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The 2026 NBA Draft finally saw the top college prospects chosen along with some friendly fire between ESPN and basketball analysts on Tuesday night.
Jay Williams, Richard Jefferson and Kenny Smith were among those who covered the draft and offered their analysis during the event. An exchange between the three former NBA players went wrong and led to an awkward moment.
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Jay Williams of the Chicago Bulls and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs share a laugh during the 2003 Got Milk? Rookie Challenge Game at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on February 8, 2003. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE)
ESPN remembered the moments in which each former player was selected. Smith went No. 6 overall in 1987 to the Sacramento Kings, Richard Jefferson was selected at No. 13 by the Houston Rockets before being traded to the New Jersey Nets in 2001 and Williams was selected No. 2 overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2001. Williams’ career was cut short due to a motorcycle accident.
ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi asked why Williams received a standing ovation. Williams explained that most of the people who had gone to Duke were from the New York or New Jersey area.
“They didn’t see the future coming either, so they were cheering,” Jefferson said.
Williams responded, “Wow.”
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TNT basketball analyst Kenny Smith appears on air before the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinal game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the North Carolina State Wolfpack at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on April 6, 2024. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Smith admitted that Williams was “incredibly talented” but “his career path would have been very different if he didn’t like motorcycles.”
Williams tried to brush it off, saying that everything Smith was saying was “on the record” and that he “wrote a book about it.”
“I guess everyone who goes to Duke isn’t that smart,” Jefferson joked. “What? He wrote a book about it. I agree with him.”
Awkwardness filled the air after that as the Toronto Raptors prepared to make a pick.
Williams’ incident occurred in June 2003. He suffered a broken pelvis, three torn ligaments in his knee and severed a nerve in his leg. Williams violated the terms of his contract by driving the motorcycle in the first place.
Referee Richard Jefferson watches the game between the New York Knicks and the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 11, 2022. (Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
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He tried to return to the NBA through the G League, but never made it. He played 75 games for the Bulls in his rookie season and averaged 9.5 points per game.
