A walking firecracker in attack, capable of drawing faster than his shadow on the counterattack but also and above all of having crazy inspirations in passing and dribbling, Jason Williams is often associated with the Sacramento Kings. But it is on the other side of the country, in Miami, that “White Chocolate” will achieve NBA title immortality.
For his teammates at the time, Udonis Haslem, and Mike Miller, now podcast hosts, both of whom also came to Gainesville, Williams was a huge inspiration. Especially after his game at Kentucky, a victory for the Gators (86-78) with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists from J-Will who had then made his first five shots, already displaying all his offensive talent both from afar and in the paint.
A fleeting and “smoky” passage in Florida
In training, in Memphis where the two men have already shared a locker room, Miller says that Jason Williams could not help himself with a few fantasies. Like this 3-on-1 that the point guard transformed in his own way, by stuffing the ball into his jersey after a strong dribble, and sending it to the opposite side, like a blind pass, with the help of the jersey!
A little prodigy with a ball in hand, young Jason soon attracts the envy of renowned universities, including Kentucky. But at the same time he attracts a lot of trouble because of his behavior at school.
Which earned him a forced stay at Fork Union, a military academy in Virginia. Then a detour to the small university of Marshall… where he followed Billy Donovan, at his beginnings in coaching.
“Billy [Donovan] was at Kentucky when he started recruiting me. But when it came time to make a decision, [Rick] Pitino wanted a freshman who could play big minutes right away. He didn't think I was ready. They stopped recruiting me, but Billy went to Marshall. While I was at Fork Union, I knew I was going to play for Billy at Marshall. After that, I followed him to Florida,” he says. “But they didn't like my extracurricular activities there, if you know what I mean! I got along with the guys on the football team, who had the same habits and they never had any problems. But hey, they were winning championships and all that. Winning erases everything else. They had nice cars and we drove around in Chevy Cavaliers.”
Having only appeared for about fifteen games in total with the Gators, J-Will didn't last long when he had to give up his ” cigarette in left hand” as Billy Donovan called him…
“In my case, I failed a first test and Billy told me he couldn’t keep me if I failed a second one. He warned me but at the same time, I told him it was going to happen, at some point. Because I wasn’t going to stop [de fumer]. He received me in his office and he had a bag with all the equipment that he had emptied from my locker room. And he threw it in my face and yelled at me: ah, so you prefer to choose cigarettes instead of your career. To say that to me, when I have never smoked a single cigarette in my life! But I understood what he meant and he was very, very angry! For my part, I did not know what I was going to do with my skin, knowing that my father, a police officer by profession, was not going to appreciate it either. Billy offered me to come to his place but, since I was going to continue smoking, it was not going to work. So, in the end, I ended up in Orlando, through Nick Anderson, who had seen me play against Florida State at the Magic Arena. His agency had contacted me and I lived in Orlando while going to the Draft and the workouts beforehand.
From one Jason to another
Inevitably under a little more pressure after his truncated NCAA season at Florida, and a single season with 13 points and 6 assists at Marshall before that, Jason Williams put in double the effort during workouts, sometimes trying somewhat daring things on the boards…
” I had a better chance of peeing in a hot sauce bottle than I did of pulling off that dunk.. But I was there doing it, trying to impress. [les scouts] ! »
Finally drafted by the Kings in the seventh pick, the young leader quickly proved that he had a place in the Big League, finishing simply in the best five rookies with 13 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals on average. By copiously feeding the highlights weekly of its luminous passes before finishing in the Top 5 best-selling jerseys for his rookie year.
“We had a good little team. We were kind of lucky because we only played fifty games because it was a lockout year,” he recalls. “We moved really quickly. We played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, in LA, Seattle and Denver… And we only had to come once, for two weeks on the East Coast, to play all our games against them in one go. On top of that, we didn't have a backup point guard to speak of, so my coach let me do my thing, he had no other choice!”
A whimsical leader best known for his vision and his sense of spectacle, Jason Williams had already explained elsewhere that he had grown up with a ball constantly in his hands. But he also closely followed another Jason, who, like him (who never exceeded 38% at 3-pointers in his career), had difficulty finding his balance on the outside shot.
