He was not on the list.
Ray Williams, the former New York Knicks guard who averaged 15.5 points and 5.8 assists in 10 seasons in the NBA, died Friday. He was 58.
The Knicks confirmed Williams' death, but didn't provide a cause. Coach Mike Woodson said he spoke to Williams' wife and brother to offer his condolences.
"It's a major loss. He's a part of our Knicks family," Woodson said in Toronto before the Knicks' victory over the Raptors. "Our organization has been fantastic through this. I tip my hat to the Knicks and the fact they stood in Ray's corner. He'll be missed. Ain't no doubt about that. He was well liked in the community."
Born in Mount Vernon on Oct. 14, 1954, Williams was drafted 10th overall by the Knicks in 1977. He averaged 16.4 points in five seasons in New York and went on to play for New Jersey, Kansas City, Boston, Atlanta and San Antonio.
Williams, averaged 18.9 points in two seasons at the University of Minnesota, where he teamed with Kevin McHale, Mychal Thompson and longtime NBA coach Flip Saunders.
"Ray was probably my favorite college teammate," McHale, now the coach of the Houston Rockets, said after his team's victory over Cleveland on Friday night. "I came in as a rookie and Ray took me under his wing. We played ball all the time. We were two guys that just loved to play.
"I went to the University of Minnesota the day after I graduated from high school. I went to Williams Arena and I went to work and the coach said everybody was going to play at like 3:30, or 4, after work. I got there early and Ray and I started playing 1-on-1. We ended up fouling the hell out of each other and we almost ended up in a fight my first day because I wouldn't give him game point. He kept on saying, "I got fouled," and I said, "No, you didn't." He and I played 1-on-1 and from that day on, we became really good friends."
McHale also teamed with Williams briefly with the Boston Celtics.
"I was a skinny little kid, man, and Ray was a big ol' kid from New York City," McHale said. "He would always tell me about New York City. I'd never been to New York City. I didn't know what it was.
"A couple of times, we played and some guys tried roughing me up. I'll never forget, Ray went up and grabbed one of these guys. Back then, they had jewelry and he grabbed the guy by his neck. Ray said he twisted it really hard and said, 'Before you mess with him, you've got to mess with me. And here's Ray, 6-3, and I'm 6-10. I said, 'Thank you, Ray." … I really liked Ray as a teammate. He was a teammate in Boston, too. Those days in Minnesota, 1976, going down there in the summer playing with him and stuff. We were 24-3 that year and Ray was our point guard and we just had a group of guys that played."
His notable teammates were: Butch Beard, Earl Monroe, Lonnie Shelton, Phil Jackson, Spencer Haywood, Bob McAdoo, Jim McMillan, Michael Ray Richardson, Jim Cleamons, Joe Meriweather, Marvin Webster, Ron Behagen, Bill Cartwright, Mike Glenn, Campy Russell, Buck Williams, Mike Gminski, Albert King, Otis Birdsong, Sam Lacey, Len Elmore, LaSalle Thompson, Eddie Johnson, Steve Johnson, Larry Drew, Bernard King, Darrell Walker, Danny Ainge, Robert Parish, Larry Bird, Scott Wedman, Dennis Johnson, Greg Kite, Cedric Maxwell, Rick Carlisle, Quinn Buckner, Antione Carr, Doc Rivers, Kevin Willis, Dominique Wilkins, Randy Wittman, Jon Koncak, Eddie Lee Johnson, Scott Hastings, Lorenzo Charles, Tree Rollins, Spud Webb, Artis Gilmore, Alvin Robertson, Tyrone Corbin, Wes Matthews, Mike Mitchell, David Greenwood, Darryl Dawkins, Pearl Washington and Ben Coleman
Some of his coaches were: Willis Reed, Red Holzman, Larry Brown, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Hubie Brown, K. C. Jones, Mike Fratello and Dave Wohl.
Career history
1977–1981 New York Knicks
1981–1982 New Jersey Nets
1982–1983 Kansas City Kings
1983–1984 New York Knicks
1985 Boston Celtics
1985 Atlanta Hawks
1986 San Antonio Spurs
1986–1987 New Jersey Nets
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