JASON WILLIAMS… “DO YOU OR DON’T YOU?”

White Chocolate. J-Will. J-Dub. A ‘pseudo-black’ Jesus. A Pete Maravich reincarnate — Pistol redux.

Larry Bird was the one-of-a-kind, unlikely-looking (to be charitable) supremely talented and revered “hick from French Lick,” a small town in Indiana with a population of 2,000.

Jason Williams grew up in Belle, West Virginia some 331 mi. or about 5 hours east down I-64. Belle’s population is a little more than half that of French Lick.

Though the two were from different generations, they most certainly shared some — or many — of the difficulties inherent to growing up poor, but their down-home values reflected who they were.

And how they each played the game of basketball but more importantly viewed it, envisioned it, put their unique stamp on it and heightened the public’s understanding of some of its subtleties — its nuances — was to ensure the very greatest good of the game.

They lived to be creative on the asphalt and then on the hardwood.

All they needed was a ball, a pair of sneakers and a hoop.

“I ain’t travel since I was six years old.”

— -Jason Williams responding to a heckler

“First of all, nothing has ever bothered me about what people think of me. My teammates know what I’m about and that’s all that matters.”

— -White Chocolate on his persona

“My father never pushed me — I pushed myself.”

— -J-Will on his basketball-playing youth

The only reason that I went to Marshall was because of Billy [Donovan].”

— -J-Dub on his college choice and why he ultimately stayed home in West Virginia, 45 minutes down the road from Belle, when he had vowed to leave.

“He was the best ball-handler I have ever seen.”

— -Former teammate Mike Miller on Jason Williams

“I give my grandmother $400 a month and she thinks it’s $4 million. Shit like that makes me happier than anything.”

— -Jason Williams on what makes him proudest

Jason Williams was no Larry Bird and he’d be the first to admit it.

He averaged 10.5 ppg and 5.9 assists in a 13-year NBA career covering 788 outings, suiting up for Sacramento, Memphis, Miami and Orlando.

He started every playoff game with the Heat when they won the NBA title in 2006 and was named one of the franchise’s top 25 players of all time in 2007.

His deep threes, filthy cross-over and wide variety of signature no-look passes occasionally using body parts like an elbow or a knee, generally designed and reserved for other things, all contributed to his magical game.

And at 42, he is still able and willing to give fans “exactly what they want to see.”

But nothing came easy.

His carefree nature and appearance belied the bare knuckle effort he willingly expended to get where he wanted to go.

Practice, practice practice.

But to Williams it was fun, not work and his game reflected that mentality.

“When I was 11 years old,” he admits “I loved the game. I loved it more than half the guys in the League. I just spent hours in the gym working on my craft…Playing pick-up growing up, the only way I was able to get on the floor was to be able to pass because I couldn’t really get my shot off since I was smaller than everyone.”

After transferring from Marshall and following Donovan to Florida where his truncated career lasted a mere 20 games before he was dismissed from the team courtesy of a third marijuana violation, he had begun to draw the attention of NBA scouts and participated in a number of pre-draft workouts.

“I went to these different workouts with teams and I was in the best shape of my life. I was killing everyone that they put in front of me,” he none-too-sheepishly stated.

Swagger and brash confidence were part of his DNA. And he could back it up.

The Sacramento Kings selected him seventh overall in the 1998 NBA Draft and though he honestly did not expect to go that high, it was a ‘right time — right place’ kind of thing, thanks to head coach Rick Adelman.

“It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” remarked Williams as he recalled an early exchange with the coach. “Rick Adelman told me the first game, if you come down and throw one behind-the-back that goes out of bounds, don’t worry about it. The next time, throw it with your left hand. I told him, shit, that’s all I need to hear.”

His game blossomed and the Kings made the playoffs each of the three years he pulled on what would become a best-selling #55 game jersey.

Thanks to Adelman and the freedom he gave J-Will, fans were treated to the now famous elbow-pass in the Rising Stars Challenge; the crisp double-crossover move executed on Gary “The Glove” Payton who could only try to trip Williams from behind as he made his way to the basket; and the legendary fake behind-the-back hop pass against Mike Bibby that left the officials dumbfounded as they swallowed their whistles.

“A lot of people say it was a carry, but in ’98, it wasn’t a carry. That just comes from all those hours in the gym, man. That’s not the first time that I did that move, but it may have been the first time that anyone had seen it. I practiced that thing and probably did it thousands of times. Everything you seen me do, with the exception of the elbow pass, I practiced thousands of times.”

— -Williams on the fabled move against Bibby

His tenure in Sacramento ended with a trade to the Grizzlies, for Bibby ironically.

With it came a far different role and a major adjustment which actually rounded out his game.

Williams’ willingness to accept his new role only enhanced his value to his team, his teammates and to those watching around the league.

He rejected the urge to become a malcontented distraction. Not as many 30-foot transition 3-point attempts. Fewer no-look and behind-the-back passes. Better decision-making which vaulted him to the NBA’s top five in assist-to-turnover ratio while in Memphis.

Make no mistake, Williams was smart about it.

“When I was in Sac, we had all these guys and that’s how we played, with all of the flare [sic] and flash. When I got to Memphis, my teammates weren’t like C-Webb and Vlade,” he recalled. “They were good players — we won 50 games my third year there — but you know, you have to change your style. My role was different. I had to come down and get guys the ball in positions that they could score. I couldn’t do what I did in Sac.”

In Miami?

“Winning takes care of everything. As long as you’re winning, all of the other bullshit is set aside. I’m playing with Hall of Famers, man. I just sat back, accepted my role, and we got a ring. Can’t nobody ever take that from me.”

Today White Chocolate banks around a million dollars per year working for — one month/year — on overseas tours extolling the virtues of the game of basketball.

He is a father, a husband and a pretty successful businessman. (See Five Guys restaurants).

Life with all of its imperfections offers us the good, the bad and the ugly.

There are roads fraught with peril.

But when you find something which stirs your passion, which you love, and then you believe in yourself…well, watch out.

[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in March 2018.]