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AriesMar27
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We Reminisce : THE WHITE CHOCOLATE EXPERIENCE
Words. Austin Burton
Jason Williams really was before his time. Seven years ago, when the Sacramento Kings rookie point guard owned every sports highlight show during a fast and furious lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, we could have used future inventions like TiVo and YouTube to fully appreciate the “White Chocolate” experience. If you were paying attention back then, you know what we mean. For cats on the East Coast, carving out time to watch “SportsCenter” every morning after J-Will’s late-starting West Coast games became ritual. “Yo, did you see what he did?” became a common refrain heard in offices and classrooms and anywhere else we gathered to talk ball. Almost an unknown beforehand, White Chocolate was suddenly the hottest thing going in basketball.
It started early. In the season’s second game, J-Will brought the ball up on Vancouver Grizzlies rook Mike Bibby. Williams jumped in the air, did a scissors-kick, came down and – maintaining his dribble the entire time – blew past a stunned Bibby for a layup. .
Ten days later, the buzz grew louder. Playing against a still-in-his-prime Gary Payton, White Chocolate brought the ball up, gave a shoulder fake like he was going to shoot a jumper, and slipped past The Glove with a crossover that left the crowd (and GP) in awe. For Kings fans, it was their own Iverson-on-MJ moment. .
“We really took off against Seattle,” says Kings Vice President of Media Relations Troy Hanson. “They showed Jason blowing past GP. It was pretty much ‘game on’ after that. … We were this sleepy little team in Sacramento and then suddenly we were in the show.” .
It didn’t stop there. White Chocolate had the fake behind-the-back passes to himself. The alley oop lobs from half court and beyond. The fake-pass, fake-runner, behind-the-back pass sequence off a pick-and-roll. The splitting two defenders with a reverse between-the-legs dribble. There was the time when a behind-the-back dime smacked an unsuspecting Vlade Divac in the face. Or the time when he stripped Bibby, dove for the loose ball, and from his back flipped a no-look, over-the-shoulder dime. Or the time Williams led a break and skipped a pass off his elbow to a teammate filling the lane. .
J-Dub was the most visible, modern day pioneer of a style of ball that had been dormant on a big stage since Pistol Pete’s hey day. The AND 1 Mix Tapes and Rafer Alston were generating all kinds of buzz in the basketball community, but Williams’ renaissance hit before there was a Mix Tape Tour bringing showmanship to the mainstream masses. .
Magazines were all over White Chocolate for features. Television shows lined up for profiles. His story became legend – son of state trooper who also worked at Jason’s high school in tiny Belle, W. Va., Jason spent hour after hour by himself in the gym, practicing constantly, wearing wrist weights and work gloves to improve his handle and whipping trick passes off taped spots on the walls so they’d bounced back to him. Williams, a Nike endorser, soon found himself in the famed “Freestyle” commercials and others soon followed. And any kid with who wasn’t already emulating Allen Iverson on the playground was now mimicking White Chocolate. .
“It was cool because me and J had the same personality,” says ex-teammate Chris Webber. “We wouldn’t let the lights get to us. We were able to enjoy the attention and still bring a show every night. We would take care of business and then go back to the hotel and play PlayStation in the room. It was cool.” .
Williams has since gone on to make a nice career for himself in the League, but nothing was like that ’99 season. After a couple of years in Sacramento, the luster of White Chocolate started to fade, as critics began to harp on his flaws – the turnovers, the rushed threes – more than celebrate his creative genius. J-Will was traded to the Grizzlies in ’01, and again to Miami in ’05, where he picked up a championship ring as a valuable role player behind Dwyane Wade and Shaq. .
The freewheeling style has been toned down, only creeping to the surface occasionally. .
“He has some of the best handles I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately he doesn’t really ever get to show it these days,” Webber says. “He’s one of the top three guards I’ve ever seen in terms of pushing the ball up the floor. He’s so fast. And you don’t realize how athletic he is. I mean, I used to watch that guy windmill dunk in practice. .
