FORMER PBA import Rob Williams passed away on Monday in Houston (Tuesday, Manila time) due to congestive heart failure, according to a report by the Houston Chronicle. He was 52.
“There's a lot of hurt,” Rob Williams’ brother Ed told the Houston Chronicle’s Joseph Duarte.
“There's a lot of pain, but there's consolation in knowing Rob is in a real peaceful place. There is no suffering now. I know he's with God right now.”
Williams suited up for University of Houston from 1979 to 1982 and had short stints in the NBA.
But Williams will be best remembered by Filipino basketball fans as the import who led Tanduay to its first-ever PBA championship in the 1986 Reinforced Conference when he teamed up with import Andre McCoy to beat Great Taste Coffee in six games.
Williams, best known for his wicked crossover move and his pinpoint outside shooting, won the Best Import award in that same Reinforced Conference.
Ramon Fernandez, who won the MVP that year, was also part of that 1986 Tanduay team along with Freddie Hubalde, JB Yango, and Padim Israel among others.
Williams returned to Tanduay the following conference but the Rhum Makers fell short of a Grand Slam, missing the finals of the Open Conference.
Ely Capacio, who was also part of the Tanduay squad that year, also recently passed away due to a massive stroke.
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