NEW YORK -- A couple days before the NBA Draft, when Michael Jordan was playing a round of golf at Duke, he happened to run into Jay Williams.
Jordan looked at him and immediately congratulated him on becoming a Chicago Bull.
As Williams later noted, the irony of the chance meeting runs deep. Had Williams bolted last year at the end of his sophomore season, he would have likely been the top pick, committing to the Washington Wizards and spending much of his rookie season learning under Jordan's helm.
Instead, Williams, who was drafted last night by the Chicago Bulls at the No. 2 pick, stayed in school and won national player of the year honors while guiding Duke to the Sweet 16 last season.
"The first thing I thought was, OWow! I get to play in Chicago. I get to play in the footsteps of Michael, Scottie [Pippen] and that team,'" Williams said.
Exactly a year later, Williams will try to follow in Jordan's footsteps and lead Chicago back to greatness.
While he may have a long road ahead of him, he should fit in well in the Windy City.
Prior to the draft when most experts--including Jordan--were certain he would be picked up by Chicago, Williams had already begun settling into the United Center. He worked out almost exclusively for the red and black and went out with many of the players.
As he pointed out after being picked, Williams has the luxury of learning from veterans like Jalen Rose, while also playing for an emerging young team.
"They have a lot of great players and they're young and they're very talented," the New Jersey native said. "They want to win. That's something I've known my whole life, so hopefully we can get going."
The adjustment to the NBA may be difficult for Williams, though. He will be moving from one of the top college programs in the country with a veteran frontcourt to a team that is still very young--he will have to deal with a team full of big men who were drafted straight out of high school last season. However, Williams' former coach Mike Krzyzewski believes No. 22 will have no problem adjusting to NBA life.
"Jason's going to be a star," Krzyzewski said prior to last night. "He's the best player in the draft."
Although he was not the top pick, experts share Krzyzewski's opinion that the floor general's game is tailor-made for a league that focuses mainly on offense.
A few critics had questioned his defense and free throw shooting, but those concerns were clearly not enough to warrant any last-minute draft weariness.
Many had also questioned Williams' interest in playing in Chicago--Williams admits to being a childhood Knicks fan. But on the floor of Madison Square Garden last night, Williams expressed his enthusiasm for next season.
"This is always where I dreamed of playing and it's kind of weird because I'm going to come back here and play against New York," he said. "But this is a dream come true. The next dream is to try and become all this other stuff in basketball at the next level, and try to get my team to win." shkhsdkjhksdjhdf
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