Jason Williams incident

[Hales233]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPPPP

What the hell does Chris Rock have to do with anything?!

So EVERYONE who heckles players at games should be reprimanded? Cuz that's all that Ching guy was doing! Fine, make him apologize for heckling (as well as every other Warriors fan in attendance). But if you think what he did was worse than AND deserving of Williams' obscene racial slurs, then you're an idiot. You're probably the first person I've ever encountered who thinks calling someone a crappy ballplayer is just as bad as calling someone a dirty nig___. Oh and don't even think about saying this isn't relevant. Actually what JWill said and did (simulating mass slaughter with machine gun is disgustinly pathetic) is MUCH MUCH WORSE. If you can't see this, then it's pointless even talking to you. Watching that racist trash on Jerry Springer is more tolerable, since at least I know they're really acting and aren't that stupid.

[Hales233]

``The league did a very thorough investigation based on the complaint that was sent directly to them, and we're real supportive of the decision that they've made,'' said Geoff Petrie, the Kings' vice president of basketball operations.

``We don't condone behavior or interactions with the fans at all that are abusive. It's not acceptable behavior, but it's been dealt with, and it's finished."

Ah yes, the official decision. With JWill being found guilty and no mention of Chris Rock whatsoever. I'm glad the league punished him for his immature conduct. $10 says he never takes responsibility for his actions and issues an official apology though. Oh well. You can fine people but you can't change em.

[djb]

I'm posting these two articles to present other sides of the argument. This entire mess is based purely on hearsay at the moment, and I'm closing this thread until REAL accts are brought forth. All I have to say is that if these new reports are true, then Ching is f*cking moron and JWill, though not completely to blame, is one as well. Two wrongs don't make a right, one racial slur doesn't beget another one, and all that..

Smith, fan give support to Williams
By Martin McNeal
Bee Staff Writer
(Published March 17, 2001)

PHILADELPHIA -- Kings point guard Jason Williams must have figured he'd already said too much.
So when presented an opportunity both before and after Friday night's 100-79 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers to respond to allegations that he'd made anti-Asian and anti-gay remarks to a couple of fans at a Feb. 28 game at Golden State, Williams made himself unavailable for comment.

That was not the case for Kings vice president Geoff Petrie and owner Joe Maloof, who said similar behavior from Williams in the future will not be tolerated.

But rookie forward Jabari Smith, who sat by Williams on the Kings' bench at the Arena in Oakland, read a written account from the Bay Area describing the incident and said he had many points of contention.

"That's not true," Smith said after reading a story. "Those guys are out to get Jason."

Smith wasn't alone in questioning the authenticity of the account provided to Bay Area newspapers.

Cian Sanchez is a fan who says he sat behind the Golden State season-ticket holder who made the accusations in letters to the Kings and the NBA. Sanchez said he never heard any of those comments.

Sanchez made those comments first in what he said was an unsolicited phone call to Joe Maloof.

"I was in the general vicinity," Sanchez said, "and I know they were talking back and forth, Jason and this guy Michael Ching. I saw them arguing, but I never heard any of those anti-Asian remarks Jason was supposed to have made. I'm not saying he didn't say any of those things, but my girlfriend was with me, and she's Asian. So if he said some of those things, I think my ears would have been in tune to hear them."

Petrie, the Kings' vice president of basketball operations, said Friday that the NBA handled the Williams situation sufficiently in this instance by fining him $15,000. Williams was fined $10,000 for similar behavior during a Nov. 29 game in San Antonio.

"I've said before that Jason has to become a better caretaker of himself of his own soul off the court," Petrie said. "He has been counseled by us in an ongoing manner. We do not condone this type of behavior by either a player or any employee.

"If situations such as these continue to happen, there definitely will be a point where something more substantial could happen in terms of penalties with missed games."

Maloof said he wanted to talk to Williams in person before deciding how to attack the problem. Maloof offered to bring Ching to Sacramento for a game.

Ching said that was not enough and wants an apology from Williams.

Williams said Friday morning that he would apologize, but only after he received one first from Ching.

Smith said Friday night that Ching owed Williams an apology.

"The first thing he said to J-Will was, 'What drug are going to use next?'" Smith recounted. "Now how can you say something like that to a person and not expect to hear something back? And he called J-Will a 'skinhead.' Another dude called him a racist, and it just blew up from there. I didn't hear J-Will say anything racist to these guys."

Source: Smith, fan give support to Williams

[djb]

Ailene Voisin: When will Williams learn to keep his mouth shut?

(Published March 17, 2001)

Jason Williams is three seasons into his NBA career now, no longer the shy, unschooled Kings rookie with the outrageous skills.
He is also 25 years old.

He should know better.

He should know, say, when to keep quiet.

Yet based on a Feb. 28 incident in Oakland's New Arena -- and this is only the latest in an ongoing series of verbal battles -- Williams seems to have learned very little. The Kings are beginning to wonder if he has learned anything.

"This kid, if he continues to sow the seeds of his destruction ... some are going to sprout," an irritated Geoff Petrie said Friday evening. "And while we aren't exactly sure who said what, and we know that fan behavior often crosses the line, we know something happened, and whatever it was is not acceptable."

Though the accounts vary somewhat, this much is known: In the midst of the Kings' victory that night over Golden State, Williams began sparring with Michael Ching, a longtime Warriors season-ticket holder who was seated with friends behind the visitors' bench. Claiming that Ching called him a "skinhead" and "racist" -- accusations the Warriors fan vehemently denies -- the third-year point guard allegedly responded with the following:

"Are you a fag?"

"Are you gay?"

"Do you remember the Vietnam War? I'll kill y'all just like that."

