Jay Williams' Comments On Bulls Smoking Weed Overshadows Amazing NYT Profile

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 12, 2013 7:00PM

The New York Times published a captivating profile of ESPN college basketball analyst (and former Bull) Jay Williams that details his NBA struggles and the problems he had coping with life after the June 2003 motorcycle crash that effectively ended his playing days.

Williams ran his motorcycle into a light pole on the Northwest side, fractured his pelvis, suffered three torn knee ligaments and nerve damage in his leg. He made a point to note the Bulls went above and beyond his contract by covering his medical bills and other expenses, and received support from his former Duke teammates Carlos Boozer and Chris Duhon, and coach Mike Krzyzewski.

But Williams said he considered suicide even as he worked to rehab his leg.

“I remember lying in my bed,” he said. “And I’m just tired of being here. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I was so afraid to face people. And I didn’t really know who I was. And I didn’t really want anybody to see me. And I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I didn’t want to talk about it.” Williams glanced at his mother, Althea Williams, as he recounted the story. He continued: “I mean, to the point where I sat there, and I had this pair of scissors in my hand. I just kept going on my wrist. I wasn’t trying to go sideways. I was going vertical. I didn’t want to be here. At all.”

Williams obviously recovered and is now in a good place. But the aspects of the story that sports media outlets are latching on to is Williams’ claims his Bulls teammates (sans Duhon) supported him as he worked to come back.

Oh, and the 2002-03 Bulls really liked their weed.

“I didn’t know how to handle it at first,” Williams said. “I didn’t know how to be around it. Guys were on the bench, trying to kick it to girls in the stands, having ball boys run over. I mean, some guys were high.” Asked to clarify, Williams said: “There were guys smoking weed before games. Guys asking in the middle of the game, ‘Do you smell popcorn?’ ” He noticed the nervous laughter around the kitchen table. “You think I’m playing,” Williams said. “Can you imagine! Guys are gambling. They’re playing dice in the back of the plane for money. Like, we just lost by 30 tonight! And we’ve got a game tomorrow! It bugged me out.”

The years 2002 and 2003 were part of the Bulls’ dark period between the Jordan Era and the Rose Era; we can’t begrudge any member of that team if they wanted to dull their senses a bit to numb themselves to the fact they were on some awful teams. (Deadspin even ranked the members of that team based on their likeliness to get stoned.)

Former teammates Rick Brunson and Donyell Marshall responded to Williams’ comments in the Tribune. Brunson, now coaching in Charlotte, told K.C. Johnson “when you make blanket statements, you incriminate everyone. Marshall, concurred.

"My thing is, why say these things now?" said Donyell Marshall, one of the team leaders from 2002-03. "You don't need to be making people assume. You're messing up situations for other people. Now, instead of Fred (Hoiberg, coach of Iowa State) focusing on the NCAA tournament or whatever, he's got to deal with that (crap)."