Williams’ Condition Is Stable : Basketball: Sources say Orlando Magic player from Santa Monica has been tested for heart problem.

Brian Williams, a 1991 first-round pick of the Orlando Magic, was in stable condition Wednesday night at South Bay Medical Center and Hospital in Redondo Beach after collapsing during a summer league basketball game.

Williams, a star at Santa Monica St. Monica High before going to the University of Arizona, is undergoing a series of tests to determine why he collapsed during a Southern California Summer Pro Basketball game on Tuesday. The family has thrown a blanket of secrecy around him and is not allowing any information to be released about his diagnosis or condition.

However, a source close to the family told the Times that the focal point of the testing is his heart. The Orlando Sentinel, in today’s editions, quoted an unnamed source as saying the diagnosis was an irregular heartbeat. Wednesday evening, Williams was moved to the floor on which the cardiac care unit is located. Williams’ condition is not currently thought to be life threatening.

“The kid is going to be fine,” said Joe Weakley, coach of the NBA Pros, the team Williams was playing for when he collapsed. “One of the first things he said this morning was, ‘I didn’t want to be another Hank Gathers.’ It was scary, but now everyone is relieved.”

Don Sellers, an assistant director of the summer league said: “I was at the game that Hank Gathers went down and . . . Tuesday night was just like that revisited.”

Gathers, a Loyola Marymount basketball star, collapsed during a West Coast Conference tournament game March 4, 1990, and was pronounced dead about 90 minutes later at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital. Gathers’ cause of death was listed as cardiomyopathy, a heart disorder.

Claud Mills, the father of Arizona player Chris Mills, watched Williams collapse. “When he ran down the court, he just ran up on the goal and kind of leaned over on the padding and then he went to the floor. . . . I saw him clutch his heart and he was really shaking before he fell.”

Weakley said he jumped off the bench and called a timeout. Weakley and Williams’ mother, Patricia Philips, attended to Williams until the paramedics arrived.

“As far as I know he was alert when the paramedics arrived,” Weakley said. “He was talking at the hospital.”

Williams, the 10th pick in the 1991 draft, had a difficult first year with the Magic. He signed late and had trouble learning the system. Midway through the season he started to play better but was sidelined because of a broken thumb. He finished the season strong despite starting only a few games. Williams, who is 6 feet 11 and 250 pounds, averaged 9.1 points and 5.7 rebounds last season.

Williams has been busy during the off-season. He spent part of his time riding a bicycle from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas. He later flew to France and watched parts of the Tour de France, where he rode his bicycle over many of the same locations.

He then participated in the Running of the Bulls during the Fiesta of San Fermin at Pamplona, Spain.

About a month ago, Williams showed up at the Magic’s free-agent, summer league camp out of shape.

“He is not in real good shape right now,” Magic assistant coach Brian Hill told the Orlando Sentinel. “He’s got a lot of work to do the rest of the summer. . . . Right now, he needs all the work he can get.”

Some of the people who deal with Williams in Orlando have branded him as slightly eccentric.

One of Williams’ former youth coaches said: “Brian has a lot of other interests that other players don’t have. Part of him never really liked basketball all that much.

Since he was big and tall he went along with being pushed into something he didn’t really like doing.”

Williams is popular with his summer league teammates. When the NBA Pros, which has players such as Cedric Ceballos, John Williams, Tracy Murray, Lester Conner and Derrick Martin, broke their pregame huddle Wednesday night, they all shouted “BW.”

It was their way of wishing Williams a speedy recovery.

A hospital spokeswoman said an announcement about Williams’ condition could come today, although nothing formal has been scheduled.