Jason David Williams (born September 10, 1981) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and television analyst. He played college basketball for the

Duke Blue Devils men's basketball The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represents Duke University in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The team is fourth all-time in wins of any NCAA men's basketball program, and is cu ...

team and professionally for the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

in the NBA. Then known as Jason Williams, he won the 2001 NCAA Championship with Duke, and was named NABC Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002. He was drafted second overall in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Bulls. He asked to be called Jay on joining the Bulls, to avoid confusion with two other players in the NBA at the time. His playing career was effectively ended by a motorcycle accident in 2003. He last signed with the

Austin Toros Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

, but was waived on December 30, 2006, due to lingering physical effects from his accident. Since retiring, he has worked as an analyst for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, initially working on ''

ESPN College Basketball ''ESPN College Basketball'' is a blanket title used for presentations of college basketball on ESPN and its family of networks. Its coverage focuses primarily on competition in NCAA Division I, holding broadcast rights to games from each major c ...

''. In 2019, however, Williams was reassigned to the NBA full-time with his addition on ESPN's ''

NBA Countdown ''NBA Countdown'', branded for sponsorship purposes as ''NBA Countdown Presented by Mountain Dew'', is an American pregame television show airing prior to National Basketball Association (NBA) telecasts on ABC and ESPN. ''NBA Countdown'' typi ...

'' program.

High school

Williams grew up in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

, and attended St. Joseph High School in

Metuchen Metuchen ( ) is a suburban borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area. The borough, along wi ...

, graduating in 1999. He not only excelled at basketball, but took an active interest in other activities, most notably

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

. His nickname in high school was "Jay Dubs." Williams also played junior varsity soccer during his freshman year and was the state volleyball player of the year during his senior year. In basketball that year, Williams was named a First Team All-State Player in New Jersey, the New Jersey Player of the Year, a ''Parade'' All-American, a ''USA Today'' first team All-American, and a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...

, where he competed in the Slam Dunk Contest and the McDonald's All-American Game, scoring 20 points in the contest. In his last year of high school he averaged 19 points, 7.0 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game; he had started each of the 4 years he spent at St. Joseph, and set school records in total points (1,977) and steals (407). He was also named the recipient of the 1999 Morgan Wootten Award for his basketball achievements and his work in the classroom, where he maintained a 3.6 GPA.

College career

At Duke, Williams, a ,

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by ...

, became one of the few freshmen in school history to average double figures in scoring and was named ACC Rookie of the Year and National Freshman of the Year by The Sporting News, averaging 14.5 points, 6.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds per contest. He was also a first team Freshman All-American by '' Basketball Times''. The next season Williams started all 39 games and led the Devils to the 2001 NCAA National Championship, earning NABC Player of the Year honors. His 841 points broke

Dick Groat Richard Morrow Groat (born November 4, 1930) is a former professional baseball and basketball player who was an eight-time All-Star shortstop and two-time World Series champion in Major League Baseball. He rates as one of the most accomplished t ...

's 49-year Duke record for points in a season, while he led all tournament scorers with a 25.7 points per game average. Williams also set the NCAA Tournament record for three-pointers attempted (66), while also making 132 three-point field goals—good for the sixth-highest total in NCAA history. His 21.6 points per game led the ACC and made him the first Duke player since Danny Ferry (1989) to lead the league in scoring. His 6.1 assists were good for second in the league, while he also ranked second in three-point field goal percentage (.427) and first in three-pointers made (3.4 per game). Williams was widely considered the best player in college basketball, earning both the prestigious Naismith Award and

Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

as College Basketball's Player of the Year in 2002. He graduated with a degree in Sociology in 2002, and left Duke with 2,079 points, good for sixth all-time, and with his

jersey number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to ...

22 retired at Senior Day. He had 36 double-figure scoring games in a single season (tied for 5th-most in Duke history as of March 28, 2010, with Jon Scheyer,

Shane Battier Shane Courtney Battier (born September 9, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. He's also worked for ESPN and recently joined the board of Yext. Battier is best known for his four years playing basketball at Duke, his 13 y ...

, and

JJ Redick Jonathan Clay "JJ" Redick (born June 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is a podcaster and sports analyst for ESPN. He was selected 11th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA draft. He played college baske ...

). In 2001–02, Williams,

Carlos Boozer Carlos Austin Boozer Jr. (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. The two-time NBA All-Star played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers, and then spent his last seas ...

, and

Mike Dunleavy Jr. Michael Joseph Dunleavy Jr. (born September 15, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who is the vice president of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previou ...

each scored at least 600 points for the season, a feat only matched at Duke by Jon Scheyer,

Kyle Singler Kyle Edward Singler (born May 4, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. Singler was a four-year starter for the Duke men's basketball team and was instrumental in their 2010 NCAA championship run, earning Most Outstanding Pl ...

, and

Nolan Smith Nolan Derek Smith (born July 25, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant men's basketball coach for the Louisville Cardinals. He played college basketball for Duke before being drafted 21st overa ...

in the 2009–10 season. Williams (841) and

(778) on the 2001 national championship team were one of only two Duke duos to each score over 700 points in a season, the other duo being Scheyer (728) and Singler (707) in the 2009–10 season.

Professional career

Chicago Bulls (2002–2004)

Williams was selected by the

with the second overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, after

Yao Ming Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Associa ...

was selected by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

. Williams was a starter in the Bulls' line-up for most of the

2002–03 NBA season The 2002–03 NBA season was the 57th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs beating the New Jersey Nets 4–2 in the 2003 NBA Finals. This would be Michael Jordan's last season in the NBA ...

