In Portland, Buck Williams Has a Chance

As the years went by and the batterings became more common, Buck Williams would ignore the nagging external and massive internal wounds and do his best to make a bad situation good.

After each summer of healing and calm, he would convince himself that there was hope with the New Jersey Nets, and that perhaps the season at hand would be the one that would enable him to realize his dreams. He was realistic enough not to expect a championship, yet he wanted to be a part of a team that was at least competent.

He was most optimistic in October. That’s when the Nets had a perfect record. Williams would say something like, “Everyone puts five men on the floor and whoever has the hot hand and executes the offense and plays defense wins the ball game.”

And then the season would start and, again, Williams would discover that the only Johnson on his team was Frank, the only Michael was McGee and the only Bird was the one that seemed to enjoy flying over his car.

“I got to a point where I was sort of like women when they are being abused in a relationship,” Williams said. “They always feel that the situation is going to get better and it really doesn’t. That was my attitude. I always felt that my situation was going to get better. And it didn’t.”

But he still practiced his craft enthusiastically. He not only is the leading scorer and rebounder in Nets history, but he also played the most minutes and the most games. But outside of team accolades, he was seldom rewarded.

During his eight years in New Jersey, the Nets won exactly one playoff series while losing five. During the last three years, the Nets not only did not make the playoffs, but they also finished 109 games below .500.

Despite the staggering lack of success and the irritating little aches and pains that accompany life under the boards, Williams always came to play. In eight years, he missed only 21 games.

“I worked hard in New Jersey,” Williams said. “I never said die. I always gave it everything I had. It was just unfortunate that we couldn’t win more ball games.”

In June, however, Williams was removed from what had become a hopeless situation when he was traded from the Nets to the Portland Trail Blazers for Sam Bowie and a No. 1 draft choice, which the Nets used to select Mookie Blaylock.

The Blazers haven’t exactly been a powerhouse, but they have made the playoffs, where they have been chronic underachievers, for 12 of the last 13 years.

There was always something missing, however. They were criticized for lacking heart and character. They were a soft, finesse team. Their only power trait was their egos, which were so overwhelming that when Coach Mike Schuler tried to confront them last season the result was his dismissal. Schuler had a 127-84 record--a .600 winning percentage--but players were unhappy with the system and out of control.

It was obvious to upper level management that the Blazers were a team badly in need of direction, character, heart, strength, power and dignity--in short, a team badly in need of Buck Williams. It couldn’t have been a better fit.

“I wanted to change the chemistry and personality of the team,” said Blazers Coach Rick Adelman. “It was not good, and I think that was evident last year. What we wanted to do was bring in good people, and Buck Williams was the beginning of that.”

Good people. Good guy. That was Buck’s reputation. Whenever some writer from another part of the country felt compelled to do a story on the Nets, it was done on Buck. And the theme was always the same--great guy, bad situation.

“It got so bad that one guy said my ancestors had done something wrong years and years ago, and that’s why I was in New Jersey,” Williams said, laughing. “I was cursed.”

Now, however, Williams feels blessed. The Blazers acquired him without giving up a starter. They added him to their talented starting lineup of guards Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter, center Kevin Duckworth and forward Jerome Kersey. During the off-season, the Blazers also strengthened their bench by signing free-agent center Wayne Cooper and Yugoslavian guard Drazen Petrovic, one of the premier foreign players.

The Blazers believe that now they have the talent to challenge the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference. They believe, in fact, they have the talent to challenge for a championship. It’s a new feeling for Williams.

“I’m relieved that I’m a valuable part of a franchise that has a good opportunity to go out and make a lot of noise in the Pacific Division this year,” he said. “This new situation, hopefully, is going to bring a lot of success and a lot of fun. In the last two or three years, I haven’t had a lot of fun playing the game.”

Williams obviously is valuable in more ways than one. The Blazers would love for him to have an average year, which would mean 16.4 points and 11.9 rebounds. And while they love his ability to move two or three men out of the paint with one powerful forearm, he also is close friends with Drexler. There is no more charming and cooperative guy to talk to in the NBA than Drexler, but coaches, including Schuler, have complained that Drexler is self-centered and sometimes refuses to fit into a team concept.

Drexler was portrayed as the key player in Schuler’s dismissal, and it is evident that management wants Drexler--arguably the second best big guard in the league behind Michael Jordan--to be happy. When speaking of Williams’ attributes, Blazers vice presdent of basketball operations Bucky Buckwalter said, “He’s a good friend of Clyde’s, and that’s not all bad. I’m sure he’ll have a very positive influence.”

Drexler agreed. “He’s an animal underneath the boards,” Drexler said. “He brings a physical presence to this team. He brings strong rebounding night in and night out and a guy who can fill the lanes. He brings all that along with leadership. He’s just the kind of guy you like to have on your team.”