Posted February 10, 2013

Jay Williams: Bulls teammates smoked marijuana before games

NBA
Jay Williams said his former Chicago Bulls teammates routinely smoked marijuana before games. (Victor Baldizon, Getty Images)

Jay Williams said his former Chicago Bulls teammates routinely smoked marijuana before games. (Victor Baldizon, Getty Images)

Former Chicago Bulls guard and current ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Williams told the New York Times that his Chicago Bulls teammates smoked marijuana before games during his lone NBA season in 2002-2003.

The quote, buried in a lengthy profile on the player and his return from the devastating motorcycle accident that ended his career in 2003 ran as such:

“I didn’t know how to handle it at first,” Williams said. “I didn’t know how to be around it. Guys were on the bench, trying to kick it to girls in the stands, having ball boys run over. I mean, some guys were high.”

Asked to clarify, Williams said: “There were guys smoking weed before games. Guys asking in the middle of the game, ‘Do you smell popcorn?’ ”

He noticed the nervous laughter around the kitchen table. “You think I’m playing,” Williams said.

The Bulls went 30-52 that season, finishing 6th in the then-eight team Central Division.


42 comments
PriestYoungblood
PriestYoungblood

Really, Jay. you are from Plainfield. NJ........... Im from Newark, NJ............Do you really want them to know what you were doing when you crashed the bike?

 

Anaximenes1
Anaximenes1

99.99% of nba players smoke weed--what's the big deal---they are millionaires and can buy the top quality stuff.

l.czolgosz66
l.czolgosz66

WHOA! WHOA! What you would have me believe, is that members of the NBA, spoke marijuana? No sir, I refuse to accept that!

opaque4
opaque4

and they won anyway, flipping amazing!

CliftonMiddleton
CliftonMiddleton

Pot smoking improves your game in all sports from Chess to Bball ........ deep team work ..... as for this joker he forgot to 'Never Hip a Lame" OK ....

Yeah I Said It So What?
Yeah I Said It So What? like.author.displayName 1 Like

Years ago Jay Williams was a reckless imbecile that threw away a dream life.  Today he's an attention-getting snitch who cannot realize he's irrelevant.  Man, go somewhere, smoke another blunt and shut the #ell up.   

pm2875
pm2875 like.author.displayName 1 Like

I'm sorry. Didn't Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Lamar Odom,  Jason "White Chocolate" Williams, Bill Walton, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar among many others (not to mention Current Bull Joakim Noah) also smoke weed? How exactly did it hurt their games? If you look at the roster from that team, the  average age was 23.8 years old. This would be a bigger story if they didn't smoke weed. 

 

Come on, Man! Look at this roster: Donyell Marshall (who always looked stoned), Jalen Rose, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry (which should explain his eating habits), Tyson Chandler (Compton's own), Roger Mason Jr (before the dreads), Trenton Hassell, Eddie Robinson (E-Robbery), Marcus Fizer (who once got lost in the bathroom during a game, coach couldn't find him when he called him)... Seriously, the only guy that wouldn't have smoked was likely "the golden boy from Duke". 

marker264109
marker264109

you gotta know Kris Humphries smoked alot of dope ... he HAD to be stoned to marry a Kardashian !

Ron27
Ron27 like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @pm2875  wow didnt know what to think of the story untill you broke down the roster. j williams may have been the only guy not getting high out of that bunch

M as in Mancy
M as in Mancy

Now I know that when people say Eddy Curry was flying high, they're not talking about his vertical leap...

dweezler
dweezler like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

Jay Williams found a way to get himself back in the news for the first time since his motorcycle accident. Is it that shocking? Chris Herren admitted to scoring oxycontin from his dealer before he'd play for the Celtics. I'd rather have my bench players and a couple starters smoking weed that slamming oxy's.

JeffStivenson
JeffStivenson like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

Why, I am just shocked. NBA players smoking grass? What has this world come to?  

JohnThomas
JohnThomas like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

Here's another proof that smoking marijuana causes no significant harm and does not turn people into lazy, unmotivated couch potatos.

 

Can we just go ahead and end the monstrously destructive, counter-productive, freedom-strangling fraud of marijuana prohibition?

 

Thanks.

marker264109
marker264109

hey mon, while you be up, toss me that remote control yah ?

achen07
achen07

 @JohnThomas I mean c'mon it does make you lazy when you smoke.  If anything the 02' Bulls kind of prove that point.

caleb
caleb like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 4 Like

 @JohnThomas I don't think I'd use the 02-03 Bulls to prove your point. They only won about 30 games that year.

George19
George19 like.author.displayName 1 Like

Corie Blount was on that team (arrested for distribution in 2008).

JohnDonovan
JohnDonovan

Nice of him to throw his teammates under the bus 10 years later.  What exactly is the gain from him telling this story other than to get his name in the news again?

achen07
achen07 like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @JohnDonovan Well the thing is by saying it 10 years later, nobody cares and it's really not going to hurt anybody's reputation at this point.

The Edge
The Edge like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 4 Like

...and Joakim smokes enough for an entire team nowadays....

Action
Action

I get drug tested at least once a year, and I'd lose my job if I tested positive.  When I retire I might smoke it again.

MuzzyLu
MuzzyLu

Maybe the marijuana helped them relax and play better. Great $2.99 e-book on medical marijuana: MARIJUANA - Guide to Buying, Growing, Harvesting, and Making Medical Marijuana Oil and Delicious Candies to Treat Pain and Ailments by Mary Bendis, Second Edition. This book has great recipes for easy marijuana oil, delicious Cannabis Chocolates, and tasty Dragon Teeth Mints. 

metalhd
metalhd

Not surprised considering that roster

CHIPFU
CHIPFU like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

FRED HOIBERG GETTIN BLAAAAAZED

Sean2013
Sean2013 like.author.displayName 1 Like

Then did they brought a motorcycle and run it into a tree too?

touseyd
touseyd

NAME NAMES!

dweezler
dweezler

 @touseyd Here's the roster list from the 02-03 season.  Time to make assumptions.

 

Jalen Rose,Eddie Robinson, Roger Mason, Donyell Marshall, Fred Hoiberg, Trenton Hassell, Marcus Fizer, Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Tyson Chandler, Rick Brunson, Corie Blount, Lonny Baxter, Dalibor Bagaric

DoinkPhillips
DoinkPhillips like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

These are not airline pilots. Nobody cares. 

Staying out all night before a game getting drunk is probably more common, and worse for performance.

Rickapolis
Rickapolis like.author.displayName 1 Like

Bulls smoked pot before ball games.

A Chicago fire.

Flying high over the rim.

 

Pardon, I was feeling poetic. There will be a stink over this, I bet.