Jayson Williams Reportedly Not Invited To Nets' Last Game In NJ
NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) -- The Nets will say goodbye to New Jersey on Monday night, though it seems three of their top stars from the Garden State era won't be at the ceremony.
Dallas point guard Jason Kidd and Portland assistant Herb Williams, still active in the NBA, will have to skip out. Another notable absence will be the troubled Jayson Williams, who wasn't invited by the team to participate, the New York Daily News reported.
1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg reports
Podcast
"I don't think there is a person who loves the Nets as much as I do — from our fans, all the employees in the arenas, the front office personnel and the owners," Williams said through his manager, according to the paper. "I will always be loyal to our fans and the Nets."
Williams was freed from jail earlier this month after serving eight months for drunken driving in New York and 18 months before that in New Jersey on charges stemming from the shooting death of limo driver Costas Christofi.
The New Jersey chapter will end for all practical purposes Monday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. It will be the Nets' final home game before a move next season to Brooklyn and the new Barclays Center.
The official close to the season will be on Thursday night in Toronto, and of course it will cap a fifth straight non-playoff season.
The franchise was sold in 2004 to real estate developer Bruce Ratner, whose plan all along was to move the team to Brooklyn. The planned move went into high gear late in 2009 when Ratner worked out a deal with Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov to become the majority owner and to provide most of the money to build the arena.
Among the former Nets stars expected to attend Monday are Kenny Anderson, Derrick Coleman and Kerry Kittles, according to the Daily News.
Do you think Williams should have been invited? Sound off below...
(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
