That's what I'm saying, guy…

Jayson Williams, dealing with some drama

I opened ESPN.com this morning and found a headline that read “Former NBA Player Williams Hospitalized”. A little vague, no? After all, about 617 Williamses have suited up in the NBA over the past 10 years alone. Anyway, after clicking the link, I discovered that former New Jersey Net Jayson Williams was taken to hospital early this morning after being Tasered during a suicidal freak-out at a Manhattan hotel.

I remember reading an article in Sports Illustrated about Jayson Williams years ago. Apparently he lost two sisters to AIDS when he was a teenager, one of whose two children he legally adopted at age 22. After that, he turned in a pretty successful NBA career before it ended in 2000 due to a broken leg. In February 2002, he accidentally shot and killed his limo driver while giving a drunken tour of his mansion. That was seven years ago, and he’s still yet to be sentenced. If I were Williams, I’d be counting my lucky stars instead of trying to kill myself…

I was a fan of Williams during his playing career, but I remember reading articles about the night he killed his limo driver and witnesses saying he’d been making fun of the guy all night. Come on, not even Eddy Curry treats limo drivers that badly. Then, this February, Williams’ wife filed for divorce, claiming “cruel and inhumane treatment” — that Williams faked stomach cancer, kept cocaine in his drawer and even peed in the sink (again, something Eddy Curry wouldn’t even do). Oh yeah, she also claimed he refilled his Cialis prescriptions despite limited sexual contact between the couple.

So yeah, Jayson Williams sounds like a terrific guy. I try to be non-judgemental when it comes to stuff like this (suicide, I mean), but even with his rough background and all, there has to be some element of responsibility. Williams shows none. I don’t know, maybe he’s just really, really annoyed that everytime his name is mentioned, he gets mistaken for one of the 14 other active NBA players that share his name (first and last, that is).

(UPDATE: In my attempt to portray Jayson Williams as a horrible human being, I forgot this nugget: He killed a dog once too.)