Jay Williams Talks New Book, Consequences Of Bad Decision, Shares Old Stories On Bulls, Weed Munchies, Betting & More
(CBS) Former Duke star and Chicago Bull guard Jay Williams joined the Spiegel and Goff Show on Friday morning to talk about his new book, Life Is Not an Accident, A Memoir of Reinvention, which comes out Tuesday and focuses on his trials and tribulations of life after a motorcycle accident in June 2003 ended his playing career and eventually sent him into depression, an oxycontin addiction and an attempted suicide.
Williams was brutally honest in the interview, which you can listen to in its entirety here below or by visiting the 670 The Score podcast page.
Here are a few highlights of Williams' talk. Here's a link to his book on Amazon.com.
On why he's telling his story...
"It's one of these things, how do you pick yourself up from the mud? We've all been there. We've all had our own experiences and it's how you surround yourself with positive people. So why not lead with it? I'm not running away from it anymore. I'm actually embracing it."
On betting being prevalent on the 2002-'03 Bulls...
"I don't come from the world where you get on the plane after you lose a game by 20 and dudes are having 12-packs and guys are in the corner fading each other out, gambling, playing dice, there's over thousands of dollars on the floor. I'm in debt to Jamal Crawford for 20 grand in the middle of the season. And you're like, 'Hold on a second, I'm betting Eddy Curry on 3-point shots?' Eddy's like, 'Bet $1,000 for a three.' I'm like, 'Eddy, you are 6-11, bro, like you don't shoot threes.' OK, bet. Eddy would write me a check when the game was over, for like 6 or 7 K. I'm like, 'All right.'"
On Bulls players using marijuana before games...
"The only reason I know why a couple guys were high during games is because I smoked with guys in the offseason. I never smoked before games, but I had done that throughout the season. So if a guy's eyes are red and his pupils are dilated and he's asking me if I smell popcorn and there's 20,000 people around, yes I smell popcorn. We're at a basketball game, bro. We're in the second quarter. I need you to focus on defense right now. Stop having the munchies ... That's how my first year in the league was."
On the 2002-'03 Bulls' on-court troubles amid a 30-52 season...
"Say you get the ball with 15 seconds left on the shot clock. You jab and you're looking to make a move. I'm in the corner. All of a sudden, there's four seconds left on the shot clock. You head fake and all of a sudden you pass me the ball. I catch the ball with two seconds on the shot clock. Why am I supposed to do? I have to shot the ball. At the end of the game, when (teammates) don't care if you won or lost, and people come back in the locker room and are looking at the box score, it doesn't say, 'Hey Jay, you were 1-of-12 from the field and seven of the shots were bailouts with two seconds or less on the shot clock.' It just says 1-of-12.
"I found a counter move ... The next time you got the ball in the pinch post, two seconds to go on the shot clock and you pass me the ball, 'Oh, the ball goes out of bounds -- man, I'm sorry, my fault. I'll catch it next time.' You ain't going to set me up no more. So you got people sabotaging each other throughout the course of the season."
On what he wants people to take away from his book...
"Legacies are defined not by what happened to you or how it happened. It's how you pick yourself back up and you continue to fight each and every day."
Listen to the full interview below.
