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Jason Williams (born November 18, 1975 in Charleston, West Virginia) is a basketball player in the NBA. He should not be confused with former NBA players Jayson Williams or Jay Williams (the latter is actually named Jason Williams as well, but began using the short form of his name to avoid confusion when he joined the NBA).
He grew up in Belle, West Virginia, a small town less than 10 miles from Charleston, and graduated from Dupont High School, a now-defunct institution in Belle. In his senior year, he started in basketball alongside sophomore Randy Moss, who would go on to become a superstar in the NFL. Williams attended Marshall University where he played for coach Billy Donovan. When Donovan accepted the head coach position at Florida, Jason Williams followed him to Gainesville.
There, Williams led the Gators as their point guard. Almost single-handedly, he beat the eventual champion Kentucky Wildcats with a barrage of three-pointers at Rupp Arena.
Later that season, Florida would suspend Williams from the team for breaking unspecified team rules.
Williams declared himself for the NBA draft. The Sacramento Kings picked Williams with the 7th pick in the 1998 draft. Williams did not attend the draft but accepted an interview via satellite from Orlando.
With the Kings, Jason Williams turned the team into a playoff contender, along with Chris Webber, Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic.
In 2001, the Sacramento Kings traded Williams to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Mike Bibby. The Grizzlies relocated to Memphis for the beginning of the 2001 season. In his first season in Memphis, Williams held together a team low in talent. With head coach Sidney Lowe, little significant improvement occurred. In 2002, General Manager Jerry West hired Hubie Brown out of retirement to coach the team. Almost instantly Brown impacted the team positively. The team recorded a franchise record 28 wins in Brown's first season.
In 2003-2004, the Grizzlies defied all expectations. The team coalesced behind Jason Williams, Pau Gasol, coach Brown and GM West. The team won 50 games last season and for the first time made it to the NBA Playoffs as the 6th seed in the West.
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