‘Homicide’ Williams loses cancer battle
One of the NBL’S most colourful characters and passionate advocates for Australian basketball – Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams – has sadly lost his battle with bowel cancer.
Williams, a former MVP turned commentator, leaves behind an almighty legacy as an American who moved to Australia and made it his mission to promote hoops.
After playing for the Golden State Warriors during the 2007 NBA Summer League, the New York-born point guard relocated to Australia and signed with the now defunct Townsville Crocodiles.
Williams had three seasons with the Crocodiles, leading the club to the semi-finals in 2009 and 2010.
He was awarded the NBL’S
MVP in his third season in Townsville after averaging 18.6 points, 5 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
After being cut by Townsville, Williams joined the Melbourne Tigers for the 2010-11 season.
He played 114 NBL games across four seasons before hanging up the sneakers following stints in Lebanon and Puerto Rico.
Williams turned to commentating in 2015 and quickly developed a reputation for his brutal honesty and quick wit.
Never backwards in coming forward, the affable American wasn’t afraid to call out players or teams for poor form.
As much as the sprays seemed brutal, it was always a big and passionate heart that drove Williams’ message.
He cared deeply about the NBL – and Aussie hoops – and he was determined to spread the good word to anyone who cared to listen.
Those closest to Williams described him as a bolt of en
ergy – the type of friend that lights up your day through his toothy grin and enthusiasm for life.
He certainly gave everything he had to the sport of basketball, especially here in Australia. It’s a mentality he carried as a badge of honour when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year.
He recently posted a picture inside a hyperbaric chamber, as he did his best to fight stage four cancer.
“Whatever it takes. I’m doing it. WHATEVER IT TAKES,” Williams declared alongside the image.
Williams recently told the NBL in an emotional interview that he got his resilience from his late mother.
“My mother died of cancer too, six or seven years ago,” he said. “I saw cancer destroy her. That was the biggest bully I’ve ever seen. Destroy her. (She) was my hero.”
Williams, 46, also leaves us as a hero – a man who gave everything to put the NBL on the global basketball map.