Jayson Williams to serve at least 18 months in jail

[Andrew]

Jayson Williams pleads guilty in fatal NJ shooting

Former NBA star Jayson Williams, his personal life in shambles, took responsibility for accidentally shooting his limousine driver to death eight years ago by pleading guilty Monday to assault and agreeing to serve at least 18 months in prison.

Williams was awaiting retrial on a reckless manslaughter count but pleaded guilty to the lesser aggravated assault count for the 2002 death of Costas Christofi.

Williams remained poised during the hearing and mostly answered yes and no questions, though he did tell the judge that he had not fully checked a shotgun he was showing off to friends before snapping it closed.

“I didn’t look in the direction the muzzle of the gun was pointed,” he said, before admitting that his handling of the gun was reckless and that the gunshot caused Christofi’s death.

Williams, who was charged with drunken driving after crashing his SUV into a tree in New York last week, had stitches visible above his right eye.

Seems the whole sad saga is finally coming to an end.

[Kenny]

What a train wreck. I actually thought he was a pretty good centre during his time in the league... an absolute beast on the boards. Too bad his wikipedia page is just filled with his off court indiscretions. In saying that, they probably outweigh what he did actually do in his career.

[Andrew]

I just had a look, sad indeed. It reads more like the biography of public menace who briefly dabbled in professional basketball than a former NBA player who was enjoying a respectable career before a serious injury forced his retirement, followed by a string of reckless behaviour and criminal charges. There's quite a bit to the story, but everything before 2002 has basically been relegated to the status of a brief mandatory prologue, and not just in the Wikipedia article.

[benji]

To be fair, all you have to do is read Loose Balls and you could fill out the part before and during his career with "reckless behavior and criminal charges."

[Andrew]

Yes, the story of him coming close to accidentally shooting an NFL player while skeet-shooting turned out to be disturbingly prophetic.

[Stephenie]

I would like for someone to tell me how race played a part in his drunk a** killing another person. The question I have for Jason is simple: "Are you Stupid?! Or just Dumb!"......Another reckless life out of control due to money, alcohol, ego and a basketball player that wasn't that good!



NFL draft

[J@3]

To be fair, all you have to do is read Loose Balls and you could fill out the part before and during his career with "reckless behavior and criminal charges."

Yeah pretty much, he came across as a bit of a headcase (albeit a funny one) in that book, not shocked at how things have turned out for him.

[Kenny]

I saw him do commentary on the US Open once. He seemed like a pretty amusing guy. Him and Corie Blount would make a fierce front court of a prison basketball team.

[hova-]

Don't forget Keon Clark.