. Although his performance was inconsistent and he competed for playing time with Jamal Crawford, he showed signs of promise, including posting a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in a win over the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. Williams' final NBA game was played on April 15, 2003, in a 115–106 win over the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

in which he recorded 14 points, 7 assists, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal.

Motorcycle accident

On the night of June 19, 2003, Williams was riding a motorcycle at a fast speed on the North Side of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. He crashed his

Yamaha YZF-R6 The Yamaha YZF-R6 is a sport bike, produced by Yamaha as a 600 class from 1999 to 2020. From 2021, production availability is limited to race-only specification in most global markets, causing race organisers to re-align their engine eligibilit ...

motorcycle into a streetlight at the intersection of Belmont Avenue and Honore Street in the Roscoe Village neighborhood. Williams was not wearing a helmet, nor was he licensed to ride a motorcycle in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, and he was also violating the terms of his NBA Bulls contract by riding a motorcycle. Williams' injuries included a fractured

pelvis The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

, a severed main nerve in his leg, and three torn ligaments in his left

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the ...

, including the ACL. He required lengthy

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, pat ...

to regain the use of his leg. A week after the motorcycle crash, the Bulls drafted point guard Kirk Hinrich. When it became clear Williams would not be returning to the Bulls for a long time, if at all, because of his severe injuries, the Bulls chose to waive him and drop him from the roster. This left the team without their top draft pick just from a year prior. Legally, the Bulls did not have to pay Williams any remaining salary at all because his severe injuries occurred while he violated the terms of his contract by riding a motorcycle; however, the Bulls organization decided to give Williams $3 million when they waived him so Williams could use the funds toward his rehabilitation expenses. Williams apologized to the Bulls organization for violating the terms of his contract and severely injuring himself. He stated at the time that he would work hard in his physical rehabilitation so that he could make a return to the Bulls. In his 2016 memoir, he mentioned that he became addicted to illegal painkillers as well as other drugs after the accident. Years after the accident, he appeared in college and high school basketball broadcasts on the

network as a commentator.

Austin Toros (2006)

On September 28, 2006, the

announced that they had signed Williams to a non-guaranteed contract. However, on October 22, the Nets released him. Williams then signed with the

of the

, but he played in just three games for the club. On December 30, 2006, the Toros waived him due to injury. Williams subsequently announced that he had no plans to resume his basketball career.

National team career

During his basketball playing career, Williams also represented the senior USA national basketball team. He was a part of the US team that finished in 6th place at the

2002 FIBA World Cup The 2002 FIBA World Championship was the 14th edition of the competition now known as the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the international world championship for men's basketball teams. The tournament held by the International Basketball Federation in ...

, which was held in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. In seven games played during the tournament, Williams averaged 3.9 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 0.9 steals, in 6.6 minutes per game.

Post-basketball career

Williams works for

as an NBA analyst. Previously, Williams covered college basketball for the network. He has also done motivational speaking and worked as an analyst on

CBS College Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

during the 2008 NCAA men's basketball tournament. He was a recruiter for sports agency Ceruzzi Sports and Entertainment from 2007 to 2009. In 2016, Williams released his autobiography, ''Life Is Not an Accident: A Memoir of Reinvention''. Presently, Williams is the Spokesperson of Visions Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Endwell, New York. He was also an announcer in NBA Live 19. According to a May 2020 article on BlackEnterprise.com, Williams co-founded a management consulting company named Simatree, serves as a partial owner of The CabinNYC restaurant, works as an advisor to a digital marketing agency, and partners with EPIC Insurance to provide financial guidance to athletes and celebrities. In 2021, Williams began hosting a podcast series titled ''The Limits with Jay Williams'' for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Personal life

Jay is a cousin of former NFL wide receiver

David Tyree David Mikel Tyree (born January 3, 1980) is a former American football wide receiver and executive who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, primarily with the New York Giants. He played college football at Syracuse an ...

. He is married to Nikki Bonacorsi and is the father of one daughter, Amelia, and one son, Zane.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, 75 , , 54 , , 26.1 , , .399 , , .322 , , .640 , , 2.6 , , 4.7 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 9.5

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1999–00 , style="text-align:left;",

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

, 34 , , 34 , , 34.0 , , .419 , , .354 , , .685 , , 4.2 , , 6.5 , , 2.4 , , .2 , , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2000–01 , style="text-align:left;",

, 39 , , 39 , , 31.8 , , .473 , , .427 , , .659 , , 3.3 , , 6.1 , , 2.0 , , .1 , , 21.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2001–02 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 35 , , 33.6 , , .457 , , .383 , , .676 , , 3.5 , , 5.3 , , 2.2 , , .1 , , 21.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 108 , , 108 , , 33.1 , , .453 , , .393 , , .671 , , 3.7 , , 6.0 , , 2.2 , , .1 , , 19.3

References

External links

Blog written by Williams
at NBA.com
Oscar Robertson Trophy
2002 College Basketball Player of the Year * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jay 1981 births Living people 2002 FIBA World Championship players African-American basketball players African-American sports journalists All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Austin Toros players Basketball players from New Jersey Chicago Bulls draft picks Chicago Bulls players College basketball announcers in the United States Disney people Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players ESPN people McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Sportspeople from Plainfield, New Jersey St. Joseph High School (Metuchen, New Jersey) alumni United States men's national basketball team players