Natalie Williams

Personal information
Born	November 30, 1970 (1970-11-30) (age 54) Long Beach, California, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school	Taylorsville (Taylorsville, Utah)
College	UCLA (1990–1994)
WNBA draft	1999: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
Drafted by	Utah Starzz
Playing career	1996–2005
Career history
1996–1998	Portland Power
1999–2002	Utah Starzz
2003–2005	Indiana Fever
Career highlights
4×WNBA All-Star (1999–2001,2003) 3×All-WNBA First Team (1999–2001) WNBA rebounding champion (2000 2× All-ABL First Team (1997, 1998) USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year (1999) ABL MVP (1998) Kodak All-American (1994) 2× All-American –USBWA (1993, 1994) Pac-10 Player of the Year (1994) 3× First-teamAll-Pac-10 (1992–1994)
Career WNBA statistics
Points	2,894 (13.1 ppg)
Rebounds	1,832 (8.3 rpg)
Assists	308 (1.4 apg)
Stats atBasketball Reference
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals Women'sbasketball Representing United States Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Team competition World Cup 1998 Germany Team competition 2002 China Team competition Jones Cup 1996 Team competition

Natalie Jean Williams (born November 30, 1970) is an Americanbasketball executive and former player in theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA).^[1] Williams was inducted into theWomen's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. She was also an accomplished volleyball player atUCLA. From 2022 to 2024, Williams served as the General Manager of the WNBA'sLas Vegas Aces.

Williams is the daughter ofNate Williams, a formerbasketball player who played for theCincinnati Royals/Kansas City-Omaha Kings,New Orleans Jazz and theGolden State Warriors in theNational Basketball Association during an eight-year career.

Although she was born in Southern California, she went tohigh school atTaylorsville High School inUtah.

She also has two half brothers and one half sister. Both of her brothers played basketball but her sister chose to focus her athletic abilities on tennis.

She attended theUniversity of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and graduated there in 1994. She was a four-year letter-winner in bothbasketball andvolleyball, and is the first woman to earnAll-America honors in bothbasketball andvolleyball in the same year. She also led UCLA toNCAAvolleyball titles in 1990 and 1991. She won the Honda-Broderick Award (now theHonda Sports Award) as the nation's best female collegiate volleyball player in both 1992 and 1993.^[2]

Source^[3]

Natalie Williams played three seasons for thePortland Power in theAmerican Basketball League (ABL). She was traded to theLong Beach Stingrays in April 1998, but when the team folded, she was reassigned to the Power. She was a two-time All-ABL first team selection, the 1998 ABL M.V.P., finished her first season as the league's top rebounder, averaging 12.5 rebounds per game, and on January 9, 1998, she grabbed a league record 22 rebounds.

After the ABL folded, she was selected by her hometown team, theUtah Starzz in the first round (third pick overall) of the 1999WNBA draft on May 4, 1999.

She played with the Starzz from 1999 to 2002. However, just a few weeks prior to the start of the 2003 season, she was traded to theIndiana Fever in a multi-player deal on May 1, 2003.

Prior to the start of the 2005 season, Williams announced that she would retire after the season ended, saying that she will concentrate on raising her adopted twins, as well as serving as an assistant coach for Skyline'high school Girls basketball team inSalt Lake City, Utah, and launching a new career in thereal estate business. She is remembered by fans as one of the best rebounding power forward in the early history of the WNBA.

Williams was invited to be a member of the Jones Cup team representing the US in 1996. She helped the team to a 9–0 record, and the gold medal in the event. Williams averaged 9.1 points per game. She also recorded 7.0 rebounds per game, highest on the team.^[4]

Williams was named to the USA national team in 1998. The national team traveled toBerlin, Germany in July and August 1998 for the FIBA World Championships. The USA team won a close opening game against Japan 95–89, then won their next six games easily. In the semifinal game against Brazil, the USA team was behind as much as ten points in the first half, but the USA went on to win 93–79. The gold medal game was a rematch against Russia. In the first game, the USA team dominated almost from the beginning, but in the rematch, the team from Russia took the early lead and led much of the way. With under two minutes remaining, the USA was down by two points but the USA responded, then held on to win the gold medal 71–65. Williams averaged 12.3 points per game, second highest on the team, and averaged 9.6 rebounds per game, highest on the team.^[5]

Williams won an OlympicGold Medal as a member of the U.S. women's basketball team during the2000 Summer Olympics inSydney, Australia.

In 2002, Williams was named to the national team which competed in the World Championships inZhangjiagang,Changzhou andNanjing, China. The team was coached byVan Chancellor. The USA team won all nine games, including a close title game against Russia, which was a one-point game late in the game. Williams averaged 5.9 points per game.^[6]

In 2002, she opened a restaurant called Natalie's inSalt Lake City, Utah. She carried theOlympic Torch in the Salt Lake City area prior to the2002 Winter Olympics.She also was named to the United States 2002 World Championship Games team.

She considersCheryl Miller as her basketball role model.

• WNBA Player Profile
• September 18, 2005Salt Lake Tribune article on her impending retirement
• Natalie Williams on Real Champions

• 1970 births
• Living people
• All-American college women's basketball players
• American women's basketball coaches
• American women's basketball players
• Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Basketball players from Long Beach, California
• High school basketball coaches in the United States
• Indiana Fever players
• Las Vegas Aces executives
• Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
• Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball)
• Portland Power players
• Power forwards
• Sportspeople from Long Beach, California
• UCLA Bruins women's basketball players
• UCLA Bruins women's volleyball players
• Utah Starzz draft picks
• Utah Starzz players
• WNBA All-Stars
• Women's National Basketball Association general managers
• 21st-century African-American sportswomen
• 21st-century American sportswomen
• 20th-century African-American sportswomen
• 20th-century American sportswomen
• United States women's national basketball team players

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