LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It is perfectly reasonable to argue Terrence Williams should be an admired NBA veteran like his draft classmates James Harden and Steph Curry, preparing for his 13th NBA season.
There was a time when Williams, 34, had the credentials to be grouped with those guys, not to be named as the ringleader of 18 former NBA players arrested by federal agents Thursday because of their alleged involvement in a scheme to defraud a health care benefits program.
In the 2009 NBA Draft, Williams was taken 11th, four spots behind Curry but six ahead of Jrue Holliday, the guard who just helped the Milwaukee Bucks win the 2021 NBA title. T-Will had the mojo.
You could argue that Williams had more athletic ability than anybody Rick Pitino recruited to U of L, including Donovan Mitchell, Terry Rozier or Francisco Garcia.
At 6 feet 6 inches and 220 thunderous pounds, Williams had the quickness, strength, size and instincts to defend four positions with gusto. He was seasoned by four seasons of Big East competition, steadily improving his three-point shot.
Williams could score without dominating the basketball or hunting shots. He could make the spectacular plays they showed on the replay board or the subtle ones that win games. T-Will did not have to be reminded that defense, rebounding and passing were important.
Williams could stay on the floor for 40 minutes and compete with the heart of a lion. Even teammates grew uncomfortable challenging him in practice.
His performance and maturity grew a notch or two every season Williams played for the Cards. The basketball and media world noticed. Williams showed up on the cover of Sports Illustrated multiple times during his final months at U of L. Led by Williams, the Cardinals became the overall top seed in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, a team given a sweet glide path to the Final Four.
Louisville won its first three NCAA Tournament games by an average margin of 22 points, highlighted by a thunderous 103-64 Sweet Sixteen beatdown of a talented Arizona team in Indianapolis. T-Will had an epic T-Will game that night, filling the box score with 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. A dozen points came from the three-point line.
On Thursday, when the news about Williams broke, it was reasonable to remember all that and think about how close he was to having it all as a basketball player.
But T-Will was an imperfect guy who grew up the hard way in Seattle. Former teammates said Williams talked about not knowing where he would sleep or uncover his next meal. Basketball had to be his path to a better life.
Sometimes that accumulated stress showed. Williams could be difficult. Even T-Will admitted he could be moody. Pitino tried to help Williams work through his issues by reminding how much his life had improved and of the more overwhelming struggles that others endure.
But by the end of his senior season, there were signs that Williams was ready to move on.
As the story goes, Pitino and Williams clashed before and during the Cardinals’ jarring 12-point loss to Michigan State in the regional semifinals. Williams failed to follow the defensive scouting report. Confirmation came on the court that Sunday afternoon. Williams helped bungle several defensive switches that allowed Michigan State forward Goran Suton to burn the Cards.
Suton staggered the Cards with a trio of three-point field goals. Williams missed six of seven shots, including all three from distance.
When Pitino raged at Williams, Williams was not in the mood to be corrected. He gave it back to Pitino, and the next thing you knew, Louisville played stretches of the second half without its best player.
The Cards lost.
Before the draft, NBA scouts research a player’s personality as much as their jump-shot technique. Williams dropped out of his spot as a likely top-10 pick, sliding to 11th with the New Jersey Nets.
He averaged 8.4 points as a rookie, logging 1,764 minutes in 78 games. Williams would not play as many minutes or games the rest of his career.
His farewell to the NBA came on May 3, 2013, when Williams failed to score in 12 minutes of a playoff game the Boston Celtics lost to the New York Knicks.
Williams had already been banished to the NBA Developmental League by Avery Johnson, a disciple of Gregg Popovich who had zero tolerance for nonsense. Williams also fell out with the Rockets, Kings and Pistons before the the Celtics waived him less than two months after the season. NBA coaches did not derail his career. Williams derailed his career.
From there, his life became an unfortunate odyssey between the D-League, pro basketball overseas and time back in Seattle.
Williams made headlines in 2015 when he denied allegations by Katina Powell that he paid $500 to have sex with two women in Louisville, a sideshow to the scandal that put U of L basketball on NCAA probation.
"I am not a part of that — to Louisville I am (expletive) Elvis Presley,” Williams said to TMZ. "So why would I pay anybody for anything?
“(Expletive) pay me for pictures and handshakes. And that's not being cocky, 'cause I don't play around with my blessing. I'm very honored to be in that position in Louisville. Louisville is the greatest city, the fans are great, Rick Pitino is great.”
That was one of the last times Williams was in the news — until this week. Federal prosecutors named Williams as the leader of 18 former players charged with defrauding a health care program out of $4 million with bogus medical and dental claims.
Williams was also alleged to receive $230,000 in kickbacks from 10 former players involved in the scheme. That earned him an additional charge of aggravated identity theft. According to the charging document, the conspiracy charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
On Friday morning, his story was told on the front page of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. It’s a sad and dispiriting tale about a guy who was this close to having it all as a basketball player and is now at risk of spending significant time in jail.
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