Williams was born at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in the Bronx, New York City.[1] Born as Carey Williams, he changed his name to Corey in middle school after being teased in elementary school. Due to poor grades in middle school, his mother moved him to Rice High School, an all-boys Catholic school in Harlem.[2]
In 1997, Williams joined the Alabama State Hornets. In two seasons, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.6 steals in 54 games.[4] He completed his degree in criminal justice in 2000, fulfilling a promise to his mother.[3]
Coming out of the small Division I school, Williams had no connections to professional basketball and played streetball in New York City, where he was given the nickname "Homicide".[5]
For the 2001–02 season, Williams played in Brazil with Minas.[6]
After another stint with the Brooklyn Kings in 2003,[6] Williams played in Sweden during the 2003–04 season with 08 Stockholm.[9]
After spending time with the Denver Nuggets during the 2004 off-season,[10] Williams played for Yunnan Honghe of the Chinese Basketball Association during the 2004–05 season.[11] He averaged 27 points per game with Yunnan.[12] In May 2005, he had a one-game stint with the New Jersey Flyers and a three-game stint with the Westchester Wildfire, both of the United States Basketball League.[13]
After spending his summer in 2005 working the competition on the streets of New York City, Williams was noticed by Toronto Raptors assistant coach Jim Todd.[14][15] As a result, on October 3, 2005, Williams signed with the Raptors for training camp.[16] Williams averaged 4.0 points and 1.0 assists in four pre-season games for the Raptors before being waived by the team on October 27.[17]
After an NBA Summer League stint with the Indiana Pacers and a pre-season stint with the Denver Nuggets,[16] Williams played eight games with French team Cholet Basket to begin the 2006–07 season.[24] On January 1, 2007, he was acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce, now playing in the NBA Development League.[25] After being waived by the Skyforce on February 16, he was picked up by the Dakota Wizards a week later.[26] He helped the Wizards win the D-League championship and averaged 14 points, four rebounds and 3.5 assists per game for the 2006–07 season.[27]
Williams returned to the Crocodiles for the 2008–09 NBL season. In 32 games, he averaged 18.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game.[6] He was again named to the All-NBL Second Team and helped the Crocodiles reach the semi-finals.[28] Following the NBL season, he had a four-game stint with Trotamundos de Carabobo in Venezuela.[6]
Williams returned to the Crocodiles for the 2009–10 NBL season. He was named the recipient of the NBL Most Valuable Player Award after averaging 18.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists over his 31 games, shooting the ball at 50.6% from the field.[29][30]
In his four NBL seasons, Williams played 114 games (91 for Townsville and 23 for Melbourne) and averaged 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists per contest.[34]
For the 2012–13 season, Williams played for Bejje SC.[6] He continued in Lebanon for the 2013–14 season, initially with Hoops Club and then later joining Al Mouttahed Tripoli.[6][35]
In February 2015, Williams returned to Lebanon to play out the 2014–15 season with Tadamon Zouk. In 10 games, he averaged 23.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game.[6]
Williams returned to Tadamon in February 2016, playing six games between February 14 and April 28.[6]
Post-playing career
Williams became a notable NBL commentator in Australia following his playing career, initially in a smaller capacity in 2015[36][37] and then full time in 2017 with Fox Sports.[38] He is credited with helping the NBL surge in the late 2010s and was one of the NBL's greatest ambassadors.[28]
In December 2021, Williams was appointed the Creative Director of Basketball for Foot Locker Pacific.[39]
In August 2023, Williams was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.[43][44][45] He underwent chemotherapy in New York[46] before returning to his adopted home of Australia. He continued to undergo treatment as recently as two weeks prior to his death.[45] He died on May 10, 2024, at the age of 46,[28][47] at Cabrini Hospital in Melbourne.[1] Williams' funeral service was held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.[48]
