Prominent Member of Cavs Family Passes Away Too Soon

For most of the 1980s, the Cleveland Cavaliers were doormats of the National Basketball Association, making the playoffs just one time from 1980-86. That all changed in 1986 when via trades or through the draft acquired future All-Stars in starting center Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, Ron Harper and Larry Nance; starting shooting guard Craig Ehlo. They also drafted a little known forward/center out of Tulane University, who would end up being a great compliment to a team that except for the 1986-87 season and the 1990-91 season made the playoffs and one occasions were on the doorstep of making it to the NBA championship, but this guy by the name of Michael Jordan kept blocking their path. That great compliment to those Cavs teams passed away over this past weekend.

Former NBA forward/center John “Hot Rod” Williams died this past Friday, Dec. 11 at his home near Sorrento, LA from complications of prostate cancer, which he was diagnosed with back in June. He was 53 years old.

Williams, who was drafted in the second round, 45^th overall by the Cavaliers in 1985 played nine of his 13 seasons in Northeast Ohio. He was then traded to the Phoenix Suns in the summer of 1995 for swingman Dan Majerle, where he played for three seasons and he finished with the Dallas Mavericks. He averaged 11.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in those 13 seasons.

“In many respects, he was the humble embodiment and unsung hero of one of the most memorable and successful eras of Cavaliers basketball,” the Cavs organization said in a statement.

“It’s devastating. He was a hard worker and a great player. But I liked him more as a person than a basketball player,” Hall of Fame GM Wayne Embry, who was with the Cavs from 1986-99 said of Williams.

Williams was born in aforementioned Sorrento on Aug. 9, 1962. He got the nickname “Hot Rod” back when he was a baby when he constantly made engine-like sounds when he scooted backwards across the floor. From that point, his mother started calling him “Hot Rod” and it eventually caught on to his friends.

The solid career on the court for Williams almost did not happen though because of him.

At Tulane University, the 6’11” power forward/center left as the second leading scorer in the history of the Green Wave, but he was nearly thrown off the team in his sophomore season because he missed practice way too often and showed he was not reliable, according to a Tulane booster club president.

It goes back to his time in high school where he barely maintained a C average and just passed his SATs.

At Tulane, Williams did not fare any better at his academics maintaining a C-D average even though he had a class schedule of classes that were considered easy like driver’s education and weight training.

Williams did succeed on the court as he was named the Metro Conference Player of the Year in his junior season and was a three-time All-Metro Conference First-Team selection (1982, 1984 and 1985).

The real low point for Williams came on Mar. 27, 1985 when he was arrested on suspicion of point shaving. He had taken at the minimum $8,550 from Gary Kranz for influencing point spreads in contest against Southern Mississippi, Memphis State and Virginia Tech.

Williams was charged with sports bribery and conspiracy and the school was eventually forced to disband their basketball program for three seasons.

The first trial ended in a mistrial and he was found not guilty on all five counts in the second trial, despite a number of Williams’ teammates cutting plea deals to testify against him. If Williams had been found guilty, he was looking at 17 years in prison

While he had a great career on the court, Williams character away from the collegiate hardwood likely scared a lot of teams away from selecting him high in the first round of the 1985 NBA Draft.

Then Cavs owner Gordon Gund took a chance on Williams drafting him in the second round with the 45^th overall pick by the Cavaliers. Because of the trial though, Williams could not sign with the Cavs, but Gund paid all his legal bills and he spent the 1985-86 season playing in the United State Basketball League (USBL) earning $15,000.

When he joined the Cavs the next season, he showed that he was going to be a big part of their future moving forward as he averaged 14.6 points, 7.9 boards and 2.1 blocks on 48.5 percent from the field in making the NBA All-Rookie team along with teammates Harper and Daugherty.

Two years later when the Cavs won a franchise record 57 games, Williams averaged 11.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per contest, but the Cavaliers were defeated in Game 5 of the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs where Jordan hit a jumper from the top of the foul line over Ehlo, which was later named “The Shot” that defeated the Cavs 101-100 and gave the Bulls the 3-2 series win. Williams averaged 11.0 points and 6.8 rebounds in the series.

Williams would have the best season of his career one year later averaging 16.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per contest, but the Cavs as a team lost in the first round again to the Atlantic Division champion Philadelphia 76ers led by eventual Hall of Famer Charles Barkley in five games. Williams averaged 19.0 points and 9.2 rebounds in the five games.

