Philippine basketball

PBA great Kelly Williams retires from basketball

Delfin Dioquino

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PBA great Kelly Williams retires from basketball

Kelly Williams. Photo from PBA Images

Kelly Williams retires as a member of the 40 Greatest PBA Players, having won an MVP award and 6 championships

Kelly Williams has drawn the curtains on his colorful basketball career, the PBA great announced on Monday, September 7.

The TNT KaTropa big man was supposed to see action in his 14th PBA season this year, but the league has halted the Philippine Cup since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s with gladness and sadness that I announce my retirement from basketball,” Williams wrote on his social media accounts. “I couldn’t have predicted that I’d have the kind of career I was able to experience.”

Williams started his career in the local scene with the national team under coach Chot Reyes, wowing Filipino fans with his athleticism and gravity-defying dunks.

A couple of years later, Williams emerged as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 PBA Draft by the Sta Lucia Realtors, which he helped lead to a championship in 2008.

In 2010, Sta Lucia traded the 6-foot-6 stalwart to TNT, the franchise Williams won his 5 other PBA titles with.

“Thank you Philippines for giving me solid ground to grow both as a player and a man for the last 15 years,” Williams said. “I gave my all when I put Pilipinas and my teams on my chest and I hope you felt that.”

Aside from clinching an MVP award, 3 Mythical First Team and 4 Mythical Second Team selections, and 2 Slam Dunk crowns, Williams also captured two Comeback Player of the Year plums.

Thrombocytopenic purpura, a rare blood disorder, derailed Williams in several parts of his career over the last decade, but he managed to return healthy and play in the PBA.

Williams retires as a member of the 40 Greatest PBA players.

“I turn the final page of this chapter and I fear not. I did the best I could with what I had, now I can lay my career to rest with peace in my heart. Now I can be nearer to my sons.”

“The Machine Gun signing off.” – Rappler.com

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Delfin Dioquino

Delfin Dioquino dreamt of being a PBA player, but he did not have the skills to make it. So he pursued the next best thing to being an athlete – to write about them. He took up journalism at the University of Santo Tomas and joined Rappler as soon as he graduated in 2017.