Mo Williams

Lore & Background

Williams was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers on August 13, 2008, in a three-team, six-player deal involving the Cavaliers, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Seattle SuperSonics. The trade sent Cleveland's Joe Smith and Milwaukee's Desmond Mason to Seattle, and sent Cleveland's Damon Jones and Seattle's Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin to Milwaukee. Upon his arrival, he changed his jersey number to #2 because his traditional #25 was already retired by former Cavalier Mark Price.

On February 10, 2009, Williams was chosen to replace forward Chris Bosh in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. On February 11, Williams scored a then-career-high 44 points to go along with 7 assists against the Phoenix Suns. During the 2008–09 season, Williams helped the Cavaliers reach a league-leading 66–16 record. The team went 39–2 at the Quicken Loans Arena.

After the departure of LeBron James, Williams became a very vocal member of the Cavaliers. On November 24, 2010, Williams made his first buzzer beater as a Cavalier, to win the game 83–81 over his former team, the Milwaukee Bucks. It was a 15-foot shot over Brandon Jennings as time expired. He scored a total of 25 points in the game and was the team's leading scorer. In the 2016 NBA Finals, he won his only NBA championship with the Cavaliers. He retired as a player in 2017.

Reader's Guide

Williams played for the Cavaliers from 2008 to 2011, then returned for a second stint from 2015 to 2017. He was an NBA All-Star in 2009 and won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016.

Did You Know?

• Williams was selected with the 47th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz.
• He scored a career-high 52 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 13, 2015.
• Williams earned NBA Player of the Week honors in both conferences during the 2014–15 season, though he was not the first player to do so.