UP CLOSE: Buck Williams on Charles Barkley (1992)

Williams played seven seasons with the Blazers, from 1989-96. He still cherishes his time in Rip City.
“There are only a few instances when something happens to you and it turns out to be one of the greatest experiences of your life,” he says. “I had that opportunity in Portland. Playing with Clyde, Terry, Jerome,Duck - all those dudes. And Rick Adelman … I loved playing for Rick. I loved his coaching style. He had the whole package. He was such a great people person. He is the only coach I had who was an expert at gauging the pulse of the team. He was a great offensive mind and knew every player was different. He treated everybody accordingly. He understood what made each player go.”
He provided intangibles that don’t show up on the stat sheet. He radiated a strength of character that gave his teammates confidence. What a difference he made when he joined the Blazers in 1989. Though undersized at 6-8 and 225, he muscled up to the great power forwards of the era. There was no back-down in his repertoire. His battles with Karl Malone in the trenches were legendary. He combined with the likes of Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey and Kevin Duckworth to form the most formidable starting five in the Western Conference for three straight seasons.
Williams was tough, smart, a quiet leader who punched the ticket every night- well-respected by his teammates and adversaries alike. Buck, in fact, served a 3 1/2-year term as president of The NBA Players Association, dealing with collective-bargaining agreement negotiations and many other issues on behalf of the league’s player base.