New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams arrives in Turkey: NBA Update
On Thursday, the New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams finally landed in Turkey to play with Turkish basketball club Besiktas for a single season. Williams, accompanied by his family, arrived in Turkey’s capital Istanbul.
He will be playing basketball in Turkey due to the lockout situation in the National Basketball Association (NBA). His contract, which was signed July 16th has an opt-out clause that allows him to make a comeback whenever the work stoppage ends.
On July 1st 2011, NBA locked out its players over the labour turbulence with the Players Association. The two parties have been active in the past week, but are still far from reaching an accord on the new Collective
Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Deron Williams is one of the first players who decided to play overseas after the lockout and it was his move that acted as a catalyst in speeding up the exodus of NBA players to Europe and China. He is the third Nets’ player who
will feature in Turkish basketball club. Sasha Vujacic and newly drafted Bojan Bogdanovic are the other two.
The All-Star is one of the top point guards in the league. After some stellar seasons in Utah Jazz, Williams joined the New Jersey Nets in the middle of last season. The six year veteran is the second high profile player to land
in the Turkish capital. Last season, Allen Iverson also made his into Besiktas. He could however play only 10 games due to injury issues.
Williams started his college basketball career at the University of Illinois; leading led his team to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) championship game in 2005. He opted for the NBA draft, the same years and
was selected as the third overall in the first round by Utah Jazz. After playing six years with the Jazz, he was traded to the New Jersey Nets on February 23, 2011.
He played the second half of the season with the Nets, but could not show his true colours because of a wrist injury. The guard has however recovered from his injury and is all set to dazzle Istanbul.
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