Goodbye to Hot Rod Williams

It seems like I've been doing too many of these lately,but another player has passed as former Cavalier John "Hot Rod" Williams passed away at the age of 53.
Williams passed away from complications of prostate cancer.
I just heard a few days ago that Hot Rod wasn't doing well,but the passing still came as a shock,considering that it hadn't even escaped the inbox yet.

I felt a special affinity for the players of those late 80's-early 90's Cavaliers.
I became a Cavalier fan with the players of the Miracle of Richfield years,but the Cavaliers were mostly awful in my youth,which covered the Ted Stepien owned years and with the exception of one crazy year,Cleveland usually was not in the playoffs and rarely even had exciting players.
Other than World B.Free and Mike Mitchell,those lean years were pretty dreary for Cavalier fans until that bunch all came in in the same year-Hot Rod,Mark Price,Ron Harper and Brad Daugherty.
Larry Nance was added later and those players were the core of the team that might have won a title,if not for the misfortune of battling Michael Jordan.
Those Cavaliers tended to play Jordan's Bulls evenly,until general manager Wayne Embry got mad at a pre-knee injury Ron Harper and traded him for Danny Ferry.
When the dynamic Harper left,the Cavaliers lacked anyone to really make Jordan work on the defensive end,saving his legs a bit and that might have made the small difference in those tight games.

Hot Rod wasn't part of the 1986 draft class with Harper,Daugherty and Price,he was drafted in the second round of the 1985 draft from Tulane even though he was clearly a first round talent.
I first heard of Williams as part of a one man team in the old Metro conference battling Louisville and Memphis State.
I was a big Tiger fan and Williams battles against Keith Lee allowed a undermanned Tulane team to hang tough against more talented teams.
Williams was caught in the Tulane point shaving scandal and wasn't allowed to play in the NBA until that was cleared up.
Cleveland signed Williams to a personal services contract to allow Williams to pay the bills while the court case went forward.
When Williams was acquitted of the charges,he was allowed to join the Cavaliers for the 86-87 season and the rebuilding began.

Hot Rod Williams was the type of player that successful teams need-a versatile player that could score,block shots and rebound,but didn't need to be the focal point of the offense.
Able to run the floor and having the ability to play and just as importantly defend any position in the frontcourt,Williams would have started on many teams,but was unselfish enough to come off the bench.
When the game was on the line,Williams was on the floor,which was far more important than starting.

Those Cavaliers were filled with good players and nice guys and some thought it was that the Cavaliers were too nice to get by the Bulls.
I often wonder if I'd trade that group of guys for an NBA title back then and of course I'd have to consider it,but I'm not sure if I would.
That team and those guys deserved it,but being good people are more than a little more important.

Rest well, Hot Rod....