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Suiting Up with Paul Rabil

Jay Williams: NBA, ESPN Analyst and Entrepreneur

Suiting Up with Paul Rabil

Paul Rabil

Sports, Business

51.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2017

⏱️ 87 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

"It was the worst decision I made, but the best thing that's ever happened to me." Jason Williams is a former basketball player for the Duke University Blue Devils and Chicago Bulls. After tragically crashing his motorcycle, effectively ending his playing career, Williams transformed his life and is positioned to positively impact sports, business, and social issues more than ever. While at Duke, Williams was a two-time college basketball Player of the Year, National Champion, and three-year graduate. Moreover, on senior day of his graduating junior year, Duke University retired his jersey. After being drafted to the Chicago Bulls with the second overall pick, things went downhill. Williams was in a devastating motorcycle accident, which led to him spending the next year on a hospital bed. Shortly thereafter, he began his battle with depression, which was compounded by the loss of his grandmother, dog, and a health scare from his mother - Jay's caretaker at the time. Cumulatively, this kicked Williams into an upswing, taking care of those who looked after him, getting his life back on track, and striving for greatness. I’m your host Paul Rabil and welcome to Suiting Up Podcast. On this show I delve into the stories of some of today’s leading athletes, entrepreneurs, and entertainers, interviewing them and unpacking the psychology of their success.

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm your host Paul Rabel and welcome to Suiting a podcast a show where I delve into the

0:08.6

stories of some of today's athletes, entrepreneurs and entertainers, interviewing them and unpacking the psychology of their success.

0:16.0

Jay Williams is a former basketball player for Duke University and the Chicago Bulls.

0:20.0

Today, he's a college basketball analyst for ESPN. He's an entrepreneur and investor.

0:25.0

I grew up a die-hard UNC basketball fan and I told him that but mainly because of the

0:30.0

influence of my father and brother, although collectively all three of us

0:33.0

grew up mourning the aftermath of the J Williams Duke UNC rivalry game era, where

0:38.5

he was a two-time college basketball player of the year, both his sophomore and junior

0:41.6

year. He won the national Championship with the Dukies,

0:44.1

his sophomore year, and graduated from the university

0:46.4

in three years.

0:48.6

Oh, and he also had his Jersey retired

0:50.8

on Senior Day when he was a junior.

0:53.8

So if that doesn't satisfy any student athlete requisite,

0:56.7

well, I'm not sure what will.

0:59.6

More impressive though is Jason's thought leadership,

1:02.2

his openness, vulnerability, and example he sets for all of

1:05.2

us athletes.

1:06.2

We'll strike that.

1:07.8

All of us people.

1:08.8

Jay lives in Brooklyn about three miles for me and when I pitched him on this podcast he invited me

1:14.3

actually mandated that we do it at his place which shows the type of guy he is

...

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