Williams remembered in PBA honor roll

Former Denver Nuggets guard Rob Williams, who died of congestive heart failure at the age of 52 in Texas last Monday, is in the PBA record books as one of only 44 NBA first-round picks to play in Asia’s first play-for-pay league. Since the PBA opened shop in 1975, over 650 imports have come to play here so Williams was in an elite cast that made up less than 7% of the players known as “reinforcements.”

The pioneer NBA first round draft pick to play in the PBA was Dana Lewis (Presto, 1977) who was chosen by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1971. The last 15 NBA first round picks who became PBA imports were Byron Houston (Pop Cola, 1987), Sherell Ford (Pop Cola, 1998), Kenny Payne (Ginebra, 1998), John Morton (Shell, 1999-2000), Mario Bennett (San Miguel Beer, 2002), Chris Morris (Purefoods, 2002), Johnny Taylor (Sta. Lucia Realty, 2002), Rodrick Rhodes (FedEx, 2002), Scott Burrell (Red Bull, 2003), Cedric Ceballos (San Miguel Beer, 2003), Dickey Simpkins (Alaska, 2004-05), DerMarr Johnson (Barako, 2012), Rashad McCants (Powerade, 2012), Renaldo Balkman (Petron, 2013) and Josh Boone (San Miguel Beer, 2013-14).

Aside from Williams, other NBA first round picks and former PBA imports who have died were George Trapp (U-Tex, 1979) and Anthony Roberts (Gilbey’s Gin, 1983). One player from the group who became an NBA referee was Leon Wood (Purefoods, 1994) and another Wes Matthews (Ginebra, 1991) now has a son Wes, Jr. playing for Portland in the NBA. Another in this roster Howard Carter (Shell, 1985) became a naturalized French citizen to play for France in FIBA competitions. Still another Stewart Granger (Shell, 1986) played for the Canadian national team.

The highest-ranked NBA first rounder to play in the PBA was Dennis Hopson (Purefoods, 1996) who was chosen third overall by the New Jersey Nets in 1987 after David Robinson and Armon Gilliam and ahead of future stars like Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Reggie Miller and now Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson.

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Williams played for Tanduay in two conferences in 1986. His import teammate was Andre McCoy when the RhumMasters took the Reinforced championship. Williams paired with Benny Anders then Andy Thompson during the Open Conference where Tanduay finished fourth that same season.

Thompson said Williams was his closest teammate and owed a lot to him in surviving the challenge of playing in the PBA. He said Williams could drop 50 points on any given night. Thompson recalled that in his PBA debut, he had a shaky first half with only eight points but Williams didn’t give up on him. Thompson wound up with 26 points and hit a jump hook to win the game for Tanduay.

Among Williams’ Tanduay teammates were Ramon Fernandez, the late Ely Capacio, Freddie Hubalde, J. B. Yango, Vic Sanchez, Padim Israel, Onchie de la Cruz, Willy Generalao and Abet Gutierrez. In the Open Conference, Williams and Thompson battled several high-caliber import combinations like Billy Ray Bates and Michael Hackett of Ginebra San Miguel, Michael Young and Harold Keeling of Manila Beer, Norman Black and Keith Morrison of Alaska and Dexter Shouse and Perry Young of Shell.

Young, another PBA import legend, said he was recruited by Williams to play for the University of Houston. Among Williams’ other Houston varsity teammates were Hakeem Olajuwon, Anders and Clyde Drexler. In 1982, Williams took the Cougars to the NCAA Final Four but in the semifinals, scored only two points on 0-of-8 from the floor in a loss to North Carolina. It was a letdown for Williams as he averaged 21.1 points that season. The speculation was drugs took a toll on Williams’ condition. Despite the setback, Williams is revered on campus and varsity coach James Dickey said he was “deeply saddened” by the death and cited the guard for paving the way for the school’s legendary Phi Slamma Jama teams.

Williams left Houston after his junior year and applied for the NBA draft in 1982. He was picked on the first round by Denver but his pro career never got off the ground because of drugs. Williams held out for more money then reported to camp late and overweight, prompting Nuggets coach Doug Moe to call him a “fat little hog.” Williams played only two years in the NBA, averaging 8.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 153 games. Then he took his sneakers to Italy, Australia, Spain and the PBA.

If the NBA first round picks comprised less than 7% of the all-time import population, Caucasians made up a smaller slice of about 5%. So far, the directory lists only 31 Caucasians who have played in the PBA. Excluded in this group is Mexican Adam Parada (Red Bull, 2008, Alaska, 2012).

In the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup, Meralco import Brian Butch is the latest to join the bunch. Here’s the complete list: Pete Crotty (Crispa, 1975), Steve Smith (San Miguel Beer, 1975), Ron Wrigley (Presto, 1975), Steve Brooks (7-Up, 1975), Lee Haven (U-Tex, 1975-76), Bill Bozeat (Tanduay, 1976), Tim Hirten (Tanduay, 1976), Mike Rozenski (Royal Tru-Orange, 1977), Steve Stroud (7-Up, 1977), Frank Gugliotta (Royal Tru-Orange, 1978), Norm Kelly (Honda, 1979), Tom Snyder (Honda, 1979), Kevin Cleuss (Tanduay, 1980), Jim Zoet (Finance, 1981), Mike Carter (Finance, 1981), John Kazmer (U-Tex, 1981), Ryan Fletcher (Ginebra, 2000-01, Sta. Lucia Realty, 2004-05), Jack Hartman (Red Bull, 2001), David Wood (Purefoods, 2001), Richie Frahm (Talk ‘N’ Text, 2002), Chris Clay (Sta. Lucia Realty, 2002), Derek Grimm (Shell, 2002), Damien Cantrell (Talk ‘N’ Text, 2003), Chris Burgess (San Miguel Beer, 2004-05), Alex Compton (Welcoat, 2006-07, 2007-08), Jason Keep (Welcoat, 2007-08), Nick Fazekas (Petron, 2012), Jackson Vroman (Ginebra, 2012), Matt Rogers (San Mig Coffee, 2013), Bruno Sundov (Rain Or Shine, 2013) and Butch (Meralco, 2013-14).