Pat Williams, Orlando Magic co-founder and longtime NBA team executive, dies at 84

Pat Williams, a longtime NBA executive who built the 1982-83 NBA champion Philadelphia 76ers as their general manager and co-founded the Orlando Magic, died on Wednesday in Orlando, Fla. He was 84.

His death, in an Orlando hospital, was announced by the Magic. The cause was complications from viral pneumonia, team officials said.

“His accomplishments will always be remembered,” Magic chairman Dan DeVos and Magic CEO Alex Martins said in a joint statement. “Armed with his ever-present optimism and unparalleled energy, he was an incredible visionary who helped transform the world of sports in multiple ways. From bringing the Magic to Orlando, to transforming sports marketing and promotions, he was always ahead of the curve. Pat forever changed the sports landscape in Orlando.”

After stints as the general manager of the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks, Williams spent 12 years as the 76ers’ GM. His biggest move: completing a trade that sent Julius Erving’s rights from the New York Nets to the Sixers. In the years ahead, Williams augmented the Sixers’ roster by drafting guards Maurice Cheeks and Andrew Toney and by trading for then-reigning NBA MVP Moses Malone. Led by Erving and Malone, Philadelphia posted a 65-17 regular-season record in 1982-83 and swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

In 1986, Williams left the 76ers and joined Orlando-area businessman Jimmy Hewitt to work to bring an NBA expansion team to Orlando. At the outset, many observers considered the effort a lost cause. But Williams, an expert promoter who regarded former major-league baseball franchise owner Bill Veeck as one of his heroes, convinced the NBA board of governors to award a team to Orlando.

“It’s hard to envision that it would have come to fruition without him and without Jimmy Hewitt,” Martins told The Athletic in 2019.

“If it were not for Pat’s efforts in rallying the community and helping people understand what the NBA and professional sports were all about, it’s very plausible that the team would not be here and the NBA would not be in Orlando,” Martins said.

In a statement released early Thursday morning, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said: “There is no Orlando Magic without Pat Williams. 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.”

Williams worked as the Magic’s general manager from the team’s inception until 1996. During his tenure, he drafted Shaquille O’Neal at No. 1 in 1992 and, armed with another first pick in 1993, traded Chris Webber for Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and three future first-round picks.

In 2011, Williams announced he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a treatable but incurable disease. A year later, he received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In recent years, Williams often attended Magic home games, sitting in a lower-bowl seat, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and reading a book during intermissions.

In 2019, when he retired from a largely ceremonial position with the Magic, he said: “Even though I’m retired from basketball, I am not retiring from life. I am not a golfer. I am not a fisherman. I do not play shuffleboard.”

“And I’m really getting revved up for the next chapter of my life,” he added. “I’m a builder, you see. … As I look ahead, starting this afternoon, I’m jumping into the building part again, while I still have good health.”

He spent the final years of his life attempting to bring a Major League Baseball team to Orlando.

Williams is survived by his wife, Ruth, and their 19 children, 14 of whom were adopted.

“He loved a challenge, and when he moved our family to Orlando to start the Magic, he was full of excitement and energy that he displayed every day,” the Williams family said in a statement released Wednesday.

“We all grew up believing that anything is possible because of his unwavering enthusiasm for what he was passionate about. Those who attended the games, saw him at church, or spent time with him in a social setting know that he never met a stranger and was always quick with an encouraging word. He was a giver, a teacher, the ultimate cheerleader, and he was a life-long learner. He loved to read and he cherished his books. But the most important thing was that he was quick to talk about his relationship with Jesus.”