From ESPN: The Yao Ming talks are breaking down ... The news spread like wildfire Tuesday afternoon when top prospects gathered in New York City. It wasn't true. Another piece of fiction getting in the way of the facts, writes ESPN.com's Andy Katz. The article goes on to say: NEW YORK -- Jay Williams entered an interview room at the Sheraton in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday looking more confused about his draft status than at any point over the past two months. Why? There was a rumor circulating that the Yao Ming-Houston negotiations were suddenly not going so smoothly. The latest episode of the Yao chronicles had the deal off, sending the entire lottery in flux. Williams wouldn't be heading to Chicago. Instead, Houston -- a team Williams didn't work out for -- could be taking Williams No. 1 and trading him to parts unknown. Jay Williams didn't know who to believe when reporters converged on him Tuesday in New York City. "I'm still nervous because I keep hearing different rumors about what may or may not happen," said Williams, who only worked out and talked to Chicago and Golden State, teams who own the second and third picks in Wednesday night's NBA draft. "I have no idea what's happening," Williams admitted. "I'm hearing a lot of things, stuff about the Clippers making a trade for me if the Yao Ming thing doesn't work out ... and supposedly, it's not going well. They're putting pressure on him to sign things and it's not going well." Or so Jay thought. If it were true, you know, about Yao. Well, it wasn't, at least not according to the Rockets who told ESPN.com that they're "moving full steam ahead" in selecting Yao with the first overall pick. Separating fact from fiction has been the toughest part of the draft process for the players, the NBA execs and the media for that matter. Sure, it all starts by trying to make sense of Yao's draft status. The top of the lottery depended so much on what ultimately happened in Houston's attempts to get Yao to the NBA. But the Yao saga isn't the only reason players projected to be selected throughout the first round weren't looking too confident on Tuesday .. (more stuff unrelated to the Rockets) Don't know if this was already posted here, but it looks like ESPN, at least, is trying to stay to the known facts, and call the rumors what they are: rumors with no basis in fact. Hope this helps calm those nerves a bit over the next 18 hours or so.. of course, what would REALLY calm me down nicely is the official OFFICIAL notice from the CBA, Rockets, FIBA, and everyone else that this thing is finally DONE. Something tells me, though, that this thing is going to drag on through the summer.. *SIGH*
Well, full steam ahead till the draft! We are all just nervous and would take any bits of news and try break it down. Nothing will come me down, unless The CBA clears Yao with or without receiving written assurance from the Rockets or The Rockets officially states that they will draft Yao even without the clearance before hand Until that happens, we'll just have to wait till draft time to find out. This is exciting and agonising at the same time. -G'day-
With the last few days' reports, I decided that I don't like JayWilliams or his (alleged) attitude. Screw him. I hope he does go to the Clips and is Sterling's errand boy and is fetching jock straps for Eric Piatkowski, "But at Duke we were awesome! Automatic bid, I'm the man, Where's Shane?" Whatever, welcome to reality, Jay.
