Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has a saying. “You never are. You’re always becoming.” I’ve heard him say it in the one time I’ve ever had the chance to interview him. JJ Reddick, who played for Coach K at Duke, has talked about what that quote means to him on an episode of his podcast.
It’s a quote I couldn’t help but think about last week as I logged on to Zoom to chat with Jay Williams. This is a guy that went from promising NBA rookie to wasted talent to budding broadcaster to perhaps ESPN’s marquee name for basketball coverage.
Starting August 17, he becomes something else – morning radio host.
“My parents always made sure that it resonated with me that I was way more than the sports I played. I think that went to even another stratosphere when I went to Duke,” he tells me. “You wouldn’t think that would occur. You would think basketball would be such a primary focus, but when I got there, one of the things that really lured me to the program was Coach K saying ‘I promise you, by the time you leave here, you’re going to be a better man.’”
Being a better man has served Jay Williams well. This is a guy that would have been the top pick of the 2002 NBA Draft if not for the availability of a freak of nature and unrivaled marketing opportunity named Yao Ming. He was immediately put on the US National Team for the 2002 FIBA World Championships. Jay Williams was supposed to be the guy the Chicago Bulls built their future around.
That was all before his motorcycle accident.
Enough has been written about the 2003 crash that derailed Jay Williams’s playing career. There isn’t anything new I can add to the story here. Williams points out that when his life plan changed so drastically, he had to lean into to Coach K’s wisdom. It didn’t matter what his shooting percentage was or that he was a prolific scorer for the Blue Devils. The only ability he needed was the ability to evolve.
“I almost died. I have a limp when I walk. I separated my pubic symphysis by 13 and a half inches. I didn’t have the proper functionality in that area for a long time. So, for me, people go through things in life. Life happens if you’re lucky enough to experience life.”
It wasn’t a quick path, but to go from where he was the morning after his accident to where he his today should answer any question about whether or not he is ready to meet the challenges that come along with a daily radio show.
The new morning show will also feature Keyshawn Johnson, who comes to the East Coast from ESPN 710 Los Angeles, and SportsCenter anchor Zubin Mehenti.
Whatever it is Williams is in the process of becoming, he knows there will be a hill to climb. It’s hard to find someone that will tell you they don’t like Jay. It’s even harder to find someone that doesn’t sing the praises of Mike Golic, the ESPN Radio icon who’s 22 year run in mornings on the network had to come to an end for Williams to get his shot.
After a month of tributes, Golic finally said goodbye to the ESPN Radio audience on Friday morning. It was an emotional affair, born of a decades long relationship with his audience. Williams says he had a similar connection to Golic. It was Mike Golic’s influence that Williams says was a turning point in his media career.
“I’ve been with ESPN for a long time. Mike Golic was the first person I saw on there for an extended period of time doing that show. I remember sitting there thinking to myself ‘Wow, that is really cool. Mike Golic Sr. is Mike Golic Sr.’ He’s very comfortable with who he is and he is very comfortable being that person on camera.
“It was the first time in my career that I ever thought ‘I’ve gotta figure out who I am, so I can be who I want to be on air.’ I never thought about who I was. I was too busy running. I was too busy giving my opinions about other things to ever have an opinion about myself.”
Williams is quick to tell me this isn’t a role he campaigned for. He described hearing that Golic would no long be a part of ESPN Radio everyday like going through the death of a loved one and experiencing the stages of grief.
“I called him and I said ‘look Mike, I don’t know how this all happened, but I am in this position right now and I want to be great at this. I want to be a different version of you. And all your fans, I want them to listen to us. I don’t want to alienate anybody.’ Mike is so great. He said ‘Look, I have had an incredible run. Just be who you are, Jay. I’ve always had incredible times talking to you and relating to you. Just be the person that is relatable.’”
Aside from having to replace the name most associated with the network, Keyshawn, Jay, and Zubin are launching their show during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Now look, we have written plenty here about how a lack of live sports is no excuse to produce bad content, and these three certainly have more sports to work with than anyone that was on air in March.
Things do look a little less like a sure thing now though than they did even just two weeks ago. The Miami Marlins and Major League Baseball are serving as a cautionary tale for what can happen when you rush a season to fruition with no bubble and no real plan in place for what happens in the event of a breakout.
Williams has plenty to say about Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball. He’ll be able to say everything he wants about the NBA during ESPN’s TV broadcasts. As it relates to the start of his new radio show, he has his eyes squarely on football.
He sees the mountains that had to be moved just to get the NFL to workout testing and reporting protocols and it worries Williams. Just how prepared is the NFL?
“The fact that the league has these stiff reprimands for players that don’t show up to training camp, and yet these things aren’t in place, it puts them in a weird situation as well,” he says of NFL players. “So, with travel and with playing in frigid conditions, and seeing this whole thing, it’s not trending in the right direction.”
Williams is even more steadfast in his thoughts on college football in the fall. He says that the coaches and the schools have so much responsibility to get this right. They owe it to their players to make smart decisions about when to play and when to shut things down.
“I think that the responsibility for the collegiate universe is so imperative, and it is so challenging, because we all now recognize that this is about money,” he says of college sports. “This is about sustaining schools and issues of what these schools’ overhead is.”
Of course Covid-19 will be a major topic of conversation, particularly in the early days of Keyshawn, Jay & Zubin. We’ll all be counting down while simultaneously praying, bargaining with the universe, or simply crossing our fingers and hoping that football happens.
Jay Williams says he doesn’t want to be debating morals and ethics every morning, but he is clear in where he stands on this. He wants to understand how people with opposing views justify where they stand.
“I’m not a politician. I’m not a scientist. But for anyone that says ‘well, the cases are so slim’ I would say ‘I don’t know what the long term effects of Covid are. I don’t know what those data points or what those metrics are.’ It would be hard for me to tell somebody to go out and perform when I don’t know if it will have long term effects on you, or maybe it won’t. I don’t know.”
As my time with Jay began to wind down, and I sensed we were becoming friends, I asked him to be honest. Yes, the morning drive slot on ESPN Radio is one of the most valuable positions in all of nationally syndicated sports radio. I know he is excited, but how about put out? Is there anything at all he is dreading about August 17?
“I wake up early all the time anyway,” Williams says. He then acknowledges that waking up early and waking up and being ready to have involved conversations by 6 AM are two very different things. “Mike Greenberg told me what you’re doing is not your job. It’s your lifestyle. It will become your lifestyle.”
When morning radio becomes his lifestyle, Williams acknowledges that one of his favorite morning routines will have to change.
“My daughter comes in my bed every morning and we read and we play and that will be no longer. I’ll have to find other ways to do that.”
Positivity is the name of the game for Jay Williams though. You can still have the same kind of quality time with family at a different time of day. Morning radio, he says, is an opportunity to professionally grow in a way that he is prepared and excited for.
“In the big scheme of things, this is my job. I love my job. This platform is going to allow me to build connective tissue to people. That ultimately is my purpose.”
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
Comments are closed.