Jayson & Gus

According to news reports, Jayson Williams is expected to accept a criminal plea for the shooting of Gus the limo driver. The plea includes three years in jail.

Methinks Jayson's lawyer dropped the ball. Forensics experts testified that Gus was shot from 8 feet away. As anyone who ever watched Jayson Williams play basketball can attest, Jayson's shooting range consisted of about 5 feet.

On a serious note, the killing of Gus the limo driver is an instructive example of the "good Jayson" " bad Jayson" that have been at war with each other for far too long.

The good Jayson is a man who people love to be around. He is funny, quick witted, charitable, generous to a fault- a poster boy for all that is right about the modern athlete. The good Jayson knew how fortunate he was, and acted accordingly.

The bad Jayson has a history of violence that is chilling. Bar fights, assault charges and crazy gun related incidents are all part of the bad Jayson box score.

The good and the bad that make up Jayson Williams collided the night he met Gus the limo driver. And the bad Jayson won.

Jayson hired Gus, like any other customer. Jayson eventually hooked up with some friends who were on the Harlem Globetrotters, and they went out for a night of partying.

The good Jayson included Gus into the party. Cause that's the kind of guy he is. When the party moved to Jayson's mansion in Jersey, did he leave Gus outside in the limo, as the hired help?

Of course not. The good Jayson invited Gus into his home.

And that is where the bad Jayson tragically takes over.

Whether it was a prank, a mistake or on purpose, we will never know for sure.

But at some point, Jayson had a shotgun and shot Gus in the belly.

And Gus died.

And 8 years later, the criminal case appears to be resolved.

I gotta end with a crazy Jayson story. It perfectly illustrates the duality that exists in this man.

Dwayne Schintzius was a teammate of Jayson's with the Nets.

Here is a transcript of a interview he conducted with a Florida radio station. The prosecution tried to admit this story into evidence, but was blocked by the judge:

I was spending the weekend with Jayson. He had recently suffered a career ending injury, and cashed in his $87 million insurance policy from Lloyds of London. He lived in a 31,000 square foot mansion on 300 acres. It was like a compound. Anyway, one night we are hanging out, and he had this 150 pound rottweiler named Duke. Anyway, Jayson was talking about how tough Duke was, and I bet him $100 that I could drag Duke out the front door by his back legs. The front door was about 15-20 feet away.

Anyway, so he agreed to the bet, and the game was on. Suddenly, Jayson started shouting attack commands to Duke, trying to get him to maul me. I started baby talking Duke, ‘Come on big fella, how are you Duke?’, etc. So Duke lays down on his side for me to scratch his belly, and so I scratch his belly and drag him out the door. I said to Jayson ‘OK now pay up’. Jayson says ‘OK I’ll be right back’ and goes back inside the house and upstairs.

After a minute or two, Jayson comes back down with a double barrel shotgun. Without a word, he pumps a round into Duke’s side and then blows his head off with the next shot. He then reloads, points the shotgun at my head from a foot away and says ‘Schintz, get this ******* dog cleaned up and out of here, or you’re next.’ I said ‘Please Jayson, just don’t kill me.’

His brother and I ended up picking up Duke and taking him to a spot on the property and burying him. Jayson had gone to bed by the time we got back to the house. The next morning I woke up, walked into the kitchen, and there was Jayson wearing a ‘Kiss the Cook’ apron, making pancakes with a big smile on his face, acting like nothing had happened.”