The Best Detail In The NYT's Jay Williams Profile Is, Of Course, About Michael Jordan

The New York Times of former Duke star Jay (Jason) Williams over the weekend, and it's worth a read. It details the motorcycle accident that derailed Williams's career after a 95-13 three-year run in Durham and just a single season in the NBA, and the rather incredible rehabilitation that followed it.

Williams's mother Althea is the gem of the piece (she called her son's Duke teammates "dude" and "introduced herself as Jay's sister"), and he reveals at one point that some of his Bulls teammates liked to smoke weed before games ( any guesses?), but it's this detail, from his season in Chicago, that we loved for obvious basketball reasons. Here's Greg Bishop:

Williams wanted the Bulls to draft him, wanted to follow Jordan, whose locker had sat empty until Williams took it and ratcheted up already enormous expectations. Fans screamed his name while he walked the streets. He drove down Interstate 90, where his face filled a billboard. And he thought to himself, "You made it."

In his rookie season, Williams played against Jordan, who was then with the Washington Wizards. Jordan went at Williams on several consecutive possessions. Each time, Jordan told Williams how he would score—first over the left shoulder, then fake over the left shoulder and shoot over the right, and so forth—and each time, Jordan scored exactly as he said he would.

There are likely enough stories about defending Michael Jordan to fill a book, and hopefully they will someday. Now go read the rest of the story.

[ NYT]