Buck Williams wanted to tell me about his early years before talking about the Hall of Fame.
Growing up in my hometown of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, is something I will always remember, he added. We had to put everything on layaway.
Moses, his father, lay concrete. Betty, his mother, was a cotton field worker. Due to financial constraints, the family was unable to purchase new clothing and household goods outright.
So, Buck remarked, you had to wait. Two weeks, a month, two months, three months, and four months were all periods of waiting. Your clothes were definitely out of style by the time you received them, dude.
maybe the NBA of the future They were already outgrown by All-Star.
However, he informed me that you found those outfits really admirable. You valued the sacrifice your parents made to purchase those garments. You placed greater value on your clothing.
And?
I am currently being considered for induction into the Hall of Fame because of this. It now has greater meaning for me.
Buck Williams hasn’t played basketball in 29 years. Over that time, superstars have come and gone in generations. The Hall of Fame has inducted other athletes whose careers started after his.
Williams was the most dependable player for the Portland Trail Blazers during their greatest three-year run in team history, and those who witnessed him play recall his commanding presence on the court.
Those who didn’t might simply recognize him by his name or perhaps not at all.
However, Williams, 64, who owns a Bethesda, Maryland, real estate investment firm, got a gift last weekend. When he was selected as a finalist for this year’s class of inductees by the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, his career became an urgent topic.
That’s not something you truly expect thirty years after your last recovery.
“I was caught off guard,” Williams remarked.
This past weekend, I wrote about my enduring admiration for Williams. We talked on the phone a few days later.
“My entire world revolved around my work ethic, so I never had time to sit down and really think about being in the Hall of Fame,” he said. The key is to keep your head down. It all comes down to working hard and remaining present. This is the first time I’ve ever had the chance to sit down and think about my career in this way.
A few years ago, students from Fordham Prep’s sports analytics club in New York created an analytical argument for Williams’s enshrinement and forwarded it to the president of the museum.
Modern methods for assessing a player’s impact were either nonexistent or not generally accessible when Williams was playing. However, Williams’ argument is stronger than you might imagine, even when you examine the sport’s most fundamental statistics.
Only 12 other players in NBA history have scored as many points (16,784) and pulled down as many rebounds (11,631) as Williams. All twelve are, or will soon be, inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Only three players, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O Neal, and Dwight Howard, who is also a finalist this year, can match Williams’ output when you factor in his career 54.9% shooting from the field.
Interestingly, all three of those are centers. Williams was a real power forward—the kind that is virtually nonexistent in today’s game.
“You’re drawn to Flash,” Williams added. However, you go up and grab the basketball each time it goes up on the rim when you’re in the trenches. Are you the defense’s main pillar? Are you demonstrating leadership?
The entire game is centered around what I did, he continued.
I had to jump in here. I have conducted interviews with hundreds of athletes, many of whom I had long admired. But I had never talked to my childhood hero before, and here he was telling me how he become the player I so admired.
As I heard Buck talk, I paused to think about how awesome this was.
He was stating that you are a Hall of Famer the moment you put on your shoes, not when you retire. Your attitude to the game, your work ethic, and your values are where your Hall of Fame career begins. I went into the game that way.
I scribbled frantically.
Ignore the saying, “Definitely meet your heroes.” I suggest it.
In any case, Williams played for the New Jersey Nets before joining the Trail Blazers. And the combination of those two Bucks is what may have earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame. He received individual honors in New Jersey, where his No. 52 is retired, and he discovered the victory in Portland.
As he performed in Portland, Williams remarked, “That was the best, happiest time in my career.”
The Blazers’ win total rose by 20 games in the first season following their trade for Williams. Luke’s position on the Blazers’ previous championship squad was filled by a player who took inspiration from Maurice Lucas’ style of play.
According to Williams, Maurice Lucas was to him what Kobe was to Michael Jordan. For a brief period during Williams’ rookie season, the two were colleagues.
The Blazers won 179 regular-season games from 1989 to 1992 with Williams in the starting lineup, which is more than the current team has won in the last six years. They also made it to the NBA Finals twice.
According to Williams, Bucky Buckwalter, Harry Glickman, and those guys did a fantastic job assembling a team and fostering the kind of camaraderie necessary for victory. In my opinion, that was the best transaction.
Williams claimed to have received messages from former teammates Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, and Otis Birdsong, with whom he played in New Jersey, following the Hall of Fame’s announcement of its finalists last weekend. He received calls from old pals and at least one fan he had never met in his life.
He said, “My family is more excited than I am.” Like, “You guys need to apply a little more brake pressure.” We still have one more obstacle to overcome.
Williams won’t know if he was chosen for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until a few more months have passed. At the Final Four every year, the class is revealed.
He has patience. The wait has already been worthwhile.
According to him, it will mean more now than it most likely would have twenty-five years ago because I can see how much it means to my family, friends, and a lot of the previous players I played with.
–Bill Oramis, The Oregonian/OregonLive’s sports columnist.
Stories by
Bill Oram
-
Bill Oram: Can Dylan Harper or Ace Bailey really save the Trail Blazers if they can t even save Rutgers?
-
Bill Oram: Does Blazers great Buck Williams belong in the Hall of Fame? His biggest fan has no doubt
-
What we ve learned about the red-hot Blazers amid their stunning turnaround
