s_knight8
2005-10-10 14:41:38 UTC
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2005/10/10/a1c_hea
t_1010.html
O'Neal has known Williams for close to 10 years, and for the past three
years they have been neighbors in Orlando's ritzy Isleworth. They visit each
other and their kids play together.
"I was the one who helped broker the deal this summer," O'Neal said of the
five-team, 13-player trade that brought Williams here. "He wanted to play
with me and I wanted to play with a guard who loves to pass and I think
it'll be a good combination for myself and (guard Dwyane Wade)."
"He does a outstanding job of getting teams into offense, so this image of
Jason Williams - he's just sort of this free-wheeling guy doing his own
thing out - couldn't be further from the truth," Van Gundy said. "There are
times where you're almost surprised by how conservative he is."
No one would have said that years ago. O'Neal, then with the Los Angeles
Lakers, was playing pickup basketball in Orlando and saw Williams abusing
guard Penny Hardaway, once the third overall pick in the NBA Draft.
O'Neal made some calls and found out that Williams attended Florida (after
starting at Marshall) but had been kicked off the team. O'Neal immediately
called then-Lakers General Manager Jerry West to lobby for Williams. But
West informed O'Neal that Williams had been drafted by Sacramento.
O'Neal didn't give up.
"I was trying to ask Jerry West to move some people to get him because he
reminds me of a hip-hop Scott Skiles," O'Neal said, referring to the Chicago
Bulls coach who once was a flashy guard for Michigan State.
t_1010.html
O'Neal has known Williams for close to 10 years, and for the past three
years they have been neighbors in Orlando's ritzy Isleworth. They visit each
other and their kids play together.
"I was the one who helped broker the deal this summer," O'Neal said of the
five-team, 13-player trade that brought Williams here. "He wanted to play
with me and I wanted to play with a guard who loves to pass and I think
it'll be a good combination for myself and (guard Dwyane Wade)."
"He does a outstanding job of getting teams into offense, so this image of
Jason Williams - he's just sort of this free-wheeling guy doing his own
thing out - couldn't be further from the truth," Van Gundy said. "There are
times where you're almost surprised by how conservative he is."
No one would have said that years ago. O'Neal, then with the Los Angeles
Lakers, was playing pickup basketball in Orlando and saw Williams abusing
guard Penny Hardaway, once the third overall pick in the NBA Draft.
O'Neal made some calls and found out that Williams attended Florida (after
starting at Marshall) but had been kicked off the team. O'Neal immediately
called then-Lakers General Manager Jerry West to lobby for Williams. But
West informed O'Neal that Williams had been drafted by Sacramento.
O'Neal didn't give up.
"I was trying to ask Jerry West to move some people to get him because he
reminds me of a hip-hop Scott Skiles," O'Neal said, referring to the Chicago
Bulls coach who once was a flashy guard for Michigan State.