 Pat Williams is the Senior Executive Vice President of the Orlando Magic/RDV Sports, the National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise in Orlando , Florida . Williams is widely recognized throughout the sports world as a consummate promoter and astute talent scout. His zany antics and endless imagination have inspired the Magic's phenomenal success from their very first NBA season. While Williams enjoys a wide spread reputation in worldwide sporting circles, many consider him to be one of this country's premier motivational and humorous speakers. Williams has also authored a number of motivational books offering inspiration and wit. In his NBA career he has traded Pete Maravich, traded for Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Penny Hardaway, and won three NBA Draft lotteries, including back-to-back winners in 1992 and 1993. He also drafted Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Nick Anderson and Mike Dunleavy and signed Billy Cunningham, Chuck Daly, and Matt Guokas to their first professional coaching contracts. Twelve of his former players have become NBA Head Coaches and seventeen have become assistant coaches. Pat, a disciple of the late Bill Veeck, is considered to be one of pro sports' most zany and flamboyant promoters. One of Pat's books, Marketing Your Dreams, is a motivational book about Veeck. During his 40 years in sports, Pat has worked with and for George Steinbrenner, Lamar Hunt, Ted Turner and Rich DeVos. Pat is one of America 's top motivational, inspirational, and humorous speakers, and has addressed employees from most of the Fortune 500 companies and the Million Dollar Round Table. Pat is the author of 28 books, the most recent being Play 2 Win: Strategies for Success in the Game of Life (Boy's and Girl's editions). His new book, How to Be Like Women of Influence will be published in September 2003. Pat and his wife Ruth are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four nations, ranging in age from 16 to 30. Pat and his family have been featured in Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, The Wall Street Journal, Focus on the Family, New Man Magazine, plus all of the major television networks, The Maury Povich Show and Dr. Robert Schuller's Hour of Power.
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