NBA Williams' recovery clouds bright future

A motorcycle accident has jeopardized Jay Williams' basketball career.
By K.C. JOHNSON
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
CHICAGO -- Close your eyes. Let the mind wander. Think back 365 days, that's all.
Last June 26 Jay Williams stood in New York, a bevy of honors and accomplishments behind him, an open road of promise and potential ahead.
There were smiles, hugs, handshakes and backslaps when NBA Commissioner David Stern called Williams' name as the Bulls' No. 2 overall selection in the 2002 NBA draft.
Back at the Berto Center, Tyson Chandler already wore a Bulls jersey with Williams' name and No. 22 on the back.
The day seemed like merely another day in Williams' inexorable quest for success.
The calendar always continues to turn, and Thursday marked an extremely bittersweet one-year anniversary.
Intensive care
Williams, 21, rests in a hospital room, his basketball future in serious jeopardy. A horrific motorcycle crash has placed him in intensive care, two surgeries on his pelvis in his past and several surgeries on his knee ahead.
The accident is merely the latest -- and by far the most serious -- chapter in a dizzying and difficult 365 days for Williams, the can't-miss kid who has thus far.
When Jerry Krause drafted Williams, the Duke product was supposed to solidify the backcourt for years to come. A year later, he hopes to walk normally again.
His is a difficult story to tell, a young player who crashed a motorcycle he wasn't licensed to drive, creating consequences with which he may deal as the one-year anniversary of his being drafted turns into a 10-year anniversary.
Many people get second chances. Everybody associated with the Bulls hopes Williams does.
"I feel so bad for him," said one player who didn't want to be identified. "Just think about last season. Every time he did something, it seemed to go badly. He said stuff to the papers at the wrong time. He said stuff to his teammates that got taken wrong.
"Every decision he made seemed to turn out wrong. Everything backfired on him."
Not doing well
Said former Duke teammate Carlos Boozer, now with the Cavaliers, "I talked to him for about five hours. He's not doing real well."
Boozer told the Medina Gazette, "He can't feel anything down his left leg. His leg was broken in two different parts and he's got a crushed pelvis and a broken ankle. He's already undergone six hours of surgery and is going to have more. We're all hoping for the best."
To understand the almost unfathomable place where Williams is now, one must remember where he has been.
This is someone who captained his chess team in high school, earned a sociology degree from Duke in three years and won every team and individual basketball honor possible along the way -- high school state championships, NCAA championship, player-of-the-year awards.
Success appeared to be so guaranteed that his agent, Bill Duffy, incorporated his client and assembled a team of advisers for Williams called Team 22. It consists of Duffy, a business manager, an accountant, an attorney and an advertising executive.
Williams' path to greatness appeared to be a short one.
Then the season started.
Williams criticized the triangle offense after a preseason game in Memphis, blamed the United Center for his shooting woes and endured a battle for playing time with Jamal Crawford that created tension in the locker room.
He sprained an ankle in January -- a month in which he shot 14 percent -- and missed time because of injury for the first time in his career.
Williams' last 365 days weren't all bumps and bruises. He led all rookies with 4.7 assists per game. He closed well, averaging 13.1 points on 59.4 percent shooting in April. He maintained a killer work ethic throughout.
And who can forget that glorious night Nov. 9 at the United Center?
Williams, in an epic battle with New Jersey's Jason Kidd, put up 26 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists in a Bulls victory over the defending Eastern Conference champions.
"I can't wait to get back on the court," Williams said that night.
Everyone hopes he gets that remote chance.