Two points, two rebounds.
For many people in the NBA a line in the box score of two points and two rebounds wouldn’t mean a whole lot. If Lebron James, Allen Iverson or Shaquille O’Neal had two points and two rebounds it would be a pretty disappointing game, even for a preseason game where the star players don’t play the whole game. But for Jay Williams, formerly of the Duke Blue Devils and Chicago Bulls, two points and two rebounds can be considered a big victory.
In the 2002 NBA Draft the Chicago Bulls selected Jay Williams of Duke with the 2nd overall pick. Jay Williams had a very promising first year for the Chicago Bulls averaging 9.5 points per game and nearly five assists per game. Unfortunately during the off season that year it looked like Jay Williams’ career had come to an end.
On the night of June 19th, 2003 Jay Williams was driving a motorcycle he had just purchased a week earlier when Williams hit a curb, lost control and slammed into a pole driving through the north side of Chicago. The witness on the scene who saw the accident said that when he found Jay Williams he was laying a good 10 feet from where the bike was. Jay Williams injured his knee and pelvis, broke his leg, sustained nerve damage to his leg and had a torn anterior cruciate ligament. When Jay Williams was first taken into the hospital Jay asked the doctor if they could keep the accident a secret because he didn’t want his team to know he had broken his leg. Unfortunately the injuries were even worse than Jay thought and the doctor told him that right now he’s just trying to save to his life.
Jay Williams underwent surgery and was hospitalized for 3 and half months. Williams was still on crutches six months after the accident and has had six additional surgeries. Jay’s leg was so mangled they weren’t sure he was going to be able to walk again. The Chicago Bulls bought out Jay’s contract for 3 million dollars giving him a very good amount of money to live off while he recovered, but the end of his contract with the Bulls wouldn’t deter him from playing in the NBA again.
Jay Williams has spent the past three years slowly getting back into shape and started running full speed for the first time earlier this year. In order to get back in shape he called Michael Jordan’s personal trainer Tim Grover to give him a hand. When Jay Williams first arrived it was said he was limping and couldn’t even touch the net but now he’s able to jump, run and shoot like he used to. Jay even says he’s about 90 percent healthy. Williams is said to not be as explosive as he once was but has bulked up a little bit and has become a smarter player due to all the time he spent watching game film while he was recovering.
Two weeks ago Jay Williams signed a contract with the Nets. Williams will be attending the Nets’ training camp and will be given a chance to try out for the team. Jay Williams has been working out at the Nets camp for the past month a half and in that time alone he has dropped his full court sprint time from 3.5 seconds down to 2.85 seconds.
Last Wednesday the New Jersey Nets played their first pre-season game against the Indiana Pacers and Jay Williams got his first chance to play in a NBA game. Jay played 17 minutes, went 1 for 3 from the field and pulled down two rebounds.
The Nets already have one of the top point guards in the league in Jason Kidd and their first round draft pick Marcus Williams is expected to be Kidd’s backup so Jay Williams shot at making the team are pretty slim. But if Jay doesn’t make the team he will continue to try and find a team.
I’ve never really liked any players who went to Duke. I know it’s unfair because I don’t have anything personal against them, Duke is just one of those teams that wins so much and gets so much attention that people get sick of them and dislike their players. But it’s hard not to root for Jay Williams.
