Sly Williams: You Could Have Just Asked for Her Number

Sly Williams showed a lot of promise when he graduated from the University of Rhode Island and got drafted into the NBA in 1979.  During that draft year he was a respectable 21st in the picks, eventually picked up by the New York Knicks.

He continued to play in the NBA for seven seasons, joining the rosters of the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks before retiring to become a pipe fitter and do odd jobs around the country.  Why was he stuck doing odd jobs? Because he had frittered away his NBA millions on drugs and alcohol long before his contracts were up.

Williams filed bankruptcy shortly after his release from the NBA.  Even bankruptcy didn’t stem the tide of drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence Williams was known for.  Amid constant rumors of violent tendencies toward women, Williams kept skating by, avoid charges until the fateful day in 2001 when his lifestyle and habits caught up with him.

First, he was charged with the rape and sodomy of a woman who chose to remain anonymous in January 2001.  Later that year, he was charged with kidnapping a different woman, holding her for 24 hours, threatening her life with a gun and raping her as well.  Prosecutors chose to combine the two cases in a bid to get a conviction with maximum time as a sentence.

In the end, Williams took a plea on the January 2001 rape of the anonymous woman, and went to trial only for the September 2001 kidnapping, assault and rape charges.  The judge in the case found him guilty of the crimes and sentenced him to five years in prison. Williams freely admitted his guilt in court.

Williams served three and a half years of his five year sentence.  A New Haven reporter interviewed him just before his April 2006 release, and found him to be one of the only prisoners he had ever met who actually considered going to prison to be the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Williams has said since his release that prison got him off of drugs and alcohol and gave him a chance to change his violent ways.  He has three children, one of whom is a son and a potential pro basketball player – the star of his high school team.  Williams is estranged from all three of his children and both of their mothers.

Since his release, Williams has made a point to give talks to high school age kids to try and keep them from choosing the same path he did.  He was raised in poverty, one of 12 children, but in spite of this he has never once used his environment growing up as a defense against his actions. He has continued to freely admit that what he did was wrong, and entirely his choice. Taking responsibility for his actions without using environment or religion as a crutch – that’s reform in its truest sense.