<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">With Jay Williams still in the hospital and training camp just three months away, the Chicago Bulls have no choice but to plan for a season without him. Bulls general manager John Paxson confirmed Monday that Williams has a fractured pelvis as well as damaged ligaments in his left knee. Asked if he expected Williams to miss next season, Paxson said he did. ``I would have to assume that, yes,'' Paxson said. ``That's a question for doctors and for his family to answer. But we do have to work under that assumption.'' Paxson wouldn't discuss Williams' future beyond next season, and said he couldn't give further details on his injury or care because of federal privacy laws. But a source close to Williams told The Associated Press his injuries are severe enough to jeopardize his career. The No. 2 pick in last year's draft remains in intensive care at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital, and is expected to have more surgery. ``We're a basketball team, and this is a business,'' Paxson said. ``But all I've thought about the last three days is the fact that there's a young guy that's part of our basketball family that's laying in the hospital, uncertain about his future. ``It's not how it affects us as a group,'' Paxson added. ``Those are things we'll deal with, but you really worry about him and how he's handling it.'' Williams' parents, David and Althea, have been at their only child's side since the accident. Paxson, coach Bill Cartwright and trainer Fred Tedeschi visited Williams on Friday. Paxson also called Williams on Saturday and Sunday to see how he was doing. ``The first thing he said to me was that he was sorry, and I told him not to worry about it,'' Paxson said. ``He's a conscientious young guy. His spirits were pretty good that day, they've gotten better each day since.'' Marcus Fizer said the Bulls haven't gone to visit Williams yet because they don't want to overwhelm him. But they are anxious to see him, and are getting updates from Paxson and Cartwright. ``We lost a huge key at least for the year,'' Fizer said. ``We'll miss him each every day. But things happen for a reason, and you can't question it.'' Williams was riding a new sportbike he'd purchased a week earlier Thursday afternoon when it slammed into a pole on Chicago's north side. He sustained extensive injuries to his left leg and underwent surgery later that night. Most NBA contracts contain a clause prohibiting players from riding motorcycles, and Fizer said he'd warned Williams of the risk. But Fizer said Williams assured him that he would be fine, and that he'd ridden motorcycles in the past. Williams knows he made a mistake, Paxson said, but now isn't the time to dwell on that. ``The issue is him getting better, and that's all we're focused on as an organization,'' he said. ``We only are concerned with Jay getting better and we know that he's getting great care where he's at. ``With the support of his family and his friends, he is going to be just fine.'' It will be a long recovery, though. And while it may be too soon for the team to talk about it, the accident has affected not only Williams' future, but that of the Bulls. With a logjam at point guard, the Bulls could have dealt either him or Jamal Crawford, possibly in advance of Thursday's draft. But the accident ended any possibility of that. The Bulls could be eligible for an injury exception to the salary cap. NBA rules allow a team that loses a player to a season-ending injury to sign a replacement player making up to 50 percent of the injured player's salary. If the Bulls get the exception, they would have until Oct. 1 to use it. ``I know that you probably have a lot of questions in terms of what this does for us as an organization, but those are questions to be answered down the road, not today,'' Paxson said. ``We're still just a weekend through this process. It's far too early to say anything else about that.'' </div> Really is a shame for such a young guy with a bright future ahead of him..i hope he returns...someday
no doubt in my mind that he'll miss the season....he shoulda just drove a fast car and got a speeding ticket
i agree. crawford woulda "shined" with or without jay. kinda gives the bulls an excuse for keeping two point guards like that.
more potential bad news... According to the NBA?s collective bargaining agreement (www.nbpa.com/cba/exhibits/exhibitA.html), a player is barred from "endangering his health or safety" by participating in "professional boxing or wrestling, motorcycling, moped-riding, auto racing, sky diving and hang gliding, or any exhibition of basketball, football, baseball, hockey, lacrosse or other athletic sport." According to the bylaw, a player can be fined and/or suspended by his team and/or NBA commissioner David Stern.
Williams' former Duke teammate Carlos Boozer, now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, painted a tough picture after a phone conversation with Williams, who has been in intensive care at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital. "He can't feel anything down his left leg,'' Boozer said in an interview with the Medina (Ohio) Gazette. "His leg was broken in two parts, and he's got a crushed pelvis and a broken ankle. He's already undergone six hours of surgery and is going to have more. We're all hoping for the best." "He's got a lot going on,'' Boozer said in a later interview with The AP. "He should be thankful that he's alive. Basketball is not the most important thing right now in his life. We're all just hoping and praying he'll be able to come back at some point." Chicago Police spokesman Pat Camden said Williams was traveling alone at about 4 p.m. on June 19 when the crash occurred. A witness told police that Williams hit a curb.
