By Jim Denney

I always thought that Pat and I would have another book to write.

I have been writing books with Pat Williams since 1994. That’s a 30-year writing partnership. Our first book (pictured) was Go For the Magic, a motivational leadership book. I’ve lost count of the books we’ve written since then. They include books on leadership (Leadership Excellence, 2012), faith (How to Be Like Jesus, 2003),  character (Character Carved in Stone, 2019), biography (Coach Wooden, 2011), his successful battle with cancer (The Mission is Remission, 2014), and the leadership secrets of Walt Disney (How to Be Like Walt, 2004, and Lead Like Walt, 2019).

Pat began his sports career as a minor league baseball player, and later moved into baseball management. In the late 1960s, Pat moved to the NBA, where he served as general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Chicago Bulls, the Atlanta Hawks, and finally the co-founder and senior vice president of the Orlando Magic.

In 1983, Pat was general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers when the team won an NBA championship. As the co-founder of the Orlando Magic, he drafted the legendary Shaquille O’Neal into the NBA in 1992.

Pat is the father of 19 grown children—4 birth children, one by remarriage, and the rest by international adoption.

Pat Williams was the most infectiously positive person I’ve ever known. A man of great faith and a great love for people, he was always ready to share his faith in Jesus with anyone he met. A wellspring of ideas, limitless vision, and incredible energy, he was truly the Walt Disney of the sports world.

I’m going to miss his phone calls: “Jimbo? This is your friend in Orlando! How’re ya doing, big fella? I’ve got a great idea for a new book! Tell me what you think of this, coach . . . !”

Pat died of complications from viral pneumonia, just 84 years young. The last time I spoke with him, not long before he was hospitalized, he was telling me all about our next book.

That’s how he lived his life—brimming with faith, optimism, and enthusiasm, always dreaming new visions, always leaning into tomorrow and making the future happen.