Jayson Williams

Jayson Williams
Born	(1968-02-22) February 22, 1968 Ritter, South Carolina, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Professional basketball player, author
Years active	1990–2005 (basketball)
Known for	NBA player, 1998 NBA All-Star, author of memoirs

Jayson Williams (born February 22, 1968) is a retired American professional basketball athlete who played eleven seasons in the NBA, predominantly with the New Jersey Nets. Originally selected by the Phoenix Suns in the 1990 draft, he was subsequently traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, where he spent three seasons before moving to the Nets. Williams earned an All-Star selection in 1998 and was honored with induction into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

In 2002, Williams became involved in legal proceedings concerning the accidental shooting death of a limousine driver. He entered a guilty plea for aggravated assault in 2010 and was sentenced to serve 27 months in prison.

Early life

Jayson Williams was born in Ritter, South Carolina, to parents Elijah Joshua "EJ" Williams and Barbara Williams. His heritage includes Polish, Italian, and African-American roots. His mother was employed at a skilled nursing center in Manhattan. Raised within the Catholic faith, he relocated to Brooklyn at age twelve and attended Christ The King Regional High School, followed by St. John's University in New York City, where he played collegiate basketball.

Professional career

Williams was picked 21st overall by the Phoenix Suns during the 1990 NBA draft, but his rights were traded on October 28, 1990, to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a first-round pick in 1993. After two seasons primarily coming off the bench with Philadelphia, he was traded to the New Jersey Nets on October 8, 1992, for conditional draft selections.

During his initial three seasons with the Nets, Williams started only twelve games before earning a permanent starting position in the 1996–97 season. In the opening game of the following season, he established a franchise record by grabbing 17 offensive rebounds (20 total) against the Indiana Pacers, contributing to a victory.

In the 1997–98 season, Williams achieved All-Star status. He led the league in offensive rebounds and offensive rebound percentage while ranking among the top five players in total rebounds, rebounds per game, total rebound percentage, and offensive rating.

Injury and retirement

On April 1, 1999, Williams' career was cut short when he sustained a broken right leg after colliding with teammate Stephon Marbury during a contest against the Atlanta Hawks. He underwent surgery involving the installation of a plate and five screws the following day. Missing the entire 1999–2000 season, Williams officially announced his retirement on June 28, 2000, at age 32 after completing eleven seasons. At that time, he was in the first year of a six-year contract worth $90 million.

In 2005, Williams briefly came out of retirement to join the Idaho Stampede of the Continental Basketball Association.

Legal incidents

In 1992, Williams faced allegations of striking a bar patron with a beer mug at an establishment in Chicago. Two years later, he was accused of discharging a semiautomatic firearm into a parking area at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. No criminal charges were filed in either instance.

The death of Gus Christofi

On February 14, 2002, Costas "Gus" Christofi, a 55-year-old limousine driver, was fatally shot at Williams's property located in Alexandria Township, New Jersey. Christofi had been hired to transport Williams's NBA charity team from an event in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania back to Williams's residence situated approximately northwest of Trenton. Members of Williams's charity basketball team were present when Williams allegedly pointed a shotgun at Christofi, leading to the fatal incident.

Trial outcome and subsequent appeal

In April 2004, Williams was found not guilty on the primary charges, although the jury was unable to reach a consensus on the reckless manslaughter allegation. However, he was convicted on four counts related to concealing details about the shooting incident.

On April 21, 2006, the Hunterdon County appellate court determined that Williams could face a new trial regarding the reckless manslaughter accusation.

Suicide risk and agitation

On April 27, 2009, NYPD officers reported that Williams exhibited suicidal tendencies and aggressive behavior while staying in a Manhattan hotel room. Upon arrival, law enforcement discovered him intoxicated with empty prescription containers nearby; they subdued him using a taser and subsequently took him to a medical facility.

Altercation at bar

Williams faced simple assault charges on May 24, 2009, after allegedly striking a man inside a bar located in Raleigh, North Carolina. These charges were eventually dismissed.

Alcohol-related car crash

Just days before an important court date, on January 5, 2010, Williams collided his Mercedes into a tree in Manhattan and was charged with driving under the influence (DUI).

Guilty pleas and sentencing details

On January 11, 2010, Williams entered a guilty plea for aggravated assault connected to the 2002 death of Christofi. One month later, he received a five-year prison sentence with eligibility for parole after serving 18 months. Additionally, he was sentenced to one year at Rikers Island for the DUI offense, serving eight months of that term. Williams was released from incarceration in April 2012.

