The Case For Buck Williams

Charles “Buck” Williams left it all on the line during his 17-year NBA career. 

His final season in 1997-98 was marred by injuries, forcing him to play a career-low 41 games. He played sparingly even when healthy, assuming a smaller role on a New York Knicks team with several younger stars playing in front of him. 

The former Maryland great called it quits just nine days before the start of the following season and just over a month before his 39th birthday. He didn’t ride off into the sunset like other NBA greats such as Bill Russell or David Robinson, winning a championship in their last seasons as a pro. In fact, Williams, 64, never won a championship despite making two NBA Finals appearances with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1990 and 1992. 

But even without a piece of jewelry decorated with stones on his right hand’s ring finger, the forward was confident he had accomplished enough in his basketball career to one day punch his ticket to Springfield, Massachusetts. 

“I've always exemplified a Hall of Fame mentality and career from day one,” Williams said. “The way I carried myself through my work ethic and the way my body of work turned out was representative of a Hall of Fame mentality. … Whether or not I become a Hall of Famer, I think my body of work deserves to be named a Hall of Famer. I think I lived a Hall of Famer career.”

However, after four full seasons passed after his retirement — a requirement before being eligible for enshrinement — Williams waited year after year with optimism that he would be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. That day has yet to come. Furthermore, it wasn't until recently that he was named a finalist for the hall. 

Despite being eligible for over two decades, Williams was finally named a finalist for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Feb. 14. He hopes to bury the burden that has weighed on him for many years when the honorees are announced at the NCAA Men’s Final Four on April 5. 

Albert King was Williams’ teammate from 1978-87. He spent three seasons with him on the Terps and continued to play alongside him for six seasons on the New Jersey Nets. King was even Williams’ roommate for a year in College Park. Although voters haven’t respected Williams’ greatness, his contemporaries have.   

“You ask any All-Star from that era, any Hall of Famer, and they're going to say they did not want to compete against Buck because they knew they would be in for a long night,” King said. “He was going to go at them every minute of the game. And was it rebounding? Was it scoring? Was it setting picks? Was it helping out teammates defensively? He was there to do it all. It all started when he first came into the league, and it kept going until he retired.”

Standing an unassuming — in comparison to the NBA’s all-time prolific rebounders — 6-foot-8, 215 pounds, Williams was known for his rebounding, durability, consistency and game-changing defensive presence during his NBA career. Although fans knew him for his slick nickname and trademark goggles, his overall impact on the respective teams he played for can’t be overstated. 

Williams, a native of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and an attendee of Rocky Mount High School, played in an era of Mount Rushmore-level NBA forwards. He competed for recognition with Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Karl Malone, Kevin McHale and Dominique Wilkins. 

Williams’ resume holds its own despite the talent he was stacked against. He’s a three-time NBA All-Star with an All-NBA Second Team selection. The defensive stopper was even named to four NBA All-Defensive teams. 

He averaged a double-double over his 17-year career, totaling more than 16,000 points and 13,000 rebounds. The latter is a feat that just 12 other players in history have accomplished. Every player who accumulated those career totals is a Hall of Famer, except Dwight Howard — also a 2025 finalist. Williams’ 13,017 rebounds rank as the 16th most all-time, and his 4,526 offensive rebounds are the third-most. Every player who recorded more rebounds is in the hall, including the top four below him who totaled less.

Hall of Fame head coach Larry Brown coached Williams on the Nets from 1981-83. He first became familiar with the Maryland product while assisting on the staff of the 1980 Olympic team. The United States boycotted that year’s Olympics in Moscow, but the basketball team instead went on a tour, where it matched up against NBA teams. This is where Brown observed Williams’ work ethic and the teammate he was, leading him to convince the Nets to draft him third overall in the 1981 NBA Draft. 

“Buck had an unbelievable work ethic,” Brown said. “He tried to rebound every ball made or missed on each end of the court. He may be as good a rebounder for his size I've ever been associated with. He was relentless. A lot of guys play hard, but when you talk about playing hard, that's Buck Williams. He competed at an unbelievably high level.”

Williams’ prime was with the Nets from 1981-89. He won Rookie of the Year and later left his mark as one of the best players in the franchise’s history. His No. 52 is retired by the Nets, and he’s the team’s all-time leader in rebounds (7,576), rebounds per game (11.9), free throws made (2,476), games played (635) and minutes played (23,100). 

The forward lifted the Nets to new heights in the ’80s, leading them to four straight winning seasons to begin his career in the Eastern Conference’s competitive Atlantic Division. His teams advanced out of the first round of the playoffs just once during his era, but he also played alongside just two teammates who garnered All-Star selections, doing so once each. 

“He was a leader of the team,” King said. “Coming in as a rookie, you could tell that he was going to be the leader of the team. A few of the years we had very good years. There might have been other years that didn't reflect that from a win and loss standpoint, but that shouldn't be held against him because he was always an All-Star caliber player and always put in the work.”

