ORLANDO, Fla. – The life and legacy of Orlando Magic co-founder Pat Williams was honored Friday afternoon during a ceremony in Orlando.
Williams died at 84 years old.
“There is no Orlando Magic without Pat Williams,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “He was held in such high regard in the basketball community and was a friend to me and so many generations of league executives. Pat was never at a loss for a kind and supportive word and always brought great enthusiasm, energy and optimism to everything he did throughout his more than 50 years in the NBA.”
“To me and to us he was just dad,” said Karyn Williams, Pat’s eldest daughter. “Calling him that has always been one of the greatest honors of my life. We want today to highlight our beautiful dad, but we also want today to inspire and encourage you to keep living like Pat Williams.”
News 6 spoke with his longtime friend Gary Lessord, who first met Williams at First Baptist Church in Orlando, where the two taught Sunday school together.
“He was bigger than life,” Lessord said. “When I think of Pat, a lot of people think promoter, promoter of sports, but I knew him as somebody who promoted individual people. He was continually searching out the very best in people and promoting them.”
Lessord said it’s the drive, passion and personality that made Williams stand out and leave an impression on everyone he met.
“You cannot comprehend, unless you know other individuals like that or live like that, the amount of energy and the amount of focus that it takes to be a Pat Williams,” Lessord said.
News 6 also spoke with former Orlando Magic general manager John Gabriel. After working together in the Philadelphia 76ers organization, Gabriel was the first person Williams hired in Orlando.
“He means and meant everything to me and my family,” Gabriel said. “He started it with a dream and people caught on. They followed him like the Pied Piper.”
“You could have 10 of these,” Gabriel said about the celebration of life ceremony. “He had a life filled with so much action running marathons, running baseball teams, running basketball teams, and he touched so many people. You can’t fit a eulogy in just one paragraph.”
Williams started his NBA career as business manager of the Philadelphia 76ers in 1968, then had stints as general manager of the Chicago Bulls, the Atlanta Hawks and the 76ers — helping the franchise win a title in 1983.
A few years later, Williams was involved in starting the process of bringing an NBA team to Orlando. The league’s board of governors granted an expansion franchise in 1987, and the team began play in 1989.
Williams was general manager in Orlando until being promoted to senior vice president in 1996.
Williams was at one time dubbed the “king of the lottery,” given the success he and the Magic had when he showed up to represent the club at the league’s annual event to determine who gets the No. 1 pick. Lottery luck fell his way three times, bringing Shaquille O’Neal, Anfernee Hardaway and Dwight Howard to Orlando.
He also was a motivational speaker, often addressing groups on leadership, teamwork and the mental challenge that comes after being diagnosed with cancer, among other topics.
Williams was born in Philadelphia and raised in Wilmington, Delaware. He was honored with the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was a member of the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame, the Magic’s Hall of Fame as a member of its inaugural class in 2014, and the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame.
Williams is survived by his wife Ruth and 19 children, 14 of whom they adopted from foreign countries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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