Poll: How Would Jay Williams' NBA Career Have Turned Out?

[Hoopography]

'03 Upper Deck Ultimate Auto RCNo, not the Jason Williams who hooped it up with Randy Moss during his high school days, nor the former New Jersey Nets Jayson Williams. I get confused myself with so many NBA'ers named Jason Williams, but I'm talking about the former Duke University star from earlier in the decade. I'm sure many fans and collectors have forgotten about the once dynamic point guard. It's been almost a decade since his playing days, and there have been a plethora of point guards in Chicago since. Although I'm not a huge fan, Derrick Rose is doing a great job of making Bulls fans forget about Mr. Williams. I know he's currently a collegiate basketball analyst for ESPN, but he was at one time an unstoppable force on the court. He was one of the most explosive guards I've ever seen and could also stroke it from deep. I watched the former N.J. State Mr. Basketball Award winner play in high school and thought there was nothing he couldn't do. While at Duke, it seemed that was true. Unfortunately for Williams, we truly are the sum of the decisions we make, as positive or reckless as those decisions might be.


'03 Upper Deck Ultimate Dual Jersey RCMr. Williams was well on his way to a great start of his NBA career as the #2 overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls until a motorcycle accident nearly claimed his life after his rookie season. Williams hit a streetlight in Chicago in '03. He did not have a licence to operate a motorcycle in Illinois, nor was he wearing a helmet. In fact, Williams was not supposed to be on a motorcycle at all as his contract with the Bulls stated. He suffered a number of horrific injuries that put walking agin in jeopardy, never mind playing professional basketball. Williams actually made a comeback in 2007 with the N.J. Nets averaging 3.8 points 0.6 assists and 2.6 turnovers/game, but was released after 5 games.

I recently picked up a few RC's of Williams as I'm a dork for basketball history, and he's certainly apart of that history. There's no questioning Williams' place in collegiate basketball history. In only 3 years, he managed to become the 5th all-time leading scoring when he left Dunk with 2,079 points and lead the Blue Devils to the 2001 NCAA Championship. Williams also won the Naismith and Wooden Awards as college basketball's best player in 2002. He is often regarded as one of the best collegiate players ever, and is on many top 100 lists. So what NBA history would Williams have cut out for himself had he not gotten hurt? How would Jay Williams' NBA career have turned out?

How Would Jay Williams' NBA Career Have Turned Out?online surveys

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[key2win]

Jay Williams could have been a good point guard if he didnt get injured. At least as good as Jameer Nelson, Devin Harris, and Andre Miller in my opinion. I remember when he first came out, I had a 02-03 UD Authentics Jay Williams RC #/499 that was worth $50 at that time. I paid $18 for it on EBAY. Its only worth $6 now. Luckily I was able to trade that before it went down for $50 worth of Kobe RCs.

[OriolesFan]

To keep my answer simple, and to the point - it'll never be known. Some players that are really good when they're drafted end up being disappointments (example in baseball - Ben McDonald) and/or out soon, or never in the bigs (example baseball - Justin Orenduff - made it to triple "A", no "bigs" - #33 in 04 draft). On the other hand, others that weren't drafted or were drafted very very very low become great (example in baseball - Mike Piazza - I think he was picked in the 62 round). And there are many many many others. So, as I said, it'll never be known.