Pat Williams is Co-founder & senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic.
Pat has been an integral part of NBA history, not only bringing the NBA to Orlando but he has traded for Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and Penny Hardaway. He also drafted Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and many more.
He is one of America’s top motivational speakers and has addressed companies such as Coca-Cola, IBM, Nike, just to name a few. Pat is also the author of over 85 books, his most recent title: Coach Wooden’s Greatest Secret
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What will you learn in this interview?
-What is the writing process look like for Pat Williams after completing over 85 books?
-Who is Pat Williams’ favorite pitcher to catch?
-How did Pat Williams get started in the NBA?
-How did Jack Ramsey meet Pat Williams?
-How did Pat Williams start the NBA franchise and attract thousands of season ticket holders?
-What was the hardest part about the Orlando Magic’s first season?
-What are some of the lessons he imparts on big companies as a motivational speaker?
–What are the attributes of a winner?
-What inspired Pat Williams to stay productive?
-What is Pat Williams’ proudest achievement?
FUN FACT:
Pat and Ruth are the parents of 19 children, 14 of whom are adopted from four foreign countries. The Williams family roster reads as follows: Stephanie (40), Jim (38), Bobby (35), David (35), Peter (34), Brian (33), Karyn (33), Thomas (32), Stephen (32), Sarah (32), Daniella (31), Andrea (31), Richie (31), Sammy (30), Caroline (29), Michael (28), Gabriella (28), Katarina (27) and Alan (26). Four of the children are from Korea, four from the Philippines, two from Romania, and four from Brazil. Pat and Ruth also have 12 grandchildren: Laila, Brianna, Ava, Austin, Audri, Max, Anthony, Nola-Blair, Zachary, Olivia and twins Jack and Teddy.
An avid runner, Williams completed the Boston Marathon 13 times in the last 15 years. He has completed 58 marathons in the last 15 years.
Business Mentors, Tools, Books mentioned:
Coach Wooden’s Greatest Secret
How to be like Coach Wooden
Coach Wooden: The 7 Principles That Shaped His Life and Will Change Yours
Rolly Carpenter
Bob Carpenter
R.E Littlejohn
Rich DeVos
A little background about Pat Williams:
Pat Williams is a basketball Hall-of-Famer, currently serving as co-founder and senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic. As one of America’s top motivational speakers, he has addressed thousands of executives in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies and national associations to universities and nonprofits. Clients include AllState, American Express, Citrix, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Disney, Honeywell, IBM, ING, Lockheed Martin, Nike, Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Tyson Foods to name a few. Pat is also the author of over 80 books, his most recent title being The Difference You Make: Changing Your World Through the Impact of Your Influence.
Pat was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, earned his bachelor’s degree at Wake Forest University, and his master’s degree at Indiana University. He is a member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame after catching for the Deacon baseball team, including the 1962 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship team. He is also a member of six other hall of fames around the country.
Pat and his wife, Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four nations, ranging in age from 26 to 40. For one year, 16 of his children were all teenagers at the same time. Currently, Pat has 12 grandchildren and counting…with twins due in July. Pat and his family have been featured in Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, Good Housekeeping, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Focus on the Family as well as all of the major network and cable television news channels.
Since 1968, Pat has been in the NBA as general manager for teams in Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia—including the 1983 World Champion 76ers—and now the Orlando Magic, which he co-founded in 1987 and helped lead to the NBA finals in 1995 and 2009. In 1996, Pat was named as one of the 50 most influential people in NBA history by Beckett’s, a national publication. In 2012, Pat received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Pat has been an integral part of NBA history, including bringing the NBA to Orlando. He has traded Pete Maravich as well as traded for Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and Penny Hardaway. He has won four NBA draft lotteries, including back-to-back winners in 1992 and 1993. He also drafted Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney and Darryl Dawkins. He signed Billy Cunningham, Chuck Daly, and Matt Guokas to their first professional coaching contracts. Nineteen of his former players have become NBA head coaches, nine have become college head coaches while seven have become assistant NBA coaches.
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Thanks Pat for taking the time and sharing how you helped get the Orlando Magic off the ground and impacted the NBA in such a positive way over many years.