williams breathlessly rushed to his farm in the Pennsylvania suburbs. “Pat, tell me who is Julius Erving?” Dixon inquired.
“He’s the Babe Ruth of basketball.”
Told it would take $6 million, terrifying numbers at the time, to get him, Dixon said, “Tell me, Pat, are you recommending this deal?”
“Yes, sir, I am,” Pat stammered.
“Well, then go get it done.”
***
The 76ers’ advertising campaign after their ’77 Finals fold-up to the Blazers was, “We Owe You One.” If you must know, the big index finger on the billboards was not Erving’s. Their investment didn’t yield the highest dividend until 1983, Malone’s famous “Fo, Fo, Fo” prediction, which turned out to be, Fo (Knicks sweep), five (Bucks won one), Fo (Lakers sweep).
Philly defended its title by losing to the Nets in the opening round, each team unable to win even once at home. The following season the Celtics bumped ’em off in the Eastern semi-finals.
“I’ll never forget that last game,” said Pat, who, in fact remembers everything. “It was a heartbreaking loss. We had a chance to win and get back to Philly and close out the series, but Julius missed a wide open 15-footer.
“I was sitting in the stands with [owner] Harold Katz and [assistant GM] John Nash. Nobody moved a muscle when it was over. We just sat there in silence until Boston Garden was almost empty.
“Our TV and radio guys were upstairs in a broadcast booth. Jack McMahon, Jr. had accompanied us on the trip and handled the stats for either/or. All of a sudden, Harold looked up and noticed Jack’s son and growled. ‘Who paid his way up here?’ Those were the first words spoken in a half hour. Ahh, Katzonomics!
That’s when Williams became consumed with creating a franchise for Orlando. “It was risky; it could’ve been a failure,” Pat said. “We were still pretty good. We had a young Charles Barkley. But I met up with some business people and I was hooked.”
Not quite! There was still a lottery — the league’s second; you know when they’d pull cards out of a turning cylinder — to attend in New York and trades to be concocted. This time the 76ers beat the Celtics for the pick of the ’86 litter — littered with four substance abusers in the top eight; Lenny Bias, Chris Washburn, William Bedford and Roy Tarpley. Philly took Brad Daugherty and traded him to Cleveland for Roy Hinson plus 800G (Katzonomics) and later on that day dealt Moses and Terry Catledge to Washington for Jeff Ruland and USC’s Cliff Robinson.
“That night never stops being discussed in Philadelphia,” Pat said. “Ruland couldn’t play much due to bad knees. Robinson was no factor either. Hinson was a disappointment and eventually was exchanged for Mike Gminski. “I left the next day for Orlando.”
As we all know, Boston scooped up Bias with the second overall pick. Many certified experts, including Mike Krzyzewski, rank Michael Jordan and Bias as 1-2 in ACC history, while others have the order reversed.
Red Auerbach was as enthralled with the Maryland marvel as he was with Larry Bird when he drafted him as junior-eligible. Bias’ death the very next day from a cocaine overdose shivered the franchise’s timbers for I don’t know how long; it probably didn’t fully recuperate until Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen aligned with Paul Pierce.
Meanwhile, Bias’ death rocked Red so severely his personnel decision-making was never the same.
Grippingly, acclaimed 76ers talent scout Jack McMahon, who Williams “loved dearly and trusted implicitly” was underwhelmed by Bias.
“I asked Jack if he had any interest in drafting Lenny and he said, ‘Nope. There’s something about him I don’t like.’ I’ve thought about that many times over the years. He went to the Warriors when I left and I never spoke to him again. He died three years later.”
***
Orlando businessman Jimmy Hewitt and his group paid $32.5M for the Magic expansion team, same as Charlotte, Minnesota, and Miami. It was the brainstorm of Gary Bettman, now NHL commissioner, then NBA deputy commissioner, to “let ’em all in.”
(FYI: Bob Johnson’s 2004 entry fee for returning the NBA to Charlotte was $300M)
Hewitt told Williams, “We’re in if you head it up. If not, we’ll stop.”
He took the leap and cut the cord.
“I was very excited. I had done everything else. It was time to take the ultimate challenge. And here we sit, 18th-largest TV market in the country, 51 million tourists last year and no end in sight. The city is growing and expanding and the Magic remains the centerpiece of the community.
“We’ll never see the likes of our first All-Star Game [’92] when fans voted Magic Johnson a starter and he came out of [HIV] retirement and won the MVP. That’s a day I’ll never forget. Twenty years later, here we are again, in a brand new building. It’s very fulfilling. You dream but you never dream to this extreme.”
In return for Williams’ inspiration and gamble, he got the freedom to design the arena, pick the colors, the logo, stock the pond and everything else inside and outside the margins.
Oh, yeah, he was also given a piece of the team. After two seasons, Hewitt sold the Magic to Rich DeVos. Williams eventually followed suit.
“That little piece educated all my children,” said Pat, whose oldest is 40 and youngest 26. Beside the 18 children (finding a wife to assume responsibility of all those kids might be his grandest accomplishment of all; Ruth also had a daughter when they married in ’97) there are eight grandkids. Hold up; twins are on the way, recently notified Bob, 34, a pro scout for the Angels as the circle of life continues.
It’s all good.
“The healthy cells have grafted successfully and are multiplying,” Ruth wrote to friends. “They will continue to do so for several months, and he will see Dr. Khaled every two to three days for a while in the office, but he will be home. He is so thankful, as it is very hard to sleep in the hospital.
“There will be some restrictions for a while — no children, no sick adults. But that will gradually go away. His diet will also be restricted somewhat, like no fresh fruit or raw vegetables, but he’s lived with that for a year now. That will also eventually go away. He will need to get a lot of rest, but he will also be able to participate in some activities. As his counts go up and up, he will be able to do more.
“It’s been a rough year, but God is good and got us through. God is faithful in the storms of life and is also there for the celebration. Thank you for all your prayers this past year. We have felt them. Thanks also for your encouragement. Keep praying that Pat gets stronger and stronger each day — and that he gets his hair back! Ha! Dr. Khaled says it will come back, but it may take a while. The good part about that is that he hasn’t had to shave in months.
“We are rejoicing and are so relieved and are looking forward to a ‘normal’ 2012.”