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The 2026 NBA Draft finally saw top college prospects being chosen as well as some friendly fire between ESPN and basketball analysts on Tuesday night.
Jay Williams, Richard Jefferson and Kenny Smith were among those covering the draft and offering their analysis at the event. An exchange between the three former NBA players went wrong and led to an awkward moment.
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Jay Williams of the Chicago Bulls and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs share a laugh during the 2003 Got Milk? Rookie Challenge Game at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on February 8, 2003. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE)
ESPN recalled the times each former player was drafted. Smith was taken No. 6 overall in 1987 by the Sacramento Kings, Richard Jefferson was selected No. 13 by the Houston Rockets before being traded to the New Jersey Nets in 2001, and Williams was selected No. 2 overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2001. Williams’ career was cut short due to a motorcycle accident.
ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi asked why Williams received a big ovation. Williams said most of the people who went to Duke were from the New York or New Jersey area.
“They didn’t see the future coming either, so they were clapping,” Jefferson said.
Williams responded, “Wow.”
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TNT basketball analyst Kenny Smith appears on-air before the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Final Four semifinal game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the North Carolina State Wolfpack at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on April 6, 2024. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Smith admitted that Williams was an “incredible talent”, but “his career trajectory would have been very different if he didn’t like motorcycles”.
Williams tried to ignore it, claiming that everything Smith said was “recorded” and that he “wrote a book about it.”
“I guess not everyone who goes to Duke is that smart,” Jefferson joked. “What? He wrote a book about it. I agree with him.”
Embarrassment then filled the air as the Toronto Raptors prepared to make a pick.
Williams’ incident occurred in June 2003. He suffered a fractured pelvis, torn three ligaments in his knee and severed a nerve in his leg. Williams violated the terms of his contract by riding the motorcycle in the first place.
Referee Richard Jefferson watches the game between the New York Knicks and the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 11, 2022. (Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
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He tried to get back into the NBA through the G League but never made it. He played in 75 games for the Bulls during his rookie season and averaged 9.5 points per game.
