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The 2026 NBA Draft finally saw the top college prospects being selected along with some friendly fire among ESPN and basketball analysts on Tuesday night.
Jay Williams, Richard Jefferson and Kenny Smith were among those covering the draft and offering their analysis during the event. An exchange among the three former NBA players went awry 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 2003 got milk? Rookie Challenge Game at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on February 8, 2003. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE)
ESPN recalled the moments each former player was drafted. Smith went No. 6 overall in 1987 to the Sacramento Kings, Richard Jefferson was picked No. 13 by the Houston Rockets before being traded to the New Jersey Nets in 2001, and Williams was picked No. 2 overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2001. Williams’ career was cut short by a motorcycle crash.
ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi asked why Williams received a standing ovation. Williams explained that most of the people who had gone to Duke were from the New York or New Jersey area.
“They didn’t see the future coming either, so they cheered,” Jefferson said.
Williams replied, “Wow.”
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TNT basketball analyst Kenny Smith looks 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, Ariz., 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 brush it off, saying that everything Smith said was “on the record” and that he “wrote a book about it.”
“I guess not everyone who goes to Duke is that smart,” Jefferson said. “What? He wrote a book about it. I agree with him.”
Awkwardness filled the air after that as the Toronto Raptors prepared to make a pick.
Williams’ incident took place in June 2003. He suffered a broken pelvis, three torn 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, Nev., on July 11, 2022. (Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
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He tried to get back to the NBA through the G League, but never got there. He played 75 games for the Bulls in his rookie season and averaged 9.5 points per game. match.