In a letter sent to NBA Commissioner David Stern, as well as in conversations with Kings owner Joe Maloof and members of the Bay Area media, Ching, whose account was verified by fans Earl Butler and Duke Tsai in Thursday's Oakland Tribune, said Williams then pretended to be aiming a rifle at them and emitting a "rat-a-tat-tat" sound.

"Just like Pearl Harbor," he is said to have added.

On Tuesday, the NBA fined Williams $15,000. On Wednesday, Ching and his companions went public. On Friday, questions remained, namely: What are the Kings to do about their volatile young star? Fine him? Been there, done that. Trade him? Too late, at least until the offseason.

Suspend him?

According to sources, the Kings were fully prepared to do exactly that. To do the right thing. But the league's internal investigation failed to provide enough evidence to warrant the more severe penalty (in other words, a suspension might have prodded the Players Association into action), so the NBA's recourse was reduced to levying a fine.

Too bad. The Kings' instincts were right on. Given Williams' verbal history, a fine alone is insufficient; at the very least he should have been fined and forced to meet with an anger management therapist.

Who cares if he was provoked?

Who cares if he only cursed -- as Williams contends -- and failed to utter a single racial slur?

Who cares anymore?

Williams has squandered any right to the benefit of the doubt. For the better part of three seasons, he has responded, even to the mildest, often playful criticism, with profane remarks and obscene gestures. We've all heard them. We've all seen them. Nor does he discriminate; he has been rude to adults and youngsters alike, having already incurred a $10,000 fine for profane comments Nov. 29 in San Antonio.

Now, finally, comes the fallout.

Warriors and Kings fans are threatening to cancel season tickets. Bay Area television stations and newspaper reporters are clamoring for seats to the Warriors' next home game, in pursuit of an interview with Ching and his cohorts. Petrie is steamed. Kings owner Joe Maloof is overworked, frantically making apologetic phone calls and seeking closure to the matter.

"We're not going to tolerate this from anybody," said Maloof, while on business in Las Vegas. "When the team gets back in town, Geoff, Gavin (Maloof) and I are going to sit down with Jason and tell him what we expect. You want to support your players, but you can't defend a situation like this. If it happens again, we'll take very severe action."

Meantime, there is something Williams can do.

He can open his mouth again. He can be a big boy. He can prove that he has, in fact, learned something.

He can say he's sorry.

Source: When will Williams learn to keep his mouth shut?

[djb]

Apparently Ching wasn't the only one who heard the slurs and complained. A CAUCASIAN man also complained to the league.

Fans accuse Kings' Williams of racial slurs
By Dave Del Grande
STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND -- Three season ticketholders in the first row behind the visitor's bench at the Arena -- two Asian-American men and a Caucasian man who was accompanied by a Vietnamese girlfriend -- claim Sacramento guard Jason Williams directed racial and anti-gay epithets at them during the Kings' game against the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 28.

According to Michael Ching and Earl Butler, both of San Jose, and Duke Tsai of San Carlos, Williams loudly boasted, "I'm going to kill all you Asian (people)," during what Ching labeled had started off as "usual" give-and-take between the fans and the visiting players.

The NBA fined Williams $15,000 on Tuesday -- 13 days after the fact -- for "directing profanity toward fans."

The three men claim he did a lot worse than that.

Ching, who like Tsai was seated alongside a male Asian-American friend, recalled riding Williams while he was out of the lineup during the Kings' 122-101 victory.

"We were doing a little bit of the usual thing ... 'Why are you sitting on the bench?' he claimed. "He looked me in the face and said, 'Are you gay?' What? 'Are you gay?' What? 'Are you a fag?'

"I said, 'Is that all you know, three-letter words?' Then he said, 'I'm going to kill all you Asian (people). We fought you all in the war. You Vietnamese. You Japanese ...'"

All three men claim Williams then pointed his index finger at them in a gun motion and said, "Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat," immitating the sound of a machine gun.

Butler said the Kings' trainer, Pete Youngman, heard the remarks and stepped into the five-foot area between the Kings' bench and the first row of seats. But, he claimed, that didn't stop Williams from barking.

"He's the John Rocker of basketball," said Butler, who said he's a 10-year season ticketholder. "I went to the Kings' trainer and asked, 'Can't you do something?' He said, 'What am I going to do?'"

Ching said Williams, 25, who was suspended by the NBA for the first five games of this season for violation of the league's substance-abuse policy, blurted "just like Pearl Harbor" as he continued his gun motion.

"I said, 'Where did you go to history class?'" Ching said.

The three men, who also attended Wednesday's game against Utah, said they were approached by a Warriors representative later in the Kings game. Ching claims he was warned to watch himself or he would be ejected.

"At that point, I decided to lodge a formal complaint," Ching said.

He said he Federal Expressed letters the next day, March 1, to NBA commissioner David Stern, NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik, Warriors owner Chris Cohan, Warriors general manager Garry St. Jean, Warriors vice president of business operations Bobby Rowell and Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof.

"I can tell you the gentleman (Ching) approached me after the game," Rowell said. "I told him to send a letter to the NBA. Then, eventually it (letter) was sent to the league and they did what they needed to do."

Asked if the Warriors' organization was satisfied with the penalty, Rowell said: That's not my job. I'm not the commissioner to evaluate fines in the NBA."

Curt Jimerson, a security guard assigned to Warriors games by the NBA, said he couldn't comment.

On the eve of the fine being announced, Ching said he received a call from Joe Maloof on Monday, apologizing on Williams' behalf and inviting Ching and his guest to a game in Sacramento.

Unsatisfied with the response, Ching has done an interview with Asian Weekly newspaper, whose management promised it would follow up on the incident.

"Until he makes an apology to the Asian community and the people he offended," Ching insisted, "it's not settled."

Source: Fans accuse Kings' Williams of racial slurs