A Quick Start For The Hot Rod

As John (Hot Rod) Williams, all 6'11" of him, strode toward a watercooler during a Cleveland Cavaliers practice, he heard a voice from behind. "Look at ol' big-long-tall-cool-slim," said guard Dirk Minniefield. "He's already got the coolest walk in the league."

Minniefield's good-natured needling of a shy rookie got some laughs, but rather than Williams's usual gold-filled smile, it elicited a slight grimace. "Now, don't do me like that," he said, looking around to see who was within earshot.

These are cautious, self-conscious days for Williams. He missed last season in the NBA because of charges that he had shaved points in college games at Tulane, charges that could have landed him in prison. Now Williams needs a slick image about as much as he needs to hear a fan yell, "Hey, Hot Rod, what's the line?"

For that matter, the nickname doesn't help much. Few know that the woman who raised Hot Rod hung the monicker on him because of the enginelike noises he made as a toddler. "Hot Rod...that name's kind of too bad, because that's not his character," says Brad Daugherty, his closest friend on the Cavaliers.

But wait a minute. Williams has to go back only a few months to remember when he had a real image problem. With just a few minor annoyances, he is currently living the life he was dreaming about when he was learning basketball on a dirt court in rural Sorrento, La. He is playing basketball with the best players in the world and proving that he belongs.

"John is a complete player with a great feel for the game," says Cavalier coach Lenny Wilkens. "He knows how to fill up a box score." On Saturday, in the Cavs' season opener against Washington, Hot Rod came roaring off the line with his tires smoking, scoring 22 points and pulling down seven rebounds in a 113-106 win. The next night, in a 94-89 loss to Chicago, Williams had 13 points, with eight rebounds and two blocked shots. He also received rousing ovations from the hometown crowd during the players' introductions. "It felt good to hear the people," Williams said, "but the fans in Cleveland have been good to me from the start."

Cleveland drafted the 25-year-old Williams as the 45th player chosen last year. If the Cavs had not taken a chance on him, it's likely that he would have been among the first 10 players picked in this year's draft. His acquisition was a management coup every bit as impressive as the Dallas Cowboys' drafting of Herschel Walker. Williams's modest contract for $675,000 over three years was approved by the NBA after a New Orleans jury acquitted him of two counts of sports bribery and three counts of conspiracy to commit sports bribery on June 16. The acquittal also set off a chain reaction of personnel moves in Cleveland.

When Williams was cleared for play, the Cavs were just coming off a chaotic 23-59 season in which the team completely dissipated whatever momentum it had gained by making the playoffs the year before. In short order the tempestuous pair of coach George Karl and general manager Harry Weltman departed, and in their places came Wilkens and general manager Wayne Embry.

"Our goal is not to make the playoffs," says Embry, who helped mold a successful tradition in Milwaukee. "Our goal is to win the world championship. The first step is to build the stability that will make us a perennial contender."

Translation: Clean house. The acquisition of Williams gave Cleveland the confidence to trade former franchise cornerstone Roy Hinson to Philadelphia for the right to the No. 1 pick, the 7-foot North Carolina senior, Daugherty. Before long, Lonnie Shelton and Edgar Jones were gone. Still unsigned, and not playing, are Phil Hubbard and World B. Free, who is slated for sixth-man shooting duty a la Fred Brown of Wilkens's 1978-79 championship team in Seattle.