Former Cleveland Cavalier John 'Hot Rod' Williams fighting for his life in duel with cancerBy Terry Pluto
The Plain Dealer
December 09, 2015
John "Hot Rod" Williams, Brad Daugherty, and Larry Nance
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- I had a message to call Mark Bartelstein.
I first met Bartelstein in 1985. He was a young agent who was representing John "Hot Rod" Williams, drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Williams was falsely implicated in a point-shaving scandal at Tulane.
"I have some bad news," Bartelstein said Tuesday night.
"Hot Rod," I said.
"Cancer," said Bartelstein. "It's bad. Real bad."
Williams is in the intensive care unit of a hospital in the Baton Rouge area. He grew up in nearby Sorrento, La. He always went home after the NBA season.
Williams had a construction business in Sorrento. He loved to build things even while with the Cavs (1986-95). He worked on his own dream house in Sorrento, then helped build one for his stepmother -- Barbara Colar. They lived on the same street.
After retiring, Williams owned a construction company. He coached little league and other youth sports in Sorrento.
"He is loved in the community," said Bartelstein.
Bartelstein said they thought the health problems started for Williams about six months ago with prostate cancer. But then it spread and spread.
He's 53 and fighting for his life.
"His family is with him," said Bartelstein, his voice breaking. "It's a very serious situation."
A CAVALIER AT HEART
"John loved playing in Cleveland," said Bartelstein. "He played a few years after leaving the Cavs, but he always thought of himself as a Cavalier."
Bartelstein began talking about the Cavs from that era...
Mark Price... Brad Daugherty... Larry Nance... Craig Ehlo... Ron Harper.
"John loves those guys," said Bartelstein. "They were such an outstanding team."
They were led by Lenny Wilkens, always called "Coach Lenny" by Williams.
Those Cavs had superb floor spacing and excellent ball movement. Wilkens was the master of inbounds plays for quick scores.
Those Cavaliers were classy and very earth-bound. They didn't have "guys" who traveled with them and took care of them, as is common in the modern NBA.
Nance and Williams liked to work on cars. Ehlo sometimes played in summer pickup games on outdoor courts near Akron. Daugherty loved NASCAR. Nance was a fanatic about drag racing. Price spoke at churches about his faith and he had an excellent singing voice.
Hot Rod was always a strange nickname for Williams. It came from his stepmother, who was amused by all the engine sounds made by a young Williams when playing on the floor with toy cars.
Former General Manager Wayne Embry was criticized for having a team with "too many nice guys." This was during the "Bad Boys" Era in Detroit.
I'll simply say that I loved those teams. In a 2011 interview, Williams fondly recalled his time with the Cavs.
In the end, they couldn't get past Jordan and the Bulls. Then again, not much of anyone beat the Bulls during Jordan's prime.
WHAM WITH THE RIGHT HAND
I covered those teams for the Akron Beacon Journal. As Bartelstein spoke, I closed my eyes and saw the old Richfield Coliseum. I could hear Howie Chizek on the P.A. bellowing: "Mark Price... for ... THA...REE."
And I could hear Joe Tait saying this on the radio, "Hot Rod ... WHAM WITH THE RIGHT HAND!"
When I wrote "It's Been a Real Ball" with Tait, I discovered that Williams was the player who inspired him to first say, "Wham with the right hand!"
Tait didn't know exactly why he first came up with that phrase for Williams, but he did.
"John loved to talk about all those great battles between the Cavs and Bulls with Michael (Jordan)," said Bartelstein.
The 6-foot-11 Williams was a completely unselfish player on the court. He loved to defend, block shots and set picks. In his nine seasons, he averaged 13 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Cavs, shooting 48 percent. He could play any spot in the frontcourt.
Wilkins often used Williams as a sixth man, journeymen such as Mike Sanders and Winston Bennett starting in front of him. He liked an impact player coming off the bench.
Williams never complained. He had too much respect for "Coach Lenny." He also knew that he'd be on the court in the fourth quarter.
LIFE CHANGING TRIAL
Former Cavs General Manager Harry Weltman gambled by picking Williams in the second round of the 1985 draft, knowing Williams would be tied up in court for at least a year because of the Tulane point shaving scandal.
Bartelstein negotiated a $125,000 personal service contract so that Williams could support his family. Bartelstein then hired Michael Greene, a top Chicago attorney, to represent Williams. One meeting with Williams convinced Greene of the player's innocence.
Greene often told this story to the media: "(Williams) spoke slowly and explained things. At the end, he had tears in his eyes. He said, 'Mister, please help me. I didn't do anything wrong.' I said, 'You got a lawyer.'"
I wrote several stories about his case, and soon became convinced that Williams was set up by others.
He was being paid $100 a week by boosters. He was given $10,000 in a shoe box to attend Tulane while still in high school.
He gave the money to his stepmother, who actually was a woman in the neighborhood. She adopted Williams after his father walked out when he was young. His mother died not long after he was born.
The first round in court ended in a mistrial because the prosecution failed to turn over some evidence to the defense. The second trial was an acquittal, the jury coming to the verdict in less than an hour.
That gave Williams the start of an NBA career, and it launched Bartelstein into the agent business.
THE BIG CONTRACT
Williams was a restricted free agent in the summer of 1990. Bartelstein was in a contract standoff with the Cavs.
That's when he convinced Miami to give Williams a seven-year, $26.5 million offer sheet. Doesn't sound that expensive today.
But the first year of that deal was worth $5 million to Williams -- making him the highest-paid player in team sports for 1990-91. He would make $1 million more than Jordan.
In a 12-month period, Williams was to be paid $9 million as the contract was heavily front-loaded with huge payments.
The Cavs matched the contract.
That made Williams wealthy. It launched Bartelstein and his Priority Sports Agency into national prominence. His company represents several hundred clients in the NFL, NBA and playing basketball in Europe. With the current Cavs, he represents Coach David Blatt, assistant coach James Posey and Joe Harris.
"I can never explain all that John has meant to me," said Bartelstein. "And I know that he wants the Cavs fans to know all that they meant to him."
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