Pat Williams, the basketball executive who brought the NBA’s Orlando Magic to Florida, died Wednesday at age 84, the team said in a statement.
The cause of death was reported to be complications from viral pneumonia.
The Magic story began when Williams, then general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, met Orlando businessman Jim Hewitt and later co-led the successful effort to bring an NBA expansion team to Orlando in 1987, with the team playing its inaugural season in 1989.
While the team is yet to win a title, they have reached the playoffs in 17 of their 35 seasons and have won the Eastern Conference twice, in 1995 and 2009.
Williams started in sports through baseball, first as a minor league catcher and then as an executive with the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins, before switching to basketball in 1968 when he moved to the Sixers.
Williams’ basketball career lasted more than four decades, the majority of which was spent as general manager and senior vice president of the Magic. During his tenure, he drafted Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard, traded for Penny Hardaway and signed Tracy McGrady. Williams received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2012 and was one of the inaugural members of the Magic Hall of Fame.
Williams retired in 2019. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, and 19 children, 14 of whom were adopted from overseas, Magic said.
