Kim Williams (basketball)

Kim Williams

Personal information
Born	(1974-10-14) October 14, 1974 Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Listed weight	136 lb (62 kg)
Career information
High school	John Marshall (Chicago, Illinois)
College	Arkansas–Fort Smith (1993–1995) DePaul (1995–1997)
WNBA draft	1997: 4th round, 28th overall pick
Selected by the Utah Starzz
Playing career	1997–2014
Position	Guard
Career history
1997–1998	Utah Starzz
1998–1999	Sporting
1999–2000	Holon
2000–2001	Fiskobirlik
2004–2005	Chicago Blaze
2004–2006	Erdemirspor
2006–2007	Cukierki Odra Brzeg
2007–2008	Megas Alexandros
2008–2009	Paghiakos
2009–2011	Dnipro
2012–2014	Dynamo Kyiv
Career highlights and awards
Third-team All-American – AP (1997) CUSA Player of the Year (1997) First-team All-CUSA (1997)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Stats at Basketball Reference

Kimberly Williams (born October 14, 1974) is a former professional basketball player who played two seasons for the Utah Starzz of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Early life and college career

Born and raised in South Side, Chicago, Williams graduated from Marshall High School in 1993 and was Illinois "Ms. Basketball" as a senior.

She helped guide the Westark Community College (now University of Arkansas-Fort Smith) to back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship. The team were national runners-up in 1994 and won the national championship in 1995, going 67–2 cumulatively in Williams' two seasons. She was the first women's basketball player from Arkansas-Fort Smith to be drafted in the WNBA.

Williams transferred to DePaul University, where she played from 1995 to 1997. As a senior at DePaul in 1996–97, Williams was Conference USA Player of the Year after scoring 25.1 points per game, second highest nationally, and leading C-USA in assists (5.6 apg) and steals (4.52 spg).

Professional career

Drafted in the fourth round (28th overall) by the Utah Starzz in the 1997 WNBA draft, Williams played her debut game on June 21, 1997 in a 61 - 73 loss to the Sacramento Monarchs and recorded 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal. Williams played 58 games in her first two seasons (both with Utah), and averaged 7.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.

WNBA Comeback Attempts

After her sophomore season in 1998, Williams never played in the WNBA again, but she did sign multiple contracts amongst different teams from 1999 - 2002. On April 6, 1999, the Minnesota Lynx selected Williams third overall in the 1999 WNBA expansion draft, but Williams was waived two months later on June 8 and never played for the Lynx.

After not being signed by any team and missing the 2000 season entirely, she was signed by the Cleveland Rockers on April 30, 2001. However she was waived a week later on May 8 and went on to miss the entire 2001 season as well.

On April 30, 2002, Williams signed a contract with the Los Angeles Sparks but was waived two weeks later before the season started on May 13. And once again, she was not signed by another team and missed the entire 2002 season. After 2002, she did not attempt a WNBA comeback again. And thus, her final WNBA game ever was played on August 17, 1998 in a 64 - 75 loss to the Phoenix Mercury where she recorded 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal on 11% FG shooting (1-11 FG).

Career in Other Leagues

Following the 1998 WNBA season, Williams played overseas, beginning with Sporting in Greece from 1998 to 1999, followed by Holon in Israel from 1999 to 2000 and Fiskobirlik in Turkey from 2000 to 2001.

In 2004, Williams returned to the United States with the Chicago Blaze of the National Women's Basketball League, playing two seasons.

Williams played in Europe and Israel from 2004 to 2014, most recently with Dynamo Kyiv from 2012 to 2014. Williams left Ukraine as military conflicts between Russia and Ukraine began.

Williams signed with the Chicago Lady Steam of the Women's American Basketball Association in 2014. She returned to DePaul University later that year to finish her bachelor's degree.

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

WNBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1997	Utah	28	10	21.7	38.4	26.5	77.4	2.9	2.1	1.4	0.3	2.0	8.1
1998	Utah	30	10	18.1	40.8	32.1	73.5	1.9	1.5	1.4	0.2	2.2	7.6
Career	2 years, 1 team	58	20	19.8	39.6	29.0	75.5	2.4	1.8	1.4	0.2	2.1	7.8

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1995–96	DePaul	27	-	-	46.4	37.5	71.8	3.3	5.8	3.8	0.1	-	17.6
1996–97	DePaul	29	-	-	41.1	34.9	70.0	4.0	5.6	4.5	0.3	-	25.1
Career		56	-	-	43.1	35.1	70.9	3.6	5.7	4.2	0.2	-	21.5
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.

Honors and awards

College

• 2x first team NJCAA All-American
• MVP of NCJAA national tournament as a sophomore
• Conference USA Player of the Year
• Third team Associated Press All-American
• Kodak/WBCA All-District honors
• First team All-Conference USA honors
• Second team All-Conference USA honors.
• University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Athletic Hall of Fame
• Lions Athletic Hall of Fame