So, the name Scott Williams came up the other day. Talking Bulls, the glory years, you know. And someone mentioned him, and I just nodded along. Yeah, Scott Williams, the big guy off the bench during the first three-peat. That was kinda my whole memory of him. Just… there.
But it stuck in my head afterwards. Like, was that it? Just a seat filler on maybe the greatest team ever? Seemed kinda thin. So, I decided, okay, let’s actually figure this out. What was his deal? This wasn’t gonna be some quick search, I figured. You gotta actually watch, remember?
Digging In
First thing, I tried pulling up some old game highlights. Man, finding good quality footage from the early 90s focusing on bench players? Forget about it. Everything’s Jordan, Pippen, maybe Grant or Cartwright. Williams? You catch glimpses. A rebound here, a putback there.
So, highlights weren’t cutting it. I started digging through old box scores next. Game by game, series by series. Took a while, clicking through those clunky archive sites. And yeah, the numbers weren’t huge. Points, rebounds… decent for backup minutes, I guess. But numbers don’t tell you the whole story, do they? Never do.
- Tried remembering specific games. The Knicks series? Pistons? He definitely played.
- Looked for old articles, forum posts maybe? Lotta noise, not much signal. Everyone remembers the stars.
It was kinda frustrating, honestly. You know he contributed, the team won three straight championships, he got minutes. But pinning down exactly what made him valuable beyond just ‘big body’ took some real effort.
What I Found Out (or Remembered)
Okay, after patching together memories, grainy clips, and those dry stats, a clearer picture started showing up. Williams wasn’t just a body. He brought some serious energy off that bench. Hustle plays, offensive rebounds. Stuff that doesn’t always pop in the box score but drives the other team crazy.
Think about this: He came in undrafted. Undrafted! And stuck with the Bulls, earning minutes during a championship run. That tells you something right there. Phil Jackson didn’t suffer fools gladly. You had to bring something to the table.
He seemed to play bigger than he was sometimes. Wasn’t scared to bang inside. When Cartwright or Perdue got into foul trouble, or Horace Grant needed a breather, Williams had to step in and hold the fort. And he often did. He wasn’t gonna dominate, but he’d fight. He knew his role, played hard. You need guys like that.
So Yeah…
Going through that whole process, forcing myself to look beyond the easy memories and the star players? It changed how I think about that Bulls team a little. It wasn’t just Jordan and Pippen carrying everyone. Guys like Scott Williams played their part. They did the less glamorous work, filled crucial gaps.
It’s easy to just remember the headlines. But digging back, even if it’s a pain finding the right info or clear footage, shows you the other guys. The grinders. Williams was one of them. Definitely more than just ‘the backup guy’. Glad I took the time to actually look.
