Jayson Williams
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | New York, New York, U.S. | February 22, 1968
Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
Listed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Idaho Stampede |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Career NBA statistics | |
Points | 3,472 (7.3 ppg) |
Rebounds | 3,584 (7.5 rpg) |
Assists | 287 (0.6 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Jayson Williams (born February 22, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the
Williams was charged in 2002 with the accidental shooting death of a limousine driver. He pled guilty to
Early life
Williams was born in the Lower East Side of Manhattan,
Professional career
Williams was selected by the
While with the Nets, Williams only earned 12 starts in his first three seasons with the team before finally earning a full-time starting position in the
Injury and retirement
Williams' career came to a sudden end on April 1, 1999, after he broke his right leg in a collision with teammate
Legal incidents
In 1992, Williams was accused of breaking a beer mug over a patron's head at a saloon in Chicago. Two years later, he was accused of firing a semiautomatic weapon into the parking lot at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. He was never criminally charged in either case.
Assault conviction
On February 14, 2002, 55-year-old limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi was shot and killed at Williams's estate in Alexandria Township, New Jersey.[12] Christofi had been hired to drive Williams's NBA charity team from a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, event to his mansion, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Trenton, New Jersey. Members of Williams's NBA charity basketball team were present at the scene. The New York Post reported that Williams was aiming a shotgun at Gus, while giving a tour of his 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) home when he fired the weapon, killing Christofi.
In April 2004, Williams was acquitted of the more serious charges against him, but the court's jury deadlocked on a charge of reckless manslaughter. He was convicted on four counts of trying to cover up the shooting.[13]
On April 21, 2006, a
On January 11, 2010, Williams pleaded guilty to
Tasering incident
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) reported on April 27, 2009, that Williams was stunned with a taser in a New York City hotel by members of the NYPD after reports that Williams had become suicidal and violent. Upon entering the Manhattan hotel room police said that Williams was visibly intoxicated, and that empty bottles of prescription medications were found around the room. Officers stunned him with the taser and took him to a hospital.[23]
Raleigh bar fight
Williams was arrested on May 24, 2009, for allegedly punching a man in the face at a bar in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was charged with simple assault. Later the charges were dropped.[24]
DWI incident
On January 5, 2010, Williams was charged with driving while intoxicated after an early morning accident in lower Manhattan, in which he crashed his Mercedes into a tree.[25] On August 20, 2010, he was sentenced to an additional year in prison, to be added on to the five-year prison sentence for the shooting death of Costas "Gus" Christofi. He additionally received a $16,433 fine for the damage to the tree.[26] Williams was released from prison in April 2012.[27]
Indoor lacrosse
Williams was the principal owner of the New Jersey Storm of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The franchise operated for two seasons, 2002 and 2003, before moving to Anaheim, California, and becoming the Anaheim Storm. Due to consistently poor results, as well as its presence in tough markets, the Storm failed to make much of an impression and it became defunct before the start of the 2006 season.
Books
In 2001, Williams authored a book about basketball entitled Loose Balls.[book 1] The book, intended largely to be a humorous recollection of Williams's life in the NBA, was later cited as containing nine separate anecdotes involving his tendency to play with guns, including one where football player Wayne Chrebet is nearly shot and one where the uncle of Manute Bol is threatened with an unloaded handgun.
In 2012, Williams published a second book, an autobiography entitled Humbled ~ Letters From Prison.[book 2] The book includes revelations about being abused as a child.[28]
A third book, Crashing: A Memoir, was published in December 2018.[book 3]
Personal life
In 1996, Williams proposed during halftime of a nationally televised basketball game to model Cynthia Bailey. The two later parted.
Williams married Kellie Batiste in December 1999; they divorced soon afterward. In 2000, he married Tanya Young and together they had two daughters.
Williams' father, Elijah Joshua Williams, died of a stroke at the age of 76 in November 2009.[4] Williams had three sisters, with two having died from AIDS (one after a blood transfusion following a mugging), while his third sister was killed by her husband in a murder-suicide.
