Pat Williams, the basketball executive who helped bring the NBA’s Orlando Magic to Florida, died Wednesday, his team announced in a statementHe was 84 years old.
The cause of death was reportedly complications from viral pneumonia.
The Magic’s story began when Williams, then general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, met Orlando businessman Jim Hewitt. Williams later became one of the leaders of the effort to bring an NBA expansion team to Orlando, which came to fruition in 1987 and the team played its first season in 1989.
While the team has yet to win a title, it has made the playoffs in 17 of its 35 seasons and won the Eastern Conference twice, in 1995 and 2009.
Williams got his start in sports through baseball, first as a catcher in the minor leagues and then as an executive in the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins organizations. In 1968, he moved to basketball with the Sixers.
That basketball career spanned more than four decades, most of which was spent with the Magic as general manager and senior vice president. During that time, they drafted Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard, and signed players like Penny Hardaway and Tracy McGrady.
Williams received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 from the Naismith Hall of Fame and was a member of the inaugural class of the Magic Hall of Fame.
Williams retired in 2019. According to the Magic, he is survived by his wife Ruth and their 19 children, 14 of whom were adopted from foreign countries.