Friday column: Williams at least still has a chance

Early in his NBA career, Jayson Williams said, he would follow the advice of his devout mother — get on his knees and pray.

But he would pray to die.

“I dare you,” he would say. “Come on, God. Do it.”

Determining the locus of the demons afflicting anyone as tormented as Williams is probably not possible, but one source clearly is the loss of two sisters to AIDS — a tragedy triggered by a mugger’s knife-and-hammer attack on his oldest sister in 1983, when Williams was 15.

The hospital blood Linda was given to keep her alive was tainted with HIV and she developed AIDS.

Depression and drug use followed, including the possible sharing of needles with younger sister Laura, who also developed the disease. By 1988, both sisters were dead.

Williams’ anguish over this loss — its sheer senselessness — led to his anger with God and his challenge to the Almighty.

“Come on, God. Do it.”

The deity declined.

So Williams pursued his own destruction in a variety of ways — reckless driving, alcohol, drugs, guns — ways that resulted in tragedy to others, most notably in the death of limo driver Costas Christofi in 2002, for which Williams on Tuesday was sentenced to five years in prison.

During his long descent, there have been those who have continued to support Williams.

After a possible suicide attempt in 2009, Williams was remembered by one writer in his playing days as a “terrific guy who never left an autograph unsigned or a kid without a couple kind words,” as someone who, once he found NBA riches, “took in his sister’s children and raised them as his own.”

But while the killing of Cristophi is, of course, the worst thing Williams has done, the former All-Star’s incident list is long and violent.

It includes attacking a heckler with a metal folding chair; it includes nearly killing then-Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet on a shooting range; it includes blowing off the head of his “favorite” dog — and then ordering a “friend” at gunpoint to bury the animal.

It also includes directing a cover-up of the Cristophi killing, a cover-up that resulted in the conviction of two friends.

How much of Williams’ actions can be attributed to his sisters’ tragedy?

Only God knows. It’s safe to say, however, that if he’s ever going to redirect his life — as he swore to do Tuesday — he needs to come to grips with it.

And with everything else.

He appeared far from doing that in his pre-sentencing statement, which was the usual courtroom blend of accepting blame while shedding it, of apology and cheap promise.

Williams is 42 and in prison. His wife is divorcing him. His life is in chaos. Despite all that, he has something going for him that Cristophi does not: He’s alive, which means a turnaround — even if unlikely — is possible.

Next time he follows his mom’s advice, he might consider giving thanks for that.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.