Jay Williams (basketball player)

Jay Williams
Player information
Full name	Jason David Williams
birthday	10th September 1981 (age 38)
place of birth	Plainfield , New Jersey , United States
size	188 cm
Weight	88 kg
position	Point guard
college	Duke
NBA draft	2002 , 2nd pick, Chicago Bulls
Clubs as active
2002–2003 Chicago Bulls 2006 Austin Toros ( D-League ) 00000

Jason David Williams (born September 10, 1981 in Plainfield , New Jersey ) is a retired American basketball player who played for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA from 2002 to 2003 . He was considered a promising talent, but his career was ended after just one year due to a serious motorcycle accident.

Career

college

Williams moved to the prestigious Duke University in 2002 after his junior season , where he had won the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship the year before under the direction of coach Mike Krzyzewski and together with Mike Dunleavy Jr. , Carlos Boozer and Shane Battier NBA . To date, Williams has been considered the best college player in the country and received the most important awards for college players with the nomination of Naismith College Player of The Year as well as winning the Oscar Robertson Thropy and the John R. Wooden Award . The university withdrew its jersey number 22 and has not been awarding it since. Williams also drew attention to himself at school and graduated from college after three instead of the usual four years.

NBA

In the 2002 NBA Draft , he was selected after Yao Ming in second place from the unsuccessful Chicago Bulls in previous years . Before starting the season with the Bulls, Williams was a member of the US selection at the 2002 Basketball World Cup in the home country. However, the Americans disappointed and only ended up in 6th place.

Since Jason Williams was already a player of the same name in the league, Williams let himself be called "Jay Williams" after his move to the NBA. He could not meet expectations in the first year, played inconsistently and came mostly from the bench for Jamal Crawford . One of the few bright spots was a triple-double against the New Jersey Nets . Nevertheless, at the end of the season he was called up to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team .

accident

In the off-season 2003 Williams had a serious accident in a motorcycle. He did not wear a helmet and was not allowed to ride a motorcycle in Illinois . Williams also broke his contract with the Bulls, which forbade him to ride a motorcycle. In the accident, a major nerve on his leg was severed, and Williams broke his pelvis and tore three ligaments in his left knee. Long physical therapy was required to restore full function of his leg. The Bulls reacted to the failure and signed a replacement with Kirk Hinrich in the 2003 NBA draft .

After it was considered certain that Williams would not return to the Bulls, his contract was terminated. Williams was not eligible for severance pay from the Bulls as he sustained his injuries from breaching contract terms. Still, the Bulls paid him $ 3 million, which Williams wanted to use to pay for his therapy. Williams continued to work on a return to the NBA. During his rehabilitation, Williams worked as a college and high school commentator for ESPN .

Comeback attempts

In the summer of 2006, Williams received a non-guaranteed contract with his home club, the New Jersey Nets . Shortly before the start of the season, however, the contract was terminated. After a brief interlude in the NBA D-League with the Austin Toros in the fall of 2006, Williams tried in preparation for the 2010-11 season , in a trial session with the Miami Heat , to gain a foothold in the NBA. However, he did not succeed. Today, Williams continues to work for ESPN as a college expert and motivational speaker.

Web links

• Jay Williams (basketball player) - player profile on NBA.com
• Statistics on basketball-reference.com