I remember once, during the peak of my pro wrestling fandom, reading the now-defunct Wrestling Booking Sheet newsletter.  A fan had asked the editors of the newsletter the question of which wrestlers had been babyface for their whole career.  The name which came straight to the editor’s mind was Sylvester Ritter, better known as the Junk Yard Dog.  Jerome Williams, who retired as a New York Knick earlier this week, picked the absolute best nickname for himself in that regard.  Williams, a professional wrestling fan, was one of the few truly good guys in the NBA.

Jerome Williams, in his Pistons days (dadog.com)

I remember him most fondly as a member of the fantastic 2001-02 Raptors squad that ran off a huge streak of wins right after Vince Carter announced that he was out for the season, clinched their playoff spot (the seven seed) on the last day of the season, and almost came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Pistons in the first round (with game five being the infamous Chris Childs Game, in which Childs, forgetting both how much time was left and what the score was, shot a wild three with almost ten seconds left, when all the Raps needed was two to tie).  Williams, in terms of talent, was probably the worst guy on that roster.  In terms of effort, he carried the team.  He was the emotional leader, the fan favourite, and the guy that contributed much more than his numbers showed.

When the Raps shipped him off as part of the Jalen Rose deal, it was truly a sad day in Toronto.  Sure, we picked up one true class act (Donyell Marshall), and a second tier player (Rose) who wants to win, while getting rid of the cancerous Antonio Davis in the process, but the fact that JYD wasn’t there disappointed me to no end.  Though the team had more talent, they didn’t play as well, and most fans knew exactly why.

Now that the Knicks have inexplicably waived JYD using the Allan Houston Rule, a true shocker simply because the Knicks didn’t waive Allan Houston with the one-time, one-player clause, he moves on to numerous ventures, including scouting, front office work, broadcasting, and expanding the reach of his charitable organization.  All of these streams will be great mediums for JYD to continue in basketball.

There are very few good guys in the NBA, and JYD was one of them.  For that, he deserves this recognition.

All of Travis MacKenzie’s work can be found on his site, TravisTime.com.  Some of his sports-related work is featured on MOP Squad Sports.  Any questions or comments directed towards Travis can be placed in comments on Travis Time, on the MOP Squad Fan Forum, or e-mailed to TravisTime@gmail.com