Legacy
Williams was inducted into the
NBA career statistics
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990–91 | Philadelphia | 52 | 1 | 9.8 | .447 | .500 | .661 | 2.1 | .3 | .2 | .1 | 3.5 |
1991–92 | Philadelphia | 50 | 8 | 12.9 | .364 | — | .636 | 2.9 | .2 | .4 | .4 | 4.1 |
1992–93 | New Jersey | 12 | 2 | 11.6 | .457 | — | .389 | 3.4 | .0 | .3 | .3 | 4.1 |
1993–94 | New Jersey | 70 | 0 | 12.5 | .427 | — | .605 | 3.8 | .4 | .2 | .5 | 4.6 |
1994–95 | New Jersey | 75 | 6 | 13.1 | .461 | .000 | .533 | 5.7 | .5 | .3 | .4 | 4.8 |
1995–96 | New Jersey | 80 | 6 | 23.2 | .423 | .286 | .592 | 10.0 | .6 | .4 | .7 | 9.0 |
1996–97 | New Jersey | 41 | 40 | 34.9 | .409 | .000 | .590 | 13.5 | 1.2 | .6 | .9 | 13.4 |
1997–98 | New Jersey | 65 | 65 | 36.0 | .498 | .000 | .666 | 13.6 | 1.0 | .7 | .8 | 12.9 |
1998–99 | New Jersey | 30 | 30 | 34.0 | .445 | .000 | .565 | 12.0 | 1.1 | .8 | 2.0 | 8.1 |
Career | 475 | 158 | 20.6 | .440 | .125 | .606 | 7.5 | .6 | .4 | .6 | 7.3 | |
All-Star | 1 | 0 | 19.0 | .667 | — | — | 10.0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | 4.0 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Philadelphia | 4 | 0 | 2.5 | .800 | — | — | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 2.0 |
1994 | New Jersey | 2 | 0 | 8.5 | .000 | — | .500 | 1.5 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .5 |
1998 | New Jersey | 3 | 2 | 38.7 | .429 | — | .500 | 14.0 | 1.7 | .7 | 1.0 | 7.0 |
Career | 9 | 2 | 15.9 | .448 | — | .500 | 5.4 | .6 | .2 | .3 | 3.3 |
References
- ^ "Former NBA star Jayson Williams gets five-year sentence in shooting - CNN.com". Retrieved July 18, 2018.
- ^ "Retired NBA player Jayson Williams leaves jail". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
- ^ "Jayson Williams". NNDB. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ^ a b Brown, Amanda (November 13, 2009). "E.J. Williams, father of former Nets star Jayson Williams, dies at 76". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ^ Lisi, Clemente (February 23, 2002). "VIOLENCE HAS BEEN A LIFELONG TEAMMATE". New York Post. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ Williams sets Nets rebounding record
- ^ "Broken Leg Sidelines Nets Star Williams". Seattle Times. April 2, 1999.
- ^ "Nets Make Plans Without Williams". Chicago Tribune. April 3, 1999.
- ^ "Nets To Announce Jayson Is Retiring". New York Daily News. June 28, 2000.
- ^ "Facing re-trial, Williams joins Idaho team – NBA – ESPN". ESPN.com. January 12, 2005. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- ^ Hanley, Robert. "Reporter's Notebook; At Former Nets Star's Trial, A Tangle of Contradictions", The New York Times, February 29, 2004. Retrieved December 20, 2007. "Five friends and four Harlem Globetrotters were in various parts of Jayson Williams's country home in Alexandria Township, N.J., when a chauffeur, Costas Christofi, was killed two years ago by a blast from a shotgun held by Mr. Williams."
- ^ Matt Rainey/The Star-Ledger (February 23, 2010). "Jayson Williams sentencing comes after lengthy legal battle that spans 8 years". Nj.com. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ^ Jones, Richard G. "Ex-Nets Star Faces Retrial for a Shooting at His Home", The New York Times, April 22, 2006, Retrieved April 27, 2009. "Jayson Williams can be retried on a charge of reckless manslaughter stemming from the shooting of a limousine driver in 2002, a New Jersey appeals court ruled on Friday."
- ^ [1] Attorneys for Jayson Williams say the retired NBA star's convictions related to a fatal shooting should be thrown out because of prosecutorial misconduct.
- ^ Jennifer Golson/The Star-Ledger (January 3, 2008). "Jayson Williams retrial on hold as state appeals racial slur ruling". Nj.com. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ^ Siemaszko, Corky (January 11, 2010) Ex-Net Jayson Williams pleads guilty to fatal shooting of driver; faces minimum 18 months in jail. NY Dailynews
- ^ "Williams to serve at least 18 months". Associated Press. February 23, 2010.
- ^ "Retired NBA star Jayson Williams to transfer from N.J. prison to Rikers Island". NJ.com. August 13, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- ^ a b "Ex-NBA Star Jayson Williams – Released from Rikers Island". tmz.com. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- ^ "BREAKING! Troubled NBA Star Jayson Williams Released From Prison". Vibe. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- ^ Jayson Williams speaking freely
- ^ Associated Press, "Former Net Williams Tasered By the Police", April 28, 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
- ^ "Troubled Jayson Williams Busted for Alleged Assault". BET.com
- ^ Baker, Al (January 5, 2010) "Jayson Williams Charged with D.W.I. After Accident". New York Times
- CNN News. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
- ^ "Jayson Williams released from prison on Rikers Island". NJ.com. April 14, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- ^ Dwyer, Kelly (January 30, 2012) Former All-Star Jayson Williams, the ‘Moses of Rikers,’ is writing a new book. Yahoo Sports
- ^ Gelston, Dan (October 21, 2022). "Daughters of Jayson Williams denounce his St. John's HOF nod". AP News. Associated Press. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
- ^ Williams, Brennan (September 19, 2011). "Tanya Young Williams, Jayson Williams' Estranged Wife, On 'Basketball Wives,' Domestic Violence". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
Further reading
- ISBN 038549226X.
- ISBN 978-1622306091.
- ISBN 978-1250057129.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- Jayson Williams at IMDb