Tragic Ending for Jayson Williams

Jayson Williams collided with Stephon Marbury in a game against the Hawks in April 1999. Williams broke his right leg after the collision.

For all intents and purposes, his career was over. It's hard for any athlete to recover from a leg injury.

Williams was going to do fine after his career was over. He knew he could get a TV gig since he articulates his thoughts on the game well.

NBC hired him in 2001, but based on his work, it looked like he showed no interest in doing well.

It was clear he missed the game. Something in him died the day when injury forced him to retire.

When he shot Costas Christophi by accident, he knew he was in trouble. It was bad enough he shot him, but it was worse when he covered it up.

He was going to get his. He finally did when the judge sentenced him to five years in prison this week.

He is going to be in prison now, but he has been a lost soul since the night of the accident. No one recognizes him anymore, and he has gone through mental problems.

He went through a divorce too.

Would this happen if he kept playing? That's a good question to answer.

After reading stories about his past life, maybe it would happen few years later.

Williams comes off a great guy on television for the public to see. A person's character is revealed when he does things when the camera is not on.

The former Nets star proved he is no angel. He surrounded himself with bad people. He displayed his temper towards his coaches during his time with the Nets.

He had an affinity towards guns to top of all that, and he drank a lot.

Williams experienced his fame after his success with the Nets. He did not know how to handle it well.

Fans don't understand how hard it is for players to handle success. The media can get to most of them. It's hard to teach them how to deal with that type of stuff.

The former St. John's player was great with the media, but popularity overwhelmed him.

Maybe Williams wishes now he wasn't popular. Things could have been much different.

It's sad to see how this ended for him.

Williams could have played for several more years, and maybe his jersey would have been retired in the rafters. It will never happen now.

Most people will think of Williams as a killer. Some of them think of him as an afterthought.

It should have never come down to this. He had it all if he only stayed out of trouble and hung out with true friends.

A true friend should have told Williams to stop doing anything that would hurt his career.

This should be a lesson for people when it comes to handling success.

Their success can be yesterday's news. Williams found out the hard way.