Former Knicks guard Ray Williams is battling cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
“Yeah, it’s colon cancer,’’ Gus Williams, Ray’s older brother who also played in the NBA, told The Post last night. “It’s not looking good. I’m coming up [from Myrtle Beach] to see him [today].’’
Williams, 58, played two stints for the Knicks during his 10-year NBA career. The 6-foot-3 Mount Vernon native played collegiately at Minnesota and was the Knicks’ No. 1 draft pick (No. 10 overall) in 1977 and was their team captain in 1980. He played for five other NBA teams, including the Nets.
Knicks coach Mike Woodson, who played with Williams for two seasons as a Knick, said he visited his former teammate in the hospital last week, as did Knicks assistant coach Darrell Walker, also a former teammate.
“I was just with him last week at the cancer hospital,’’ Woodson said last night after the Knicks’ 87-77 victory over the Pistons.
“Awesome. Physical. Tough. Knew how to play,’’ said Woodson, who also teamed with Williams for the Kansas City Kings. “He was a prototype combo guard because he can play the one, could play two and could guard the three because he was so physical. To see him in the hospital like that, you don’t wish that on anyone.
“We talked about fond memories. We have a lot of fond memories. A year here. A few years in Kansas city. We laughed about a lot of things. It was kind of nice.’’
After Williams retired in 1987, he battled financial problems and struggled to find work. He filed for bankruptcy and, at one point, two years ago, was homeless in Pompano Beach, Fla., living in a Buick.
Doctors reportedly discovered the tumor in Williams’ colon after he was given a free colon-cancer screening offered through the NBA Retired Players Association.
Knicks owner James Dolan reportedly paid for Williams to be flown from Florida to be treated at Sloan-Kettering.