Impact of imprisonment

After completing 27 months behind bars, Williams shared with ESPN his desire that no one undergo incarceration due to its profound emotional impact on first-time prisoners. He spoke about being continually troubled by the shooting event and its broader consequences, which included his father’s passing: "Not an hour goes by without me thinking about [the accident]... That night didn’t just claim one life; it claimed two. My dad had never been hospitalized in seventy years. That’s the ripple effect."

Indoor lacrosse involvement

Williams served as the principal owner of the New Jersey Storm franchise within the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team competed during the 2002 and 2003 seasons before relocating to Anaheim, California, becoming the Anaheim Storm. The franchise ceased operations prior to the start of the 2006 NLL season.

Published works

Following his NBA career, Williams authored Loose Balls: Easy Money, Hard Fouls, Cheap Laughs and True Love in the NBA (2001), a memoir blending humor with frank accounts of his experiences—including several reckless firearm incidents. Notably, former NFL athlete Wayne Chrebet narrowly escaped being shot, and Manute Bol’s uncle was threatened with an unloaded gun.

In 2012, he released Humbled ~ Letters From Prison, an autobiographical work exposing personal challenges such as childhood abuse.

His third book, titled Crashing: A Memoir, was published in December 2018.

Personal background

In 1996, during halftime of a nationally broadcast basketball game, Williams proposed to model Cynthia Bailey; however, their relationship ended subsequently. He wed Kellie Batiste in December 1999 but divorced shortly thereafter. In 2000, he married Tanya Young; together they had two daughters before divorcing in 2011. Young later appeared on VH1’s reality series Basketball Wives: LA.

Williams’ father, Elijah Joshua Williams, passed away from a stroke in 2009. He had three sisters—two succumbed to AIDS (one contracted through a blood transfusion following an assault), while the third was killed by her spouse in a murder-suicide.

Legacy

Williams earned a place in the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the 2016 class and was also honored by induction into the St. John's University athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"|1990–91 | style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia | 52 || 1 || 9.8 || .447 || .500 || .661 || 2.1 || .3 || .2 || .1 || 3.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"|1991–92 | style="text-align:left;"|Philadelphia | 50 || 8 || 12.9 || .364 || — || .636 || 2.9 || .2 || .4 || .4 || 4.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"|1992–93 | style="text-align:left;"|New Jersey | 12 || 2 || 11.6 || .457 || — || .389 || 3.4 || .0 || .3 || .3 || 4.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"|1993–94 | style="text-align:left;"|New Jersey | 70 || 0 || 12.5 || .427 || — || .605 || 3.8 || .4 || .2 || .5 || 4.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"|1994–95 | style="text-align:left;"|New Jersey | 75 || 6 || 13.1 || .461 || .000 || .533 || 5.7 || .5 || .3 || .4 || 4.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"|1995–96 | style="text-align:left;"|New Jersey | 80 || 6 || 23.2 || .423 || .286 || .592 || 10.0 || .6 || .4 || .7 || 9.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"|1996–97 | style="text-align:left;"|New Jersey | 41 || 40|| 34.9|| .409|| .000|| .590|| 13.5|| 1.2|| .6|| .9|| 13.4 |- | style="text-align:left;" |1997–98 | style="text-align:left;" |New Jersey |65||65||36.0|| .498|| .000|| .666|| 13.6||1.0||.7||.8||12.9 |- | style="text-align:left;" |1998–99 | style="text-align:left;" |New Jersey |30||30||34.0||.445||.000||.565||12.0||1.1||.8||.9||8.1 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career |475||158||20.6||.440||.125||.606||7.5||.6||.4||.6||7.3 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star |1||0||19.0||.667||—||—||10.0||1.0||0||0||4.0

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;" |1991 | style="text-align:left;" |Philadelphia |'\'4\|||0|||2.5|||.800||||1.0|||0|||0|||0|||2.0 |- | style="text-align:left;" |1994 | style="text-align:left;" |New Jersey |'\'2\|||0|||8.5|||'.000'||||.500|||1.5|||0|||0|||0|||0.5 |- | style="text-align:left;" |1998 | style="text-align:left;" |New Jersey |'\'3\|||2|||38.7|||'.429'||||.500|||14.0|||1.7|||.7|||.9|||7.0 |- class="sortbottom" |'\'Career\|'\'9\|'\'2\|'\'15.9\|'\'448\||||'.500'|'\'5\.4\|'\'\.6\|'\'\.2\|'\'\.3\|'\'3\.3\