JAYSON WILLIAMS
Name: Jayson Williams
Born: 22 February 1968
Jayson Williams (born February 22, 1968 in Ritter, South Carolina) is a former
American basketball player. Standing at 6'10", he played high school basketball
for Christ The King RHS in New York City and college basketball for St. John's
University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1990. He is infamous for
his involvement and subsequent trial in the shooting death of a limousine driver.
Williams was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the first round (21st pick overall)
of the 1990 NBA Draft. His draft rights were ultimately traded by the Suns to
the Philadelphia 76ers for a 1993 first-round draft choice on October 28, 1990.
He was then traded by the 76ers to the New Jersey Nets for conditional draft
choices on October 8, 1992. Injuries forced Williams to retire in 1999.
In 1992, Williams was accused of smashing a beer mug over a patron's head at a
Chicago bar. Two years later, he was accused of firing a semiautomatic weapon
into the parking lot at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
In the spring of 2004, he was tried on charges of gunning down 55 year old
limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi at his estate in Alexandria Township,
New Jersey on February 14, 2002. Christofi had been hired to drive Williams's
friends from a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania charity event to the mansion, about 30
miles northwest of Trenton, New Jersey. Published reports have said Williams was
playing with a shotgun while giving a tour of his 30,000-square-foot home when
the weapon fired, killing Christofi. At the time of Christofi's death, Williams
was working as a studio analyst for The NBA on NBC.
That April, he was acquitted of the most serious charges against him, but the
jury deadlocked on a charge of reckless manslaughter, and he currently faces a
retrial on that charge. He also faces trial on four charges related to his
alleged attempts to cover up the circumstances of the driver's death. News of
the shooting was shocking because Williams had an easygoing and humorous
reputation. His wife endorsed her husband and her love for him in her website.
In January 2005, he began to play professionally again in the Continental
Basketball Association. In January 2003, the family of Costas "Gus" Christofi
settled with Williams in a wrongful death lawsuit for $2.75 million.
On April 21, 2006, an appeals court ruled that Williams can be retried on a
reckless manslaughter charge stemming from the shooting death of Christofi.
In 2000, Williams co-wrote with journalist Steve Friedman Loose Balls: Easy
Money, Hard Fouls, Cheap Laughs, and True Love in the NBA.
In the autobiography, Williams claimed that he almost shot New York Jets wide
receiver Wayne Chrebet while firing a large handgun on his skeet-shooting range.
Name: Jayson Williams
Born: 22 February 1968
Jayson Williams (born February 22, 1968 in Ritter, South Carolina) is a former
American basketball player. Standing at 6'10", he played high school basketball
for Christ The King RHS in New York City and college basketball for St. John's
University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1990. He is infamous for
his involvement and subsequent trial in the shooting death of a limousine driver.
Williams was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the first round (21st pick overall)
of the 1990 NBA Draft. His draft rights were ultimately traded by the Suns to
the Philadelphia 76ers for a 1993 first-round draft choice on October 28, 1990.
He was then traded by the 76ers to the New Jersey Nets for conditional draft
choices on October 8, 1992. Injuries forced Williams to retire in 1999.
In 1992, Williams was accused of smashing a beer mug over a patron's head at a
Chicago bar. Two years later, he was accused of firing a semiautomatic weapon
into the parking lot at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
In the spring of 2004, he was tried on charges of gunning down 55 year old
limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi at his estate in Alexandria Township,
New Jersey on February 14, 2002. Christofi had been hired to drive Williams's
friends from a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania charity event to the mansion, about 30
miles northwest of Trenton, New Jersey. Published reports have said Williams was
playing with a shotgun while giving a tour of his 30,000-square-foot home when
the weapon fired, killing Christofi. At the time of Christofi's death, Williams
was working as a studio analyst for The NBA on NBC.
That April, he was acquitted of the most serious charges against him, but the
jury deadlocked on a charge of reckless manslaughter, and he currently faces a
retrial on that charge. He also faces trial on four charges related to his
alleged attempts to cover up the circumstances of the driver's death. News of
the shooting was shocking because Williams had an easygoing and humorous
reputation. His wife endorsed her husband and her love for him in her website.
In January 2005, he began to play professionally again in the Continental
Basketball Association. In January 2003, the family of Costas "Gus" Christofi
settled with Williams in a wrongful death lawsuit for $2.75 million.
On April 21, 2006, an appeals court ruled that Williams can be retried on a
reckless manslaughter charge stemming from the shooting death of Christofi.
In 2000, Williams co-wrote with journalist Steve Friedman Loose Balls: Easy
Money, Hard Fouls, Cheap Laughs, and True Love in the NBA.
In the autobiography, Williams claimed that he almost shot New York Jets wide
receiver Wayne Chrebet while firing a large handgun on his skeet-shooting range.