Former NBA Baller Jayson Williams is the TD Jakes of Jail
43-year-old former basketball player, Jayson Williams, has reportedly turned to God while serving his prison term, and gotten others to jump on the holy bandwagon with him. Before his current jail stint he was a player for the Philadelphia 76ers from 1990 to 1992 and then the NJ Nets from 1992 to 1999. He married Basketball Wives: LA star Tanya Williams (the one who castmates weren’t really fans of because she was “too preachy,”) in 2000, but they are currently divorcing. After he accidentally shot and killed a limo driver in 2002, he was given 18 months – 5 years in jail for aggravated assault. Then he was sentenced to one year in Rikers Island as well, for a DWI. But his time in jail seems to be going quite well. Another inmate, Christopher Hughes, who was recently released from the prison, said that Jayson is a spiritual celebrity in the jail. He said,
“People treat him like a star. Every single person shakes his hand. He is like Moses, the Moses of Rikers. Jayson would sign people’s Bibles. I would ask him why, and he’d say, ‘Fake it till you make it.’ I thought he was saying, ‘If I can get them in the door through this signature, then at least I got them in the room to see Christ.’”
According to Hughes, Jayson also attends church, and leads bible study everyday. He also worked on the suicide prevention team in the jail. And he gets so much written mail that he has to spend a few hours each day to write back. Not only is he making good of his time in jail, but he’s also setting up to make his life after jail good. He’s supposedly writing a second book (the first was a fictional story called “Loose Balls” ) titled “Humbled,” which will reveal the story of him being sexually abused as a child. Not everyone can enjoy time behind bars, so we’re glad Jayson is making the best of his situation.
[PageSix]