OBITUARY: Longtime Basketball Executive Pat Williams Passed Away July 17 at Age 84

Williams was co-founder of the Orlando Magic

Longtime basketball executive and Central Florida resident Pat Williams passed away July 17, 2024, of complications from viral pneumonia at the age of 84.

Williams helped lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a championship and eventually became co-founder of the Orlando Magic.

Philadelphia-born basketball man Pat Williams got his start in sports at an early age, though he came to the field via baseball.

He went to Wake Forest University on a baseball scholarship, then earned his master’s from Indiana University and doctorate at Flagler College. Williams briefly played minor league baseball for the Miami Marlins but retired from play after two years and moved into the front office.

Just a year later, he was general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies minor league team, the Spartanburg Phillies. He was named Minor League Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 1967.

In 1968, Williams made the move that would define his career, switching from baseball to basketball and becoming business manager of the Philadelphia 76ers.

There, he ascended to general manager and helped lift the team out of one of its worst stretches in franchise history, building the squad that won the 1982-83 championship. Star players included Julius Erving and Moses Malone — and, later, Charles Barkley.

Williams left the team in 1986 to pursue another opportunity: bringing a brand-new team to the NBA. Together with business executive Jim Hewitt, Williams helped create the Orlando Magic, which officially joined the league in 1989.

During his time with the team, he drafted stars like Shaquille O’Neal and twice oversaw teams that went to the NBA finals.

Williams retired in 2019. He received the John Bunn Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport. He is also in the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame, Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame, plus won the DECA Entrepreneurial Spirit award in 2011.

An avid runner, Williams completed close to 60 marathons, including finishing the Boston Marathon 13 times.

On reaching out to possible mentors: “I encourage young people, if they have a chance to go visit someone or exchange a written communication, do it. Young people would often say, ‘Well, I don’t want to bother them.’ You’re not bothering, and people like to hear from young people. And they like to offer help and suggestions and advice. It’s fulfilling to an older veteran.

“So when I hear from people by mail or any other way, I respond, I get back to them. I try to have a chat with him or give him some counsel. Just as people did to me. It’s a way of paying back. And there were many people who invested in me as a young guy.” — from the Thirty Minute Mentors podcast

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