Jason Williams involved in a serious motorcycle accident (1 Viewer)

[Brian Perry]

Chicago Bulls guard Jason Williams was in a severe motorcycle accident last night, and his career is in doubt according to some sources. I hope he's okay. The Bulls will be making an official announcement later today. Apparently the motorcycle he was driving had temp plates--I wonder if he had just bought it and didn't know how to handle it.

So much for the Bulls taking the East next year...

 

[Evan S]

Williams just bought the bike last week. I'm sure he was in over his head. I guess this will end the Williams and Eddy Curry to Denver for the #3 pick rumors.

Rumor was he broke his leg and will need 4 hours of surgery to correct the damage, if it can be corrected. I wish him well, but often wonder why millionares can't protect the one investment they most treasure...their physical abilities...either by abusing drugs or doing stupid stuff like this.

 

[Dan Hine]

...or doing stupid stuff like this.

All I can find is that he was in an accident. How do you know he was doing something stupid?

 

[Josh Lowe]

For a pro athlete the very act of riding a motorcycle would probably be considered stupid for the fact of how risky it is.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Pictures of his wrecked motorcycle:

photo 1

photo 2

photo 3

 

[Evan S]

All I can find is that he was in an accident. How do you know he was doing something stupid?

Given the fact that he was even RIDING a motorcycle is stupid seeing how valuable his body is to him and his profession. Almost every motorcyclist I know has bitten it at least once in their riding careers and everyone knows that often it's not yourself you have to worry about but the other guy out there. Williams should have waited until retirement before picking up this "hobby". A lot of teams write provisions in player contracts prohibiting things like bungee jumping, skydiving, riding motorcycles, skiing, etc, just to prevent this sort of thing.

 

[Karl_Luph]

Josh, you really make a good point there. These atheletes who get paid mega bucks need to remember that the only reason they do get paid like that is because of their excellent physical abilities. Once those abilities are gone(whether by natural causes like diseases or aging or making unwise decisions, such as abusing the body with drugs or getting injured off the field, the person is no longer an asset to the team as a playing member. Some guys who are sharp can find coaching or training positions sometimes I suppose, but there's only so many of those jobs to go around. Hopefully , the young man has alot of support from his wife and kids or immediate family.I know this is a tough injury to overcome because I've known many folks injured or maimed on motorcycles over the years.

 

[Philip_G]

that appears to be an R1, who knows what his experience level is, likely he was over his head for sure.

I was under the impression most pro contracts stipulated the athlete wouldn't do risky things, like ride a motorcycle into a tree

 

[Shayne Judge]

Bizarre. Surely its a coincidence, but look at the string of draft picks from Duke that have fallen on hard times.

B. Hurley (car accident)
G. Hill (ankle from hell)
J. Williams (motorcycle accident)

 

[Steve_Tk]

If you are a pro athlete and you ride a motorcycle then you are nuts or stupid. Regardless if you an expert driver, you are too stupid to understand that the other 200 million people on the road are not expert drivers and no matter what you do, you can't control it when they hit you.

Regardless if it's his fault or not, it's his fault he was on the thing.

 

[Max Leung]

Hey, if your salary was in the millions of dollars and you had the hormones of the typical male teenager and surrounded by groupies, you'd think you were invincible too!

 

[Ricardo C]

I like to think I'd do all I could to take care of the tool that gets me the money and the groupies I certainly wouldn't put it all on the line by riding a motorcycle.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

I too agree that the bike was probably somewhat foolish, but I wish him a speedy recovery, too. His career hasn't been on the fast track that the Bulls and himself hoped for, but he was nonetheless a sensational player to watch when he was at Duke. When he was in college, I thought his only weakness was his free throws, but he hasn't broken through yet.

 

[Cees Alons]

Regardless if you an expert driver, you are too stupid to understand that the other 200 million people on the road are not expert drivers and no matter what you do, you can't control it when they hit you.

That argument goes for you and me too. Personally, I hate to get killed or injured. Or do you think a pro has more chance to be in an accident that's someone else's fault? Or that it's worse if they hit a pro instead of you or me?

Cees

 

[Evan S]

Or do you think a pro has more chance to be in an accident that's someone else's fault? Or that it's worse if they hit a pro instead of you or me?

I don't think the debate is about whether or not he is at greater risk than anyone in the normal population, but if it was me who got in that accident and suffered paralysis (which is what I am hearing could have happened here), than at least I can still return to my desk job after returning from long term disability. Jason Williams will not have that luxury if the rumors are true.

Unfortunately, just last week, teammate Marcus Fizer warned Williams about purchasing the bike saying it was an unnecessary risk and foolish....man was he right.

 

[Ricardo C]

What Evan said. I'm a software developer. I could continue to do that from a wheelchair, with no decrease in my abilities. A professional athlete cannot.

I hope he does recover, and that his career isn't cut short because of this. But I also wish this will serve as a warning to other pro athletes. Don't gamble with the body that makes you a living.

 

[Michael*K]

Looks like he wasn't even licensed to drive motorcycles. How foolish. Also foolhardy for the place that sold him the bike to let him off the lot without seeing a license. Hell, whenever I've bought a car I've had to show my license and proof of insurance if I wanted to get out the door with it. But I guess I don't catch a break because I'm not pulling down millions of dollars a year and I don't carry the "status" of a professional athlete.

 

[Hunter P]

I also read that he wasn't wearing a helmet at the time.

 

[Josh Lowe]

Looks like another case of

 

[Philip_G]

Looks like he wasn't even licensed to drive motorcycles.

then he had absolutely no business on an R1.