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Posted on Tue, Jun. 06, 2006
No longer Memphis showboat
Jason Williams curtailed theatrics and got a title shot.
BY ISRAEL GUTIERREZ
igutierrez@MiamiHerald.com
It all matters to Jason Williams.
It might not look like it when he's bouncing basketballs off the gym walls and through the hoop just to prove he can. Or when he's flinging the ball clear across the practice court to try to hit a defenseless Michael Doleac.
It's during moments such as those that Williams seems like the carefree, kid-at-heart point guard who couldn't care less about his fall from grace in Sacramento or his countless losses and ugly confrontations in Memphis.
But it all hangs with Williams, even if he won't let it show. Williams wouldn't use phrases such as, ''Winning cures everything,'' if there wasn't something to cure. He wouldn't offer, ''If we win, what can they say?'' if he didn't care what people said.
That's why this eight-year journey to the NBA Finals has been so rewarding for the Heat's starting point guard. And why four more wins and an NBA title would be the ultimate validation.
If Williams becomes an NBA champion, it'll finally overshadow what had been a turbulent first seven years.
''If I get that ring,'' Williams said, ``that's all that really matters.''
DIAMOND IN ROUGH
There were times when Williams never thought he would matter this much. Early on in the NBA Draft process, the Orlando Magic, Williams' preferred destination, thought more highly of one-shot wonder Bryce Drew of Valparaiso than it did of Williams. Still, the skinny, 6-1 ball-handling wizard from Florida impressed enough to be drafted seventh overall by the Sacramento Kings, giving him a stage he never had.
And while he mesmerized his audience with his hypnotic crossovers and unpredictable passes, Williams' act was missing a director.
''I like Rick Adelman and those guys out there [in Sacramento],'' Jason's father, Terry Williams, said. 'But in a way I think they did Jason a disservice. He goes out there and they threw him the basketball and said, `Go play,' with no direction. He'd throw crazy passes and turnovers and they'd never take him out of the game, just leave him in. I just think he needed some direction, some leadership. They just let him do whatever he wanted to do.''
Soon, despite the Kings' newfound success that included three consecutive playoff appearances, critics of Williams emerged, saying he was all style with not enough substance to lead a team deep into the playoffs.
PECULIAR METHODS
His coach, Adelman, would eventually use Williams as a token starter, keeping him on the bench in crucial moments, including most fourth quarters. Williams wouldn't have minded the decisions so much if he knew why they were being made. And he wasn't about to ask why.
''According to him, he got no response as to why it happened,'' Terry Williams said. 'Jason's not the kind of person's that's going to say, `What's wrong?' We tried to get him to go in and talk to Rick Adelman and those guys, and he wouldn't do it.''
So after three years of dwindling responsibilities, Williams was traded to Memphis, where a fresh start came with a catch: losing.
Under Sidney Lowe, the Grizzlies went 23-67 in the year-plus Williams played for him. And when word came about who would be Memphis' next coach, Williams was concerned.
'When Hubie Brown came in, we said, `Oh, Lord, this isn't going to work,' '' Terry Williams said.
Apparently, Brown, who had previously been an analyst for NBA broadcasts on TNT, had nothing good to say about Williams during Williams' time with the Kings.
''I watch games on TNT,'' Williams said. ``That's all I do. And when I was a rookie and stuff, he was working for TNT, commentating. I heard some things that he said.''
It didn't take long before a conversation quelled those fears. Williams had finally found a coach with whom he could work.
''He said he was going to let me play,'' Williams said of Brown. 'He said `Go out and throw the ball behind your back on a fast break, and if it goes in the third row, next time try it with your left hand.' Once he said that, I knew he was for real.''
PERSONALITY CLASH
But even that ended poorly. One of Brown's assistants was his son, Brendan, whose personality conflicted with Williams'. The two eventually got into a nasty shouting match during a game while Williams was on the bench.
That relationship forced Hubie Brown to approach Grizzlies president Jerry West about trading Williams.
''I think his son, he was calling most of the sets and things like that, and pretty much, I don't want to say running things, but he had a lot to do with what was going on,'' Williams said. ``He was just a [jerk], man, to me. That was the problem in Memphis, just his son. I never had a problem with Hubie.
``Hubie's got to do what he's got to do, but at the same time, I don't know if he really wanted to do it. I think he knew that I wasn't wrong. I mean, I was wrong with the way I handled it, probably, but I think he knew his son was wrong, too.''
It wasn't Williams who ended up leaving first -- Hubie Brown retired early in the 2004-05 season, citing health reasons. Williams finished that season playing under Mike Fratello, who also clashed with his point guard.
PARTING SHOT
Williams' last game with Memphis featured a locker-room confrontation with a local newspaper columnist that was caught on camera and replayed countless times. It was probably the most national airtime Williams received in four years of playing for a small-market, mediocre team such as the Grizzlies. And it was clear he would be moved in the offseason.
Early word from Williams' agent last summer was that Boston would be his destination. But after more time gathering details, Williams knew he was headed to a dream situation: playing alongside Orlando neighbor Shaquille O'Neal and star backcourt mate Dwyane Wade.
''A lot of that is good for him because he knew going into Miami that he wasn't going to be the focal point,'' Terry Williams said. ``Those guys had a whole lot more accolades than Jason ever thought about having.''
And in just his first season with the Heat, Williams is on the brink of earning the ultimate accolade: champion. If it works out to his liking, all the baggage from the past seven years won't matter.
A ring would make him truly carefree once again.
''They can't take that away from me,'' Williams said.