The Nets' Sean Williams has taken his lumps -- and sometimes with good reason -- but he just might be getting a raw deal this time around.
Williams' arrest Sunday at the Boston College-Duke game may have been an unnecessary cause of embarrassment for the kid, who's created enough of his own trouble already.
Boston College cited a trespassing order that prevented him from being on campus. They charged him with a misdemeanor, took him into custody and forced him to post bond, pending a hearing later this month.
The restraining order against Williams, who played for BC from 2004-2007, has been in place since May 2008. It involved a disturbing-the-peace incident that's never been fully documented publicly.
Word here is that BC coaches invited Williams to this weekend's game, with guarantees he wouldn't be bothered. After the incident, he traveled with the Nets to Houston, where Williams -- and team officials -- wisely didn't comment.
The 17th overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, Williams was demoted to the Nets' D-League affiliate in Colorado the end of last year.
There, he sulked, got thrown out of games and, eventually, forced the A team to bring him up late last month. He's played in 19 games for the Nets, averaging barely two points and a couple of rebounds in a little over 10 minutes a game.
In a sports environment where players behave like gangsters, it seems petty to pick on a professional ball player for returning to his alma mater -- albeit one he was tossed out of -- for a premiere ballgame.
Once all is said and done, the school will have gotten its publicity (though perhaps mostly negative) and the kid will have been forced to waste time fighting a bum rap -- at what should have been the happy occassion of BC beating the Blue Devils.
Let's see whether the Nets, and the NBA,rally to Williams's defense the way the Yanks plan to do for A-Roid. Then we'll find out how bad the boys in the BC front office really are.
Photo courtesy NBA.com
Comments
Jerry: if he were a star they'd help him. With this guy's production I don't it.
The guy's a thug. He got bounced from BC for drugs and was told not to come back. His rep has followed him to the NBA, down to D Ball and back to the Nets by default. He worked with John Lucas before the draft and post BC; he couldn't salvage him.
A leopard doesn't change it's spots.
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