As Pat Williams wrote in his franchise-founding memoir Making Magic, the first time he came to Orlando was for a sports expo when he met up with an acquaintance from another conference a year earlier. That gave him the gateway and the keys to Orlando.
Businessman Jimmy Hewitt was overeager to share his community with the Philadelphia 76ers general manager who was quietly looking for a new challenge. The league was considering expansion and all signs were pointing to planting the flag in Florida.
As Pat Williams was driven back to the airport by Jimmy Hewitt and John Tolson, a pastor at the First Presbyterian Church and Williams' old friend, Williams asked if they thought basketball would work in Florida. When both agreed that it would. Williams asked where the team should go: Tampa or Miami?
Thus began the pitch for Orlando to be the home of a major sports franchise. The two Central Florida locals believed in Orlando and they had to pitch it to the ultimate salesman.
There was no downtown skyscrapers yet in Orlando. The city was merely a stop for those going to Disney. The idea that this would be a major sports town seemed impossible. Orlando simply had not grown enough to be considered among the metropolises worthy of a sports franchise.
Hewitt was not one to let go. And Williams was not one to pass on a challenge.
At his heart, Williams is a salesman and a believer. He is someone who could sell anything to anyone. And when he agreed to be the frontman to bring the NBA to Central Florida, he was all in.
Williams probably could not imagine the Magic becoming what they became. The NBA title might have eluded the Magic during his tenure as general manager and in the nearly two decades after he left a formal role with the franchise he founded. But Orlando made it.
That is how Williams will leave the Magic. His vision fulfilled. A dream realized.
Williams passed away Wednesday night at 84 years old from complications from a viral pneumonia. He passed surrounded by family.
"Pat Williams simply brought magic to Orlando," Orlando Magic Chairman Dan DeVos and CEO Alex Martins said in a joint statement. "His accomplishments will always be remembered. Armed with his ever-present optimism and unparalleled energy, he was an incredible visionary who helped transform the world of sports in multiple ways.
"From bringing the Magic to Orlando, to transforming sports marketing and promotions, he was always ahead of the curve. Pat forever changed the sports landscape in Orlando. He shined a light on what those who called Orlando home already knew—that Central Florida was a fabulous place to live, work and play. We all owe him a debt of gratitude and he will certainly be missed, but never forgotten."
In many ways, Williams was the Orlando Magic's first believer.
He was the driving force to bring the franchise to Orlando, hitting the streets and pitching the idea to every businessman and woman in the city and selling tickets nonstop until he reached the NBA's prescribed goal to get a franchise.
He was the one who had to sell the NBA on Orlando too. He planted Mickey Mouse ears on David Stern for his first visit to Orlando during the expansion process.
He was the chief cheerleader celebrating when the Magic hit their ticket pledge and spearheading every detail of the franchise once the NBA granted the franchise.
"There is no Orlando Magic without Pat Williams," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. "He was held in such high regard in the basketball community and was a friend to me and so many generations of league executives. Pat was never at a loss for a kind and supportive word and always brought great enthusiasm, energy and optimism to everything he did throughout his more than 50 years in the NBA."
As the story goes, The Orlando Sentinel ran a naming contest, but it was Pat Williams who asked his daughter what she thought of Orlando. Her reply, "It's magic."
There are so many stories like that which made the Magic's founding seem like kismet. It sounds like a fairy tale. Maybe it was just Williams' knack for telling a good story. But the Magic were always too good to be true.
In so many ways, the creation of the Magic was a dream— every Magic fan should read Making Magic —the things that had to fall into place to bring a franchise to a city like Orlando were miraculous. But Williams was a believer in miracles. He was a creator of miracles.
His positivity and his belief made the Magic happen. And Williams' vision touched so many lives.
"He loved a challenge, and when he moved our family to Orlando to start the Magic, he was full of excitement and energy that he displayed every day," Williams' family said in a statement. "We all grew up believing that anything is possible because of his unwavering enthusiasm for what he was passionate about. Those who attended the games, saw him at church, or spent time with him in a social setting know that he never met a stranger and was always quick with an encouraging word. He was a giver, a teacher, the ultimate cheerleader, and he was a lifelong learner."
As the news has come out, there have been countless stories of Williams' generosity and positivity. Of how Williams gave an encouraging word or an inspirational phrase. Of how he told a story that captivated an entire room.
To be around Williams is to understand why he was successful in bringing the Magic to Orlando and how he made an impossible dream a reality.
It is fitting that Williams' last project was an attempt to bring a new team to Central Florida. He wanted to bring baseball to Orlando and appropriately called the team the "Orlando Dreamers."
Williams never stopped believing. He never stopped dreaming. Always to the end he believed.
Williams was the first believer. He was the one who taught us all to believe in magic. But maybe more important he taught a city how to believe in itself and imagine what was possible.