Mo Williams abruptly ended his career on media day, just four days after announcing he would return to the Cleveland Cavaliers for one last season in the NBA. It was a strange turn of events, but the context is becoming clearer now. Cavaliers doctors told Williams that he did not need surgery on his left knee, but he felt otherwise, according to ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin, and he ended up getting the procedure done on Tuesday:

It's no secret that Williams hasn't been fully healthy. In an interview with ESPN last month, he said he considered retiring in the middle of last season because of left knee issues, adding that he has been dealing with it for four years. He had platelet-rich plasma treatment before last season's playoffs started.

In that interview, though, Williams said he was prepared to play limited minutes for Cleveland again, serving as Kyrie Irving's primary backup at point guard due to the departure of Matthew Dellavedova. Then came the sudden retirement news and, now, it sounds like he is accusing the Cavs of not looking out for his best interests.

Williams posted a photo to Instagram on Wednesday, and in the caption he wrote, "Nobody and I repeat nobody actually gave a damn about my health but me."


It's difficult to interpret that as anything other than a shot at the organization, and perhaps the weirdest part of all this is that he's still technically employed by Cleveland. According to ESPN, Williams has still not officially retired:

Both the Cavaliers' team physician, Dr. Richard Parker, and another doctor consulted for a second opinion concluded that Williams' knee did not require surgery, a league source told ESPN. Williams sought a third opinion on his own, which led to Wednesday's procedure, said the source.

...

Williams is still occupying a roster spot with the Cavaliers despite the fact that Williams' agent informed Cavs general manager David Griffin the morning of the team's media day last month that the 33-year-old point guard planned on retiring.

Curiously, Williams has yet to file the necessary paperwork to retire in the weeks that have followed. The Cavs have attempted to negotiate a buyout for Williams' $2.2 million contract for the 2016-17 season, a league source told ESPN, without having reached a resolution thus far.

To summarize as best we can: Williams is still technically a member of the Cavs, though he does not intend to play professional basketball again. Cleveland wanted him to play this season without having surgery on his knee. Williams had the surgery and implied that the Cavs didn't care about his health. Cleveland's backup point guard, for now, is 5-foot-9 rookie Kay Felder, who was selected No. 54 in the 2016 NBA Draft.