Playing with The King: The Eric Williams Interview

I recently had a chance to sit down with 12 year NBA veteran forward Eric Williams and he was delighted to share his experiences with Lebron James from a teammates’ perspective. The two were teammates with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2003-2004 season. That season was Lebron James’s rookie year and also Eric Williams’ first and only year with the team. The two grew very fond of each other on and off the court that season and they continue to maintain a healthy relationship almost a decade afterwards. Lebron has credited Williams and his mentor ship as a major contributor to his greatness.

 

Question: What’s up Eric, How has life been after the NBA?

Eric Williams: Life has been great, my kids are healthy, and I’m nice and healthy (laughing). But everything has been great; I have gained a lot of publicity because of my involvement with the VH1 hit show “Basketball Wives”.  A lot of publicity and lots of money (laughing).

 

Question: Do you miss playing in the NBA?

Eric Williams: Of course I miss it. Basketball is my life. It has opened a lot of doors that have made my life even better after the NBA. I do enjoy the extra time I have to spend with my children and watch them grow. I do love that part of life after basketball.

Question:  With the playoffs approaching and Lebron playing the best basketball of his career,  does it make you proud of the things he is accomplishing seeing that he credits you to his success because of your role as a mentor in his rookie season?

Eric Williams: Hell yeah, shouts out to my little brother Lebron. I’m not surprised at all at what Lebron is accomplishing. From the very first time I've seen him grace the basketball court, I knew he would be one of the greatest to ever do it. He works so hard and that’s what most people don’t realize, this man is always the first person in the gym or weight room and the last to leave. I met him when he was only 18 and the things he could do at that time, I just knew that if this kid stays healthy, he  would be the best ever. And look at him proving me right.

Question: So exactly how was it to play alongside of Lebron?

Eric Williams: Man, it was great. Nah, I’m lying. I hated it (laughing) he killed everybody every day at practice and he made coach always get mad at us “average” players when he was out there killing us (laughing). But seriously it was great, I am proud that he thinks so highly of me for helping him out with a few words of advice. In actuality Lebron made me better, he made everyone around him better, that’s just what superstars do.

Question:  What were a few of the major things you tried to tell Lebron about the NBA?

Eric Williams: I was just telling him he had to develop tough skin and be able to take criticism because the media can really say some hurtful things. I also advised him to watch his money and how he spends, but as rich as he is I doubt if he cared about that (laughing).  Most people don’t realize that Lebron is a smart man, all the things I told him, he already had knowledge of, I just added my personal experiences to it, to better clarify for him.

Question: Did you reach out to Lebron after his small performance in the 2011 Finals against the Dallas Mavericks?

Eric Williams: Yes I did, I called him a few weeks later and told him to keep his head up and don’t worry about the hate and to use it as motivation to come back even better the next year. And he did just that and won the championship the very next year.

Questions: Do you have any favorites or predictions on this year’s NBA Finals?

Eric Williams: Yes I do, I’m going with the Miami Heat to repeat as Champions. I predict that they will play Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals and I see them winning the series in 5 games with a record of 4-1. You’ll be a fool to bet against Lebron James (laughing).

It was an amazing experience to interview Eric Williams; he shared great insight on how it is to play along Lebron “The King” James. I hope this interview gives my viewers a chance to visualize the actual role of a teammate plays when playing with Lebron James. Being as though Williams played with him his rookie season, the insight is perfect as it helps to understand how Lebron got to be as successful as he is today.

The Wiki World

In one of my older post, I explained how my curiosity drove me to explore the Wikipedia page of the Cