50 Sports Greats Who Died In 2025: NBA Champion Gus Williams Died At 71

On January 15, former NBA Champion Gus Williams died from complications of a stroke.

Williams, 71, suffered a stroke back in February 2020. After his stroke, he needed long-term assisted care.

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San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson shared his condolences to Williams and provided insight into the type of person he was. “He was one of my dad’s closest teammates and didn’t have any kids of his own, so he would check on me quite a bit,” Johnson said.

Williams played college basketball at the University of Southern California. In his four seasons, he was named to the All-Pac-8 First Team twice and served as the team captain in his senior year.

Williams entered the 1975 NBA Draft and was selected in the second round by the Golden State Warriors.

After two seasons with the Warriors, he left the team in free agency to sign with the Seattle SuperSonics. In Seattle, Williams’ career took off.

He was a starter for the 1979 championship team, was a two-time All-Star, and a two-time All-NBA selection. He also won the NBA Comeback Player of the Year award in 1982.

In 1987, Williams retired after an 11-year career.

Williams had his No. 1 jersey retired by Seattle in 2004, and in 2012, his No. 10 jersey was retired by USC.