The year Williams led the Nets to the second round of the NBA Playoffs in 1984 was the franchise’s first time accomplishing the feat. In six of his eight years with the Nets, he was ranked among the top three rebounders in the league, never averaging less than twelve per game. 

“He was such a good teammate, he would almost embarrass you if you didn't play hard,” Brown said. “Not by saying anything, but because of the example he set. When one of your best players approaches practice, games, every possession like that, it means something. I don't know how people would look at it, but in today's game, Buck would probably average 15 rebounds a game and be as good a defender up front as anybody.” 

Williams was traded to the Blazers in 1989 and was the missing piece that turned them into contenders. Before his arrival, Portland had a losing record and had not passed the second round of the playoffs since its championship season in 1977. After trading for him, the Blazers made three straight Western Conference Finals and two NBA Finals appearances.

If the surface-level stats aren’t enough to send Williams to Springfield, advanced analytics make his case even more glaring. They are so eye-opening that they led Williams to reflect more deeply on his career in recent years. Findings by the Fordham Preparatory School sports analytics club in Bronx, New York, that were designed to help make his case for induction into the 2022 Hall of Fame class further submitted his mentality about his place in the Hall of Fame.

The club, part of a nationwide program with ties to the NBA, has previously helped launch other high-level athletes into respective halls. It compiled statistics for a 26-page portfolio, demonstrating how Williams ranked favorably among seven Hall of Fame players in five statistical categories, including defensive win shares. The comparisons included Walt Bellamy, Vlade Divac, Bob Lanier, Ralph Sampson, Jack Sikma, Nate Thurmond and Chris Webber.

The findings proved that Williams’ statistical record stacked favorably against the other greats. He currently ranks 48th all-time in win shares and 27th all-time in defensive win shares. 

 “All the former players have not liked analytics, but it's going to turn out that analytics played a part and shined a light on my career,” Williams said. “They are making people aware that, ‘Hey, this dude had a hell of a career and is quite deserving of being in the Hall of Fame.’”

Williams was never the flashy, high-flying athlete who consistently produced highlight-reel-worthy plays. However, he consistently impacted the game through his defensive prowess and innate and uncanny rebounding ability. 

Brown compared Williams to a star player on a football team’s offensive and defensive lines. He says a team can’t win without players like him, although others may not always appreciate their contributions.

“Buck's value is something that coaches and people who really understand the game would respect,” Brown said. “His teammates would understand his value and his importance. You don't win games without people like Buck Williams. Anybody with the good fortune of coaching him would understand that he made you and everybody around you better. You would hope people voting in the Hall of Fame understand that.”

While surface-level conclusions may lead one to believe Williams’ qualities as a player alone aren’t worthy of a Hall of Fame induction, voters are encouraged to factor in the standard they have set themselves. Compared to his counterparts — who are already enshrined — Williams has outproduced, outlasted and outvalued those considered worthy of their proclamation. 

Therefore, he shouldn’t just be considered for receiving the same honor. Voters shall do the right thing and punch Williams’ one-way ticket to Springfield. 

“I don't know why he's not in the Hall of Fame,” King said. “He has longevity, he has great statistics. If you look at how he played, started and ended, there was great development. He brought his game to another level. Everyone always said rebound, rebound, rebound. But he developed other things over time, other than just rebounding. It was scoring, it was passing, it was his defense.” 

Despite being overlooked year after year, Williams has maintained professionalism by remaining humble and patient. He even says that those before him who are Hall of Fame-worthy and have been waiting longer than him should be inducted ahead of him. However, he believes his mentality could harm his Hall of Fame case.  

“My high school coach always told me, let other people pat you on your back and not pat yourself,” Williams said. “When you're humble and have humility, sometimes you get overlooked. I always thought that my body of work spoke for itself. I think at the end of the day, that's what it's going to come down to if I'm fortunate enough to get in the Hall.”    

Williams starred for the Terps from 1978-81 under Hall of Fame head coach Lefty Driesell. He was a two-time All-ACC honoree, two-time ACC All-Tournament selection, an All-American and the ACC’s Rookie of the Year in 1979. He’s the program's fourth-leading rebounder in program history, as he led the conference in rebounding as a freshman and finished third and second as a sophomore and junior, respectively.  

He played on two NCAA Tournament teams in 1980 and 1981. The 1980 squad advanced to the Sweet 16 after winning the ACC regular-season title. The forward was later inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

Despite being frequently snubbed, Williams is hopeful to join his late Maryland head coach in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in April.   

“Coming through that tunnel at Cole Field House, all the fans and the students had this thing: don’t F with Buck,” Williams said. “It’s etched in my memory. I’ll go to my grave with that. Maryland is a very special place, and Coach Driesell kept nurturing the work ethic that my high school coach instilled in me. He really set me up on the road to success.”