Kelly Williams (born February 7, 1982) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the TNT Tropang Giga in the PBA.
He played collegiate basketball at Oakland University, an NCAA Division I school in the United States, and he also represented the Philippines in international competitions.
He attended Martin Luther King High School where he played in the Detroit PSL basketball league.
[3] He was named an all-district and all-state player as he averaged 35 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks, three steals, and two assists per contest.
[6][9][10][7] After displaying skills in exhibition games with the Philippine Team, he caught the attention of Filipino basketball aficionados.
Hence, he did not disappoint as he averaged 17.1 points and 12.8 rebounds during his stint with the Philippine Basketball League's (PBL) Magnolia.
[19][20] He finished the season with the league's Most Valuable Player award, garnering 2,762 votes over Santos' 1,775, and also was named to the All-Defensive Team.
[21] He missed some games after being poked in the eye by Jay-R Reyes of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
[35] In the middle of 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference, Williams, along with teammates Ryan Reyes and Charles Walters, was traded to the Talk N Text Phone Pals for Ali Peek, Nic Belasco, Yousif Aljamal, and Ogie Menor.
[44] Williams, along with teammates Alapag and Ranidel de Ocampo, missed the first games of TnT for the 2011–12 season due to commitments to the national team.
Despite the injury, he played 24 minutes in Game 2 and contributed 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and three blocks in the win.
Bowles made both his free-throws, and the game went into overtime, where the Llamados outlasted the Tropang Texters and won the championship.
During the 2012 All-Star Weekend, he could have defended his slam dunk title, but Talk n Text management pulled him and other of his teammates out of competing in their events so that they could rest as they had just been in the finals.
[51] After the elimination round, he was once again in the running for Best Player of the Conference along with his teammate Jayson Castro and rival Arwind Santos.
[63] In the 2014–15 Philippine Cup, Williams led his team to a win over the Kia Sorento with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
[67] He was also able to make meaningful contributions to the team, such as when he scored 14 points while defending Kia's import Hamady N'Diaye to lead the Tropang Texters to the win.
[68] He came back from an MCL injury he suffered with the national team in a Philippine Cup game against the NLEX Road Warriors.
[69] Before the start of the 2016–17 season, TNT resigned Williams to a two-year deal worth P10.8 million.
[71] Against Ginebra that conference, he made a go-ahead layup that gave TNT the lead with 1:25 remaining, and his teammates were able to close out the game from there.
[73] TNT then bounced back the next game with a 117–98 blowout victory over the Phoenix Fuel Masters, with him scoring 18 points and 10 boards in just 19 minutes.
[82] At the end of the season, he won a spot on the Mythical Second Team and his second Comeback Player of the Year award.
[18] In a 2017–18 Philippine Cup match versus Rain or Shine which TNT lost, Williams missed a three-pointer that could have sent the game into overtime.
[93] In Game 3 of their 2019 Philippine Cup quarterfinal series against the Beermen, Williams threw Santos to the floor while they were going for a rebound.
[101] In an elimination round win over Magnolia Hotshots, he had his best game since unretiring with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks.
[102] He missed the first four games of their semifinal series due to being put in the league's health and safety protocols.
[107] He was able to play in Game 2, and hit one of TNT's PBA finals record 13 three-pointers made in the first half.
[110] As of the end of 2023–24 season[111][112] In 2005, Williams was spotted by then Philippine National Team head coach Chot Reyes[36] after the latter liked the former's work ethic and style of play.
[115] He missed some games due to a hamstring injury,[116] but eventually made the team that would compete in the FIBA Asia Championship.
[123][124] In 2011, Williams was the starting power forward for the Smart Gilas national basketball team, who finished 4th in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship.
[131] At 40 years old, Williams returned to the national team for the February window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.