Commemorating Williams

The story of Jay Williams, selected by the 2nd room on the 2002 NBA Draft, but played in the NBA only one season - in the column "Notes of junk.No crypts, crooked crosses, rusty fences. Many American cemetery tombstones with the names of the dead lie parallel to the ground, as if hinting that the story of your life is over, below the line be drawn, and the stone finally seal certifies that.
The coffin lid tightly closed and resting on a special device, creating the impression that it hovers above the ground, and when it will lower down, the soul will go up. Last speech, as a rule, says people from the inner circle of the deceased. At the funeral of a basketball player Jay Williams so was James, a solid successful 31-year-old, in only three years has received a serious education, successfully working in the field of philanthropy and the development of social projects related to sports. From the other participants in the ceremony of his distinguished, perhaps, over-expression of calm and humble person, so there was nothing surprising in the fact that it was entrusted to him to say the last word. Despite his business-like appearance, which denies any attempt to suspect him of sentimentality, James started from afar. - Before the soul exalted Jay, I have to say that it will not be the first time. He always loved to fly, feeling the rapid slip between air currents, weightlessness fuselage body when it is about to come off from the surface, all of this excites him. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that his rise has been so rapid: the leader of "Duke", which became the 2001 champion of the NCAA, the awarding Naismith as the best player of the year among American students, the award named after Oscar Robertson and John Vudena. All this does not really matter to Jay it was just a dash on the device, measured climb. Even when in 2002 under the number two pick his chosen "Chicago Bulls", even when he got a locker Michael Jordan, he continued to experience a craving for speed, a sense of intimacy goals, which in a moment slip away again, but, like flirting, will remain in field of view. "It's like you're on the ball, the speed limit, do not look at it and know that it is necessary you score" - as he spoke. Jay has been selected in the NBA Draft 2002 under the number two: a graduate of one of the most respected sports institutions of America, he was sentenced to becoming a superstar. But the surprises of fortune are not always pleasant. When trying to score on speed, you can miss the mark, confused and drop the ball from his hands, but the main thing - do not tripped and hurt himself. That night, June 19, 2003 had not happened, he could not tame the power of 180 kilograms of steel, rushing at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour. Did an expensive toy motorcycle covered an entire left-hand circular motion and Jay started to dent it in the asphalt. In his hospital bed, I listened as he talked, choose amputation or death. Newspaper headlines pushed to the last: "Jay had to be stuck in a traffic jam," "Maybe you had to buy another bike?", "True to the road to, to ruin his career" ... A week after the disaster, "Bulls" drafted Kirk Heinrich, giving understand that Jay has no place in a team. They dismissed it by paying kickbacks 3,000,000, although they could not do so because he sat behind the wheel of the motorcycle, the player has violated its contractual obligations. Jay meanwhile, began to rapidly dive. It was a raving flight: wild dose of painkillers that followed one after the other operations, the endless trips to the psychoanalysts, let your tips and recommendations for new stories nightmares. In a literal sense, learning to walk again, Jay checked out and moved to New York, it was a tortuous map of the city looked like it riddled with scars left leg. But even the ability to move independently could not exceed the degree of frustration. Yesterday Jay was 21 years old and the whole world lay at his feet, remained unchanged today only age. Retirement and fruitless attempts to become a sports agent smoothly flowed into the glasses of alcoholic drinks. Further, as you know, was followed by a suicide. sure you ask how I know all these details? Oh, just because my name is James David Williams - and there in the coffin lay my unfulfilled dreams, lost hopes and lost talent. If, then, the room accidentally entered my mother and did not withdraw scissors, which I have already pointed it at his own throat, then with the rest of the patent under the cap would lie still and my body. The consequences of the terrible injuries - the only thing that still connects me with Jay. I once lived in New York, but not too fond of this city, so that my mother and friends do not have to have a lot of cajoling, and moving to North Carolina I went to the only benefit. I have a house not far from the college, "Duke", playing for Jay who once made ​​a name for himself. I often talk with many years of mentor "blue devils" Mike Kshishevski, and that he has advised me to get an education. Catching up, I started to drop in from time to time in the games, "Duke", to exchange views with their friends and Mike. I've never had any problems in communication, but when the call came from television channel ESPN analyst to work with the proposal on matches student teams, I was silent a few minutes, thinking it was not a hoax. I love my job, but has not yet decided which more. In addition to the comments I manage to find the time to develop their sports agency JWGroup. Recently, we became part of the Leverage Group - the largest corporation engaged in the development of sports marketing and philanthropy. Order to manage everything, I have to fly a bullet from one state to another, but I like the kind of rhythm, it helps to feel alive. I feel the tip of the boom, which is released from the bow and which flies right on target. I often think of Jay. Or when our mutual friends will talk about it, fantasizing how he could be a player, or when, for no apparent reason I occasionally feel a fleeting stiffness in his left leg. Today I want to finally say goodbye to Jay, that was once important to him, his past values ​​that are no longer so important. I'll never go back to them - and I will always remember him. God will take the soul not only left this earth, but also those who have left behind their past.