Deron Williams doesn’t deserve to be called a ‘superstar’
There are some players in the league who are billed as superstars and they go on to win laurels for themselves and their team. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Derricks Rose, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant are some of the most prominent
ones in that category. And then, there are some who are tipped to be sensational and talented, and the only thing you get from them are disappointments, losses and eventually excuses, lame ones most of the time.
Deron Williams falls in that category, and he has his whole career to prove it.
Considered as one of the best dribblers and playmakers during his time at Utah Jazz, Williams earned three All-Star appearances, but was never able to take the franchise to a worthwhile finish. He then became the root cause of
Jerry Sloan’s exit for the Salt Lake City franchise, and was trade to the New Jersey Nets two weeks later.
The Nets though at that time, that they have got their hands on a superstar, who would help them get out of the lower echelons of the Eastern Conference. That thought turned out to be a fantasy, not only in the 2010-11 campaign,
but the next season as well. While Williams struggled to turnaround the fortunes of Nets, resulting in an embarrassing 22-44 record, his former team Utah Jazz bulldozed their way into the playoffs.
The excuse that time was the right wrist injury, which gave Williams trouble while shooting. The Nets believed it again, and after giving him a maximum five year contract in the off season, they assembled a star cast consisting
of Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez, Gerald Wallace, and a host of experienced players around him, in hopes to be genuine contenders for the NBA title.
The season started on a high note, but when the push came to the shove, with the Nets losing one game after another and Williams failing to perform – career worst figures in shooting – the point guard decided to place the blame
again, this time on the shoulders of his head coach Avery Johnson.
Johnson got fired on Thursday and Williams is now making efforts to give an impression of innocence. He can’t hide though. Charles Barkley, the former Houston Rockets centre, who is now an outspoken analyst at TNT, recently summed
up the situation beautifully;
"He's got the reputation of getting coaches fired," Barkley said. "Whatever happened in Utah [head coach Jerry Sloan resigned], it happened. Whatever happened in Brooklyn, it happened. This is all on Deron Williams right now. It's
time to put up or shut up.”
Continued in Part-2 ….
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