March 17, 2009

Nets' Williams another sad story of wasted talent

By Ken Berger | CBSSports.com Senior Writer
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If you had Sean Williams in your "NBA player most likely to be arrested next" pool -- and after all, why wouldn't you? -- then consider yourself a winner. Williams isn't winning anything these days, except the systematic destruction of his basketball career. He's not the first, and certainly won't be the last, but somehow the sadness never ends with stories like this.

The latest wrong-place, wrong-time, no-brain moment for Williams came Monday in suburban Denver, where the New Jersey Nets forward/center/knucklehead got into an altercation with a cell phone store clerk and allegedly threw a computer monitor. (Who among us hasn’t wanted to do that? Just not somebody else's monitor.) Police charged Williams, 22, with felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor disorderly conduct, saying Williams caused about $1,300 in damage.

The damage that the 17th overall pick in 2007 has inflicted on himself is incalculable. The Nets have tried everything -- demoting him to the D-League, where he was almost suspended, and then welcoming him back with open arms. First-round picks get second, third, even fourth chances in the NBA, but Williams' chances are running out alarmingly fast.

As NBA scouts crisscross the nation to evaluate college players during March Madness, they'd do well to keep in mind the madness Williams has brought with him to the NBA. Williams had so many red flags coming out of Boston College, you would’ve thought he was a cheerleader. He was kicked off his college team in 2007 for the oldest trick in the books -- "violating team rules." Another popular explanation for such behavior is "conduct detrimental to the team." If you ask me, Williams’ conduct is, above all else, detrimental to himself.

Sean Williams has been trouble for his college team, NBA team and even his D-League team. (AP)

Williams blew off a court appearance on the matter, instead sending an attorney who requested a time more convenient for Williams' NBA travel schedule. (Evidently, Williams didn't want his legal trouble to get in the way of this cell phone store rampage he was planning.) The judge ultimately refused to issue an arrest warrant, which allowed Williams to continue traveling with the Nets until he met a computer monitor he didn’t like. Bob MacKinnon, who coached Williams during a brief stint with the D-League's Colorado 14ers earlier this season, read about the latest incident in the newspapers out West.

"My first reaction, to be honest with you, was sadness," MacKinnon said on the phone Tuesday. "Here's a young man with a great opportunity, and because of bad decisions he's letting that opportunity slip by."

Williams didn’t exactly humble himself when the Nets assigned him to the 14ers in December. During the D-League Showcase in January, with dozens of NBA personnel people in attendance, Williams got two technical fouls and an ejection in one game and fouled out of another after only 28 minutes. Ultimately, he was facing suspension for an unspecified incident when the Nets agreed -- reluctantly -- to take him back.

He returned to New Jersey having shaved his goatee, but none of his hubris, and teammates expressed optimism that Williams had learned something from the experience. Apparently not. The Nets left Denver without Williams, who stayed behind for a court appearance Tuesday. He actually showed up for it, posted a $6,000 bond, and was ordered to stay away from the victim (whose name authorities would not release). His next court appearance is May 1, at which point the district attorney will decide on official charges.

This may sound funny, but Nets officials actually are perplexed that Williams stumbled again. He’d been helping them since the All-Star break and seemed to be making progress in his never-ending battle with himself.

"It seemed like he was getting it," one source said. Williams' agent, Charles Grantham, declined to comment until he gathers all the facts about the case.

"I hope it ends well for Sean, because personally I like him quite a bit," MacKinnon said. "But as a young man, he's got to become more accountable for his actions."

Williams would’ve done himself a big favor by learning a thing or two from MacKinnon instead of rebelling against his demotion. MacKinnon's father, Bob Sr., coached in the ABA and NBA in the 1970s and '80s, crossing paths with one of the most enigmatic and wasted talents in basketball history: Marvin Barnes.

MacKinnon Sr. coached Barnes during his rookie season with the ABA’s Spirits of St. Louis in 1974-75, when Barnes was only one year removed from leading Providence College to the Final Four. He was named ABA Rookie of the Year in 1975, but drug addiction derailed his career after only six seasons. The demons possessed "Bad News" Barnes for decades; just two years ago, he was arrested for cocaine possession in Rhode Island ... at age 54. His rap sheet includes arrests for allegedly stealing videotapes from an adult video store in San Diego, trespassing, being under the influence of narcotics, and burglary.

"There are so many guys out there that have great athletic ability and great potential, and it’s a shame when their decisions cause them not to live up to it," MacKinnon Jr. said. "I've seen it where people pulled themselves up and made it work and understood what it takes. And I’ve seen it go the other way."

For Sean Williams, it is decidedly going the other way. Nobody is saying he's the next Marvin Barnes, but that's a name Williams should commit to memory. Stories like this don’t have to end badly.