RIP John "Hot Rod" Williams
Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 3:29 pm
RIP John "Hot Rod" Williams. Fuck cancer.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bas ... dies-at-53" target="_blank
John 'Hot Rod' Williams dies at 53
Ex-Cleveland Cavaliers center John "Hot Rod" Williams died on Friday at the age of 53, his agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN's Brian Windhorst. In an interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto, Bartelstein said Williams got prostate cancer about six months ago, and then it spread.
From ESPN:
"It's devastating," said Wayne Embry, the Cavs general manager from 1986-99. "He was a hard worker and a great player but I liked him more as a person than a basketball player."
"Hot Rod was a great, caring and unselfish teammate," said Danny Ferry, who was a teammate for six seasons. "He was a team first guy. He was also a valuable, intelligent and very underrated player. He could defend anyone. We were all lucky to have him as a teammate and friend."
Williams played 13 seasons in the NBA after being drafted No. 45 overall in 1985. He stayed with the Cavaliers for the first nine of them, and teamed with Larry Nance and Brad Daugherty in the frontcourt, usually as the sixth man under head coach Lenny Wilkens. In the 1989-90 season, he averaged a career-high 16.8 points to go with his 8.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. He holds career averages of 11 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
Cleveland fans remember Williams as part of the group that challenged Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls but couldn't quite get past them in the playoffs. In 1995, Williams was traded to the Phoenix Suns. He spent three seasons there, a year with the Dallas Mavericks and then retired. After basketball, he started a construction business in Sorrento, La., the small town near Baton Rouge where he was born.
Williams is fourth on the Cavs' all-time list in games played, third in rebounds, second in blocks and seventh in points.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bas ... dies-at-53" target="_blank
John 'Hot Rod' Williams dies at 53
Ex-Cleveland Cavaliers center John "Hot Rod" Williams died on Friday at the age of 53, his agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN's Brian Windhorst. In an interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto, Bartelstein said Williams got prostate cancer about six months ago, and then it spread.
From ESPN:
"It's devastating," said Wayne Embry, the Cavs general manager from 1986-99. "He was a hard worker and a great player but I liked him more as a person than a basketball player."
"Hot Rod was a great, caring and unselfish teammate," said Danny Ferry, who was a teammate for six seasons. "He was a team first guy. He was also a valuable, intelligent and very underrated player. He could defend anyone. We were all lucky to have him as a teammate and friend."
Williams played 13 seasons in the NBA after being drafted No. 45 overall in 1985. He stayed with the Cavaliers for the first nine of them, and teamed with Larry Nance and Brad Daugherty in the frontcourt, usually as the sixth man under head coach Lenny Wilkens. In the 1989-90 season, he averaged a career-high 16.8 points to go with his 8.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. He holds career averages of 11 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
Cleveland fans remember Williams as part of the group that challenged Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls but couldn't quite get past them in the playoffs. In 1995, Williams was traded to the Phoenix Suns. He spent three seasons there, a year with the Dallas Mavericks and then retired. After basketball, he started a construction business in Sorrento, La., the small town near Baton Rouge where he was born.
Williams is fourth on the Cavs' all-time list in games played, third in rebounds, second in blocks and seventh in points.