“This is Jason Kidd. That's the only jersey I had at the time. The Mavs' #5. I didn't know if the guy was white or black, but all I knew was that he was going to get the ball and run the other way and dunk or throw passes behind his back. I followed him from the beginning. He was so cool. But then, when I was playing against him, I always tried to keep him in front of me and keep him close, because I knew if he got past me and he threw a shot, there was going to be a teammate who was going to look at me the wrong way.”
Jason Williams sends Pat Riley to the operating room!
Also aware of his limitations, whether in shooting or in defense, J-Will is also very humble about his incredible offensive quality, especially in the fast game, with wingers capable of running on the wings. Like a certain Olivier Saint-Jean at his NBA debut in Sacramento.
Crowned champion at the end of his career, almost on a misunderstanding, the “White Chocolate” preferred by NBA fans is in any case a hell of a character, endearing, whole and often disconcerting. With anecdotes galore and a (Virginian) verve all his own. You only have to ask Pat Riley if you don't believe us…
“I don’t really remember how it started. I think he brought me in and I didn’t take an open shot and he brought me out because of that. He puts me back in a little bit later and I swear to you, on the first play, I have a wide open shot. I’m like, oh, no, not already and [j’ai passé la balle]. Ooh, Riles didn't like that, I can tell you! [rires] I'm telling you now that I wouldn't do this again if I had the chance! I go back to the bench. At halftime, he always went to his office, and he usually came back ten minutes before the restart to give his instructions. Now, two minutes in, he still hadn't come back! And then, the next day, he shows up with a paper bag that he was breathing in and he says to me as he comes closer to me: you're making me hyperventilate. I don't understand what's going on. What do you want me to do about it, boss? He runs to the locker room and he tries to kick in the door. Boom, he twists his meniscus! And now, it's all J-Will's fault!
| Jason Williams | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 1998-99 | BAG | 50 | 36 | 37.4 | 31.0 | 75.2 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 6.0 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 0.0 | 12.8 |
| 1999-00 | BAG | 81 | 34 | 37.3 | 28.7 | 75.3 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 7.3 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 0.1 | 12.3 |
| 2000-01 | BAG | 77 | 30 | 40.7 | 31.5 | 78.9 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 5.4 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 0.1 | 9.4 |
| 2001-02 | MEM | 65 | 34 | 38.2 | 29.5 | 79.2 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 0.1 | 14.8 |
| 2002-03 | MEM | 76 | 32 | 38.8 | 35.4 | 84.0 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 8.3 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.1 | 12.1 |
| 2003-04 | MEM | 72 | 29 | 40.7 | 33.0 | 83.7 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 6.8 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 0.1 | 10.9 |
| 2004-05 | MEM | 71 | 28 | 41.3 | 32.4 | 79.2 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 5.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 10.1 |
| 2005-06 | MIA | 59 | 32 | 44.2 | 37.2 | 86.7 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 4.9 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 12.3 |
| 2006-07 | MIA | 61 | 31 | 41.3 | 33.9 | 91.3 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 5.3 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 10.9 |
| 2007-08 | MIA | 67 | 28 | 38.4 | 35.3 | 86.3 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 8.8 |
| 2009-10 | ENT | 82 | 21 | 44.4 | 38.0 | 75.6 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3.6 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 6.0 |
| 2010-11 * | All Teams | 27 | 11 | 32.8 | 26.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| 2010-11 * | ENT | 16 | 11 | 34.2 | 30.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 2.1 |
| 2010-11 * | MEM | 11 | 11 | 31.0 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.9 |
| Total | 788 | 29 | 39.8 | 32.7 | 81.3 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 0.1 | 10.5 | |
How to read the stats? GM = Games Played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots Made / Shots Attempted; 3pts = 3-pointers / 3-pointers Attempted; LF = Free Throws Made / Free Throws Attempted; Off = Offensive Rebound; Def = Defensive Rebound; Tot = Total Rebounds; Pd = Assists; Fte: Personal Fouls; Int = Steals; Bp = Loose Balls; Ct: Blocks; Pts = Points.
