[ESPN] - Jayson Williams Trys Out with Bulls Sad really. He has to make back all the money he lost hiring the best lawyers to get him off. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1907897 CLEVELAND -- Jayson Williams, acquitted in April of aggravated manslaughter in the shooting death of a limousine driver, worked out with the Cleveland Cavaliers this week. Jayson Williams Williams The 6-foot-10 forward retired from the New Jersey Nets in 2000 after career-ending leg and knee injuries. "He wants to play," said Cavaliers coach Paul Silas, who spent three seasons with Williams when he was an assistant with the Nets. "We worked him out a little bit, and he can still play. He can certainly help somebody." Silas said he did not know whether Cleveland would sign Williams, who worked out in Cleveland on Thursday. Williams, 36, was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter but found guilty of covering up the fatal shooting of a hired driver at his mansion in February 2002. The jury deadlocked on a reckless manslaughter count, and Williams is scheduled to be retried Jan. 10. Williams will not be sentenced until the remaining charge is settled. The possible sentences run from probation to about five years in prison on the cover-up charge, and 10 years on the reckless manslaughter charge. Williams was an All-Star in 1997-98, when he averaged 13.6 rebounds. During his nine-year career, Williams averaged 7.3 points and 7.5 rebounds.
The Cavs don't need him at all. What we need is a freakin three point shooter! We already have Z, Diop, Tractor and Gooden, and even though Diop and Tractor aren't that good they can still have SOME effect. But the lack of shooters we have is what's really gonna keep us from being a real threat. I wish Kapono was still around.
Jayson Williams is just another example about what's wrong with "celeb status" and the law... well actually "the rich" and the law. the guy shot someone then tried to cover it up... that's being totally selfish... like it's only him involved... he killed someone's dad... your first reaction is what usually is most telling about your character regardless of what your state of mind is... and this dude had to think about himself yes along with Wacko Jacko...J.Williams and Jacko can be cell mates... wonder what J.Williams would do then
I know that Cleveland's a little desperate after the whole Boozer debacle, but this is a bit ridiculous. Gooden, Traylor, and now Jayson Williams? Are they just trying to get a whole bunch of big men and pray that one of them isn't going to suck?
fun read on JWms and JVG etc: Scott Ostler This NBA season is already a real blast Thursday, October 28, 2004 It's already a great NBA season and it hasn't even started. If you needed a reminder that the NBA is still the NBA, only more so, you would have found it recently in the small-print NBA notes, an item about the Cavaliers giving a tryout to Jayson Williams, who is retired and attempting a comeback. Although Williams was acquitted of manslaughter charges in the shotgun death of his chauffeur, it's pretty much agreed that had he never hooked up with Williams, the chauffeur probably would be a lot healthier today. Now, Williams stands accused of the shotgun assassination of his Rottweiler "Zeus" because the pooch caused Jayson to lose a $100 bet. Williams allegedly pointed the gun at the man who won the bet and told him to clean up the dead-dog mess "or you're next." If Williams makes the Cavs, will he be put in charge of rookie hazing? Will he utter the five most-feared words in the NBA -- "Team party at my place"? Can Jayson stop shooting himself in the foot? Will LeBron James serve as a stabilizing influence on Williams? Those are some of the burning questions of the upcoming NBA season. A few others: -- Is this the last season American players will play in the NBA? Foreign players have made a huge impact on the NBA in recent years. Foreign-player stock went up at the Olympics, where the U.S. dunkmeisters were humiliated by sharpshooting, sharp-passing, team-concept nobodies from Lower Nowherevia. The Spurs start four foreign-born players. So does Utah. At least 14 of the 30 teams start a foreign-born center. Scouts and execs have to be asking themselves, Why bother with American players? Except for the TrailBlazers, who do their scouting by watching "America's Most Wanted." Incidentally, the NBA has informed the Charlotte Bobcats that Primoz Brezec cannot be sold without a prescription. -- When will Kobe explode? Bryant's legal problems and the parting shots taken at him by ex-coach Phil Jackson and ex-center Shaq O'Neil have only strengthened Kobe's, shall we say, sense of self. How long before Kobe demands his own plane, refusing to ride the cattle- car charter jet with his teammates, who snore and hog the best ice cream? -- Where do the Portland TrailBlazers find these guys? First the 'Blazers, as stable as Mount St. Helens, pick up Warriors castoff (!) Nick Van Aggravation. Then they draft Qyntel Woods, a JC kid who has been in drug rehab and who, when pulled over by a cop and asked to produce an ID, pulled out a Qyntel Woods bubblegum card. Woods is on suspension while police investigate charges that he abandoned his pit bull "Hollywood" because she refused to fight. -- Will someone please open an obedience school for NBA players' dogs? -- How did the Blazers let the Cavs beat them to Jayson Williams? -- Allen Iverson? AI is always the question. Makes you wonder why they call him the Answer. Maybe it's like calling a fat guy Slim. -- Will Jeff Van Gundy explode, or merely flip his combover? Of all the tightly-wound, oblivious-to-reality coaches in the league, JV might be No. 1. Among coaches who let their guys run and play freely, Van Gundy is No. 30. His Rockets played in China, it was Yao Ming's homecoming, and Van Gundy set the big guy on the bench for most of the second half. The Rockets played in Orlando and new Rocket Tracy McGrady (ex-Orlando) was hot for revenge against his old team, and the fans were howling for McGrady. So Van Gundy sat McGrady the whole game. "I had a high going," McGrady said. "He ruined my high." Wouldn't it be more fun if Van Buzzkill coached the TrailBlazers? -- Has 'Melo invented the league's hot new defense? Carmelo Anthony, caught with pot in his backpack at the airport, claimed it was left there accidentally by a friend who borrowed the pack. Turns out the friend is a member of 'Melo's posse who is in charge of arranging parties, and the guy was more than willing to sign an affidavit accepting the blame. Now every NBA star will want to add a guy to his entourage who, in NBA parlance, is willing to take the charge. -- Can anyone fly higher than Kobe? Gary Payton, who melded so seamlessly into the Lakers' chemistry last year, started his stint with the Celtics by refusing to report to training camp until the team chartered him a Gulfstream IV for the flight. -- Will Vince Carter, sued by his ex-agent for breach of contract, plead not guilty by reason of Vinsanity? -- Whither the Warriors? Wither the Warriors? E-mail Scott Ostler at sostler@sfchronicle.com. Page D - 1
xiki - don't forget the link! Forgetting links makes Baby Jesus cry! Also, be ready to pay up on that "Hinrich gets traded by the opener" bet! Word is, Jayson Williams did really well in his workout, and the Cavs would love to have him possibly challenge Gooden for minutes at PF. They probably won't sign him, though, since the public backlash has been a big PR hit in itself. Evan
This is Brilliant. NBA posses with one role for a designated confessor. Imagine the trouble Kobe could have saved. "No, that wasn't Kobe. That was actually me... um... I was wearing a latex Kobe mask. It's very realistic. And um... he loaned me some of his DNA because I was running low. We're tight that way."
Oh, that wasn't me -- a member of my posse left it in his bag. She's so sorry. PS Pax is gonna make me pay -- should I even bother to wait til next week?
