:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69541885/493116.jpg.0.jpg)
It’s hard to believe that Jason Williams has been gone from Duke for 20 years. There are a lot of people now who know him better as an ESPN analyst than as a basketball player.
His NBA career was cut short when he got overconfident with a motorcycle and suffered a severed nerve in his leg, a fractured pelvis, and tore three ligaments in his knee, including his ACL.
Amazingly, he worked his way back to nearly reviving his career. His sunny persona masked the loss for many people but it devastated him and it took him a while to rebuild his life, which he has done nicely.
But he was a terror on the court, as UCLA learned when Williams ripped off 17 straight points against the Bruins.
In the Duke guard pantheon, it’s tough to place him. We’d have to put Bobby Hurley at the top and Johnny Dawkins can’t be far behind. Williams can’t be far behind either. He was something else.