Goodbye, Jason Williams

I was watching ESPNEWS the other night as I always do before falling asleep. For those of you who are not familiar with the programming, there is a small ticker on the bottom of the screen that announces the most important sports news throughout the day, or at least some of the most recent.

Well, like most people, my eyes go back and forth from the actual programming to the ticker, but sometimes I usually miss something.

The other night while I was watching, I could have sworn I saw something pertaining to Jason Williams, who just so happens to be my favorite NBA player.

Knowing that I had missed it, I waited until the news presented itself again - and it did.

To my surprise, my favorite NBA player had decided to retire just 10 years into his playing career.


As of today, no true news has been announced for the reasoning of this retirement. Williams has had a few years in a row where knee injuries has limited his playing time, and perhaps hindered his ability, but he was still a very capable NBA player - and still ahead of most point guards in the league.

The news is rather sudden, as I announced a month or two ago that Williams had signed a new contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, and would be backing up Baron Davis. So it sort of bewilders me that he has decided to call it quits without even heading into training camp.

Williams came into the league in 1998 as the No. 7 draft pick of the Sacramento Kings. Thanks to his street ball-like abilities, Williams became an instant hit with the fans, and with Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and Chris Webber, led a talented Kings team into the playoffs for the first time in awhile.

After three seasons in Sacramento, the Kings gave up on Williams as they thought a player with turnover problems would never be able to lead them to the championship. So, Williams was shipped to Memphis for Mike Bibby.

While a Grizzlie, Williams helped lead a franchise who had never been to the playoffs, nor had a winning season, win over 50 games and make the playoffs. The Grizzlies were swept in both playoff contests, but were finally relevant.

That is until Memphis shipped Williams to the Miami Heat in one of the biggest trades ever. Williams became a member of the Heat along with James Posey and Antoine Walker, who joined Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade. In that season, Williams would win his first NBA championship.

To this date, the Sacramento Kings nor Mike Bibby have even been to the NBA Finals.

The past few seasons, Williams has been struck with the injury bug and his play had deminished because of it. He was still the eighth best in assist/turnover ratio last season, and even had a 34 point game against Orlando.

Although I hope this retirement is that via Brett Favre or Roger Clemens (meaning he'll be back soon), I am happy I got to see him play. He was very fun to watch, and his maturation as both a person and a player was great to see.

I'll miss you J-Dub.

Williams lands in exile?

I am a pretty big sports fan. I absolutely love the NFL, but my favorite sport since the fourth grade (the day I started playing) has been basketball.

I am not what you would call a tall person, 5'10", so throughout my basketball career I have always been a guard. So naturally, I have always gravitated towards guards in the NBA as my favorite to watch.

When I first got interested in basketball, the Chicago Bulls were on top of the world thanks to Michael Jordan. But, everyone was a Jordan fan - and if they weren't then it was most likely Scottie Pippen. I, however, noticed the short point guard who was nailing all of the 3's - B.J. Armstrong. So, for a good while, Armstrong became my favorite NBA player.

When Armstrong retired it was right around the time that a pretty exciting player was entering the league for the Sacramento Kings - Jason Williams.

I had seen Williams a few times when he played for Florida, but was not fully aware of his capabilities until his rookie season for the Kings. He was like a breath of fresh air. His moves were absolutely amazing. He was like an artist with the basketball, and could see the entire court, which made for excellent and pretty crazy passes.

Williams landed in Sacramento the same year the Kings landed Chris Webber and Vlade Divac, and for the first time in awhile Sacramento was a challenger in the NBA's Western Conference.

Williams lasted four seasons in Sacramento, the Kings started to believe that due to Williams' sometimes erratic play that he could never lead Sacramento to an NBA title - so he was traded to Memphis for Mike Bibby (who also never led the Kings to an NBA title).

While a Grizzly, Williams, along with Pau Gasol and Shane Battier, actually made the team relevant for the first time in franchise history - even winning 50 games one season and claiming the sixth seed in the playoffs. They got swept each year in those playoffs, but for a team that had never been there - they were actually respectable.

Finally, Williams was again traded, to the Miami Heat - and teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal to win his first NBA title (as a starting point guard - didn't think it could be done Sacramento?) in the 2005-06 season.

Williams has fallen on hard times as of late in the injury department, but has still been plenty productive - finishing last season 12th in steals per game and eighth in assist/turnover ratio.

The Heat, who completely fell apart last season, have decided to go in a different direction - so it was unsure whether Williams would return, or where he would end up.

I frantically have been checking the transactions, but no deals for Williams have been listed - until last night. Williams has signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. Yes, the Clippers.

I am not sure how to take this. Obviously, Williams is going to be the backup point guard to newly signed Baron Davis. But, the Clippers have had like one decent season in a decade. There looks to be some promise on the roster, but are they a playoff team?

I guess we will just have to wait and see. I am happy, however, that Williams landed with another NBA team and didn't take a deal that would have him playing overseas - which was apparently offered.

Good Luck in Clipperland, Jason. I hope to see you in the playoffs.