James Williams (basketball)

{{short description|American basketball player}}

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| name = James Williams

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| birth_place = Bronx, New York

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| occupation = American streetball basketball

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James "Speedy" Williams is a streetball basketball player from the Bronx, NY who has been called a "Rucker Park legend".{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/high-school/boys-basketball/story/_/id/7939736/rucker-park-legends|title=Elite 24: Rucker Park legends|publisher=|accessdate=10 September 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/14/nyregion/ready-for-their-reverse-dunk-mr-demille.html|title=Ready for Their Reverse Dunk, Mr. DeMille|date=14 June 2003|work=The New York Times|accessdate=10 September 2016}} He attended Morris High School in the Bronx.{{cite web|url=http://nycstreetball.weebly.com/rucker-legends.html|title=Rucker Legends|publisher=}} He played at Medgar Evers College where he averaged 26 points per game,{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/asphaltgods00vinc|url-access=registration|title=Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament|first=Vincent M.|last=Mallozzi|date=17 June 2003|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|via=Internet Archive}} later going on to play with the Harlem Globetrotters and the Continental Basketball Association.{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/high-school/boys-basketball/story/_/id/7939736/rucker-park-legends|title=Elite 24: Rucker Park legends|publisher=}} He played 10 seasons with the United States Basketball League and the Harlem Wizards.

He served as an advisor and played a role in the film Above The Rim.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/14/nyregion/ready-for-their-reverse-dunk-mr-demille.html|title=Ready for Their Reverse Dunk, Mr. DeMille|date=14 June 2003|work=The New York Times}} It was alleged that he along with Kerry Thompson made a big living playing in drug money sponsored basketball games.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/pickupartistsstr00ande|url-access=registration|title=Pickup Artists: Street Basketball in America|first1=Lars|last1=Anderson|first2=Chad|last2=Millman|date=1 January 1999|publisher=Verso|via=Internet Archive}}