Eric Williams (basketball, born 1972)

Last updated
Eric Williams
Personal information
Born (1972-07-17) July 17, 1972 (age 51)
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school Malcolm X Shabazz
(Newark, New Jersey)
College
NBA draft 1995: 1st round, 14th overall pick
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career1995–2007
Position Small forward / shooting guard
Number55, 32, 17
Career history
19951997 Boston Celtics
19971999 Denver Nuggets
19992003 Boston Celtics
2003–2004 Cleveland Cavaliers
2004 New Jersey Nets
20042006 Toronto Raptors
2006–2007 San Antonio Spurs
2007 Charlotte Bobcats
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 5,642 (8.6 ppg)
Rebounds 2,139 (3.3 rpg)
Assists 936 (1.4 apg)
Stats   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Eric C. Williams (born July 17, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1995 to 2007. He played for seven teams during his career, including two stints with the Boston Celtics.

Contents

Career

Following a collegiate career which began at Burlington County College in New Jersey, then two years at Vincennes University in Indiana, followed by Providence College in Rhode Island, [1] the 6' 8" small forward was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 14th pick in the 1995 NBA draft. He played two years with them before being traded to the Denver Nuggets during the 1997 offseason for a couple of second round draft picks. The Nuggets only got four games out of Williams during the 1997-98 campaign due to him tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The following season, he returned, but only played in 38 of 82 regular season games with Denver before they repatriated him back to Boston along with Danny Fortson and Eric Washington plus a future draft pick in exchange for Ron Mercer, Ronald "Popeye" Jones, and Dwayne Schintzius. His second tenure with the Celtics lasted over four seasons until they traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown in a swap for Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm, Michael Stewart, and a second round draft pick on December 15, 2003. He became a free agent after 50 games with the Cavaliers, and signed with the New Jersey Nets prior to the 2004–05 season. Williams was soon part of a blockbuster player trade when the Nets sent him, Aaron Williams, Alonzo Mourning and two future first-round draft picks to the Toronto Raptors for franchise player Vince Carter.

In 2005, Williams decided to launch his own line of clothing honoring the fictional Negro Basketball League. [2]

On June 21, 2006, Williams was traded with Matt Bonner and a second round pick in the 2009 NBA draft to San Antonio for Rasho Nesterovič and cash. [3]

On February 13, 2007 he was traded along with the 2nd round pick in the 2009 NBA draft that the Spurs got from the Raptors to the Charlotte Bobcats for Melvin Ely. On March 16, Williams was waived by the Bobcats to make room for Alan Anderson. [4]

He holds career averages of 8.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. [5]

Life outside basketball

Williams, whose wife was Jennifer Williams from 2007 to 2011, appeared in multiple episodes of the reality TV show Basketball Wives from seasons 1–4. [6] Eric also went on to appear in the 2013 film The Caribbean Heist. [7] In 2015 Williams was featured in the painting, "Freedom from What," an artwork by Pops Peterson based on "Freedom from Fear" by Norman Rockwell. [8] [9]

Career statistics

Legend
  GPGames played  GS Games started MPG Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage 3P%  3-point field goal percentage FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game APG  Assists per game SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high

NBA

Source [5]

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1995–96 Boston 64623.0.441.300.6713.41.1.9.210.7
1996–97 Boston 726733.8.456.250.7524.61.81.0.215.0
1997–98 Denver 4436.3.393.6895.33.01.0.019.8
1998–99 Denver 38820.5.365.231.7992.11.0.7.27.3
1999–2000 Boston 681720.3.427.347.7932.31.4.6.27.2
2000–01 Boston 811121.5.362.331.7142.61.4.8.26.6
2001–02 Boston 743023.6.374.279.7313.01.51.0.16.4
2002–03 Boston 827928.7.442.336.7504.71.71.0.29.1
2003–04 Boston 21024.4.435.344.7164.51.21.0.011.6
2003–04 Cleveland 503627.5.366.253.7873.81.91.0.29.4
2004–05 New Jersey 212135.2.470.425.6854.52.0.8.112.6
2004–05 Toronto 341817.1.379.333.7172.31.5.6.14.7
2005–06 Toronto 281112.6.387.278.7371.8.5.3.13.3
2006–07 San Antonio 1605.5.441.471.571.9.4.1.02.6
2006–07 Charlotte 506.6.308.000.571.6.2.2.02.4
Career65830823.9.415.318.7363.31.4.8.28.6

Playoffs

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
2002 Boston 161630.4.500.467.7394.41.31.6.37.8
2003 Boston 11031.0.375.200.7943.21.7.9.09.6
Career271630.7.440.378.7723.91.51.3.28.5

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References

  1. "Eric Williams".
  2. Jim Byers. "Nostalgia for a basketball league that never was". The Star. November 11, 2005.
  3. NBA.com Press Release, June 21, 2006
  4. After being waived, Anderson re-signs with Bobcats, March 17, 2007
  5. 1 2 "Eric Williams NBA stats". Basketball Reference . Sports Reference. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  6. John, Caroline (31 July 2018). "Jennifer Williams' Wiki: Facts about the "Basketball Wives" Comeback Kid". Earthen Necklace. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  7. "Ex-NBA Player and 'Bball Wives' Star Eric Williams in 'The Caribbean Heist'". Archived from the original on 2013-08-04. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  8. Abbott, Kate (4 March 2015). "Maurice 'Pops' Peterson re-imagines Norman Rockwell scenes". Berkshire Eagle . Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  9. tb727 (24 August 2016). "What the Hell Happened to...Eric Williams". Celtics Life. Retrieved 21 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)