Jason Williams

Jason Chandler Williams (born November 18, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player who was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for twelve seasons from 1998 to 2011.

He attended DuPont High School (since consolidated into the current Riverside High School) in Dupont City, where he played high school basketball for the DuPont Panthers in 1994, and led his school team to the state championship before being defeated by Martinsburg in the final.

He became the only player in DuPont team history to reach 1,000 points and 500 assists.

USA Today named Williams the West Virginia Player of the Year in 1994.

Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss was one of Williams' high school basketball teammates.

Williams originally committed to play college basketball for Providence College, but instead chose to attend Marshall University after Providence coach Rick Barnes left for Clemson.

At Marshall, he played for coach Billy Donovan's Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team from 1994 to 1996.

After redshirting his first season, he averaged 13.4 points and 6.4 assists per game during his 1995–96 freshman year.

When Marshall coach Billy Donovan accepted the head coaching position at the University of Florida in the summer of 1996, Williams decided to transfer and follow Donovan to Florida.

After sitting out the 1996–97 season as required by the NCAA transfer rule, he became the starting point guard for the Florida Gators men's basketball team during the 1997–98 season, and set a Florida Gators single-game record with 17 assists in a December 3, 1997 game against Duquesne.

Through twenty games, he averaged 17.1 points, 6.7 assists and 2.8 steals per game, and led the Gators to an 86–78 upset of the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Sacramento Kings selected him in the first round of the 1998 NBA draft.

He also played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, and Orlando Magic throughout his career.

In February 1998, however, the University of Florida suspended him for the remainder of the season for cannabis use, after two previous suspensions for the same infraction.

Following his suspension by the University of Florida, Williams decided to make himself eligible for the NBA draft.

He was the seventh overall selection in the 1998 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings.

In his rookie year, the Kings, with a roster that included newcomers Williams, Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, and Peja Stojaković, turned into a playoff contender.

That year, Williams' number 55 jersey was among the top five sellers of all NBA players.

On July 20, 2000, Williams was suspended for the first five games of the 2000–01 NBA season for failure to comply with his treatment obligations under the NBA's anti-drug program.

The NBA does not release details of violations of the anti-drug program.

On February 28, 2001, Williams allegedly shouted racist slurs to Michael Ching, a Golden State Warriors season ticket-holder, and to several other Asian Americans seated beside Ching during a Warriors game at the Oakland Arena.

As recounted by a letter Ching sent to NBA commissioner David Stern, Williams retaliated against heckling made by Ching and his party midway through the first half.

The NBA eventually levied a $15,000 fine on Williams for cursing at fans.

Nike decided to change a planned advertising campaign featuring Williams as a result of his alleged actions as well.

Williams has since apologized for the incident.

By 2001, the Kings had concluded that Williams' behavior made him more trouble than he was worth.

Additionally, general manager Geoff Petrie was concerned that Williams had not developed into a more complete point guard.

With this in mind, the Kings traded Williams and Nick Anderson to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Mike Bibby and Brent Price.

The team relocated to Memphis, Tennessee several weeks after the trade.

In 2002, Grizzlies' general manager Jerry West hired Hubie Brown out of retirement to coach the team.

The team improved by a franchise record 28 wins in Brown's first season.

After Memphis was swept by the Phoenix Suns in the 2005 NBA Playoffs, Williams was reportedly involved in an altercation with Geoff Calkins, a columnist for the Commercial Appeal.

Sources said that Williams screamed in Calkins' ear and took his pen away from him.

Calkins had previously quoted Williams as saying, "I'm happy. I go home and see my kids and my wife and I'm OK. All of this [stuff] is secondary to me."

Calkins was critical of the Grizzlies' lackadaisical play and had alleged that Williams did not care about winning basketball games.

In 2006, Williams won his first and only NBA championship as the starting point guard for the Miami Heat.

He was given the nickname "White Chocolate."

A native of West Virginia, Williams played college basketball for Marshall University and the University of Florida.

The Heat named Williams one of their top 25 players of all time in 2007.

Williams was born in Belle, West Virginia.