“Hot Rod really I think is starting to come into his own. He’s a big part of our team and I’m glad we have him,” Price, who played with the Cavs from 1987-94 said once of Williams.

The Cavs tied a franchise record of 57 wins in the 1991-92 season and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals where they matched up again with their Central Division rivals again, the Bulls. After splitting the first two games, the two teams were in nip and tuck battle in Game 5, but the Bulls bench broke things open in the fourth and led them to a 112-89 win to take a 3-2 lead. The Bulls would finish the Cavs off in Game 6 99-94 to win the series and the East 4-2 to make it back to the NBA Finals. The Bulls would go on to win their second straight NBA title defeating the Western Conference Champion Portland Trail Blazers 4-2. Williams in that 17-game postseason for the Cavaliers averaged 15.0 points and 7.6 rebounds.

After winning 54 games the next season and outlasting the then New Jersey Nets in five games in the opening round, the Cavs met the Bulls again in the East Semifinals. The Bulls took the first three games winning by seven, 13 and six points respectably and Jordan broke the hearts of the Richfield Coliseum fans again with a game-winning jumper at the buzzer giving the Bulls as 103-101 win to sweep the Cavs 4-0. Williams averaged 9.0 points and 4.6 rebounds during the Cavs nine playoff games.

The Cavs won 47 games the next season under new head coach Mike Fratello, who replaced Lenny Wilkens, but were eliminated by the Bulls again in a sweep 3-0, led by All-Star and eventual Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen in the wake of Jordan’s first retirement. Williams, who became the Cavs starting center because Daugherty was on the mend because of back problems that did force him to retire averaged 13.7 points, 7.6 boards and 1.7 blocks during the regular season.

In what became his last season with the Cavs the next season, Williams averaged 12.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks during the regular season as the team won 43 games that season. The Cavs lost to the New York Knicks in the opening round of the playoffs 3-1.

Williams was traded to the Suns in the summer of 1995 hoping to be a final piece in the Suns run for a title. Unfortunately injuries derailed him in his three seasons and he was nowhere near the impact player the team had hoped.

Williams finished his career with the Dallas Mavericks in the lockout shortened season of 1999.  Even though the Cavs were unable to get over the hump against the likes of the Bulls, they were a force to be reckoned with thanks to the play of All-Stars Daugherty, Nance and Price, but Williams played a key role as well and the stars of the team like Daugherty were well aware of that.

“Hot Rod is a tremendous defensive player. Really an unselfish player,” Daugherty said of Williams.

“Doesn’t look to score a lot or anything like that. He doesn’t worry about getting shots. He come out, plays good defense. He can play some three, four and he can play some five and when you have a guy like that who’s very versatile, he’s probably the most valuable player on our team.”

Forward Danny Ferry, Williams’ teammate for six seasons echoed the same thing saying that he “great caring and unselfish teammate.”

“He’s a team-first guy. He was also a valuable, intelligent and very underrated player. He could defend anyone. We were lucky to have him as a teammate and friend.”

The life of John “Hot Rod” Williams, one that ended way too soon is that of a guy who nearly had a great life taken away from him, but got a second chance and made the most of it. His NBA career was one where he was a great compliment to the stars of a title contender. He made plays when called upon at the offensive end and he was a solid individual and team defender. More than anything when he got his bearings about him, John “Hot Rod” Williams was an NBA player who enjoyed his career, never took it for granted and along the way earned the respect from the players he played with, the two head coaches he played for in Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens and Mike Fratello and the organization in general and never took it for granted.

“It was fun and enjoyable and it was a nice living playing in the NBA. Something I always wanted to do,” Williams said once in an interview.

Information, statistics and quotations are courtesy of 12/12/15 4 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Rick Kamla, Steve Smith and Dennis Scott; Vince Cellini, Grant Hill and Mike Fratello; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Cavaliers-sections: 1983-86-The Gunds take over; 1986-92-The Daugherty/Nance/Price/Harper era; Season-by-season records; www.basketball-reference-com/players/w/williho01.html; Dec. 11, 2015 espn.com article “John ‘Hot Rod’ Williams dies at 53” by ESPN Senior Writer Brian Windhorst; The Team By Team History section of Official 2006-07 NBA Guide by Sporting News 2005-06 Review 2006-07 Preview.