Williams spearheaded the move to Orlando's NBA development team.
Pat Williams, the sports executive who helped provide the NBA's Orlando Magic to Florida, died Wednesday, his team announced in a statement. He was 84 years older.
His cause of death was apparently complications from popular asthma.
Jim Hewitt, the Orlando business, and Williams, the next general director of the Philadelphia 76ers, became the start of the Magic. Eventually, Williams after co-led the effort to establish an NBA development team in Orlando, which was established in 1987, with the team's debut season beginning in 1989.
While the team has yet to get a name, it has reached the quarterfinals in 17 of its 35 times and won the Eastern Conference half, in 1995 and 2009.
pic.twitter.com/LSE0P4zTmh
— Orlando Magic ( @OrlandoMagic ) July 18, 2024
Williams first started playing football as a minor club catcher before working for the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins as an executive. He moved to sports with the Flyers in 1968.
That hockey career ended up lasting more than four decades, spent mostly with the Magic as public boss and senior vice president. In addition to signings for Tracy McGrady and the likes of Penny Hardaway during that time, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard were also signed. Williams was a part of the Magic's Hall of Fame's annual group in 2012 and was awarded the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Hall of Fame.
Williams retired in 2019. Per the Magic, he is survived by his wife Ruth and their 19 kids, 14 of whom are adopted from foreign countries.
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