“I see him now and he maybe takes one or two less wild shots a game, but he’s still the same guy.”
http://www.dimemag.com/feature.asp?id=2459
-------------------
throwback memories.... old school ballin'
Words. Austin Burton
Jason Williams really was before his time. Seven years ago, when the Sacramento Kings rookie point guard owned every sports highlight show during a fast and furious lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, we could have used future inventions like TiVo and YouTube to fully appreciate the “White Chocolate” experience. If you were paying attention back then, you know what we mean. For cats on the East Coast, carving out time to watch “SportsCenter” every morning after J-Will’s late-starting West Coast games became ritual. “Yo, did you see what he did?” became a common refrain heard in offices and classrooms and anywhere else we gathered to talk ball. Almost an unknown beforehand, White Chocolate was suddenly the hottest thing going in basketball.
It started early. In the season’s second game, J-Will brought the ball up on Vancouver Grizzlies rook Mike Bibby. Williams jumped in the air, did a scissors-kick, came down and – maintaining his dribble the entire time – blew past a stunned Bibby for a layup. .
Ten days later, the buzz grew louder. Playing against a still-in-his-prime Gary Payton, White Chocolate brought the ball up, gave a shoulder fake like he was going to shoot a jumper, and slipped past The Glove with a crossover that left the crowd (and GP) in awe. For Kings fans, it was their own Iverson-on-MJ moment. .
“We really took off against Seattle,” says Kings Vice President of Media Relations Troy Hanson. “They showed Jason blowing past GP. It was pretty much ‘game on’ after that. … We were this sleepy little team in Sacramento and then suddenly we were in the show.” .
It didn’t stop there. White Chocolate had the fake behind-the-back passes to himself. The alley oop lobs from half court and beyond. The fake-pass, fake-runner, behind-the-back pass sequence off a pick-and-roll. The splitting two defenders with a reverse between-the-legs dribble. There was the time when a behind-the-back dime smacked an unsuspecting Vlade Divac in the face. Or the time when he stripped Bibby, dove for the loose ball, and from his back flipped a no-look, over-the-shoulder dime. Or the time Williams led a break and skipped a pass off his elbow to a teammate filling the lane. .
J-Dub was the most visible, modern day pioneer of a style of ball that had been dormant on a big stage since Pistol Pete’s hey day. The AND 1 Mix Tapes and Rafer Alston were generating all kinds of buzz in the basketball community, but Williams’ renaissance hit before there was a Mix Tape Tour bringing showmanship to the mainstream masses. .
Magazines were all over White Chocolate for features. Television shows lined up for profiles. His story became legend – son of state trooper who also worked at Jason’s high school in tiny Belle, W. Va., Jason spent hour after hour by himself in the gym, practicing constantly, wearing wrist weights and work gloves to improve his handle and whipping trick passes off taped spots on the walls so they’d bounced back to him. Williams, a Nike endorser, soon found himself in the famed “Freestyle” commercials and others soon followed. And any kid with who wasn’t already emulating Allen Iverson on the playground was now mimicking White Chocolate. .
“It was cool because me and J had the same personality,” says ex-teammate Chris Webber. “We wouldn’t let the lights get to us. We were able to enjoy the attention and still bring a show every night. We would take care of business and then go back to the hotel and play PlayStation in the room. It was cool.” .
Williams has since gone on to make a nice career for himself in the League, but nothing was like that ’99 season. After a couple of years in Sacramento, the luster of White Chocolate started to fade, as critics began to harp on his flaws – the turnovers, the rushed threes – more than celebrate his creative genius. J-Will was traded to the Grizzlies in ’01, and again to Miami in ’05, where he picked up a championship ring as a valuable role player behind Dwyane Wade and Shaq. .
The freewheeling style has been toned down, only creeping to the surface occasionally. .
“He has some of the best handles I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately he doesn’t really ever get to show it these days,” Webber says. “He’s one of the top three guards I’ve ever seen in terms of pushing the ball up the floor. He’s so fast. And you don’t realize how athletic he is. I mean, I used to watch that guy windmill dunk in practice. .
“I see him now and he maybe takes one or two less wild shots a game, but he’s still the same guy.”
http://www.dimemag.com/feature.asp?id=2459
-------------------
throwback memories.... old school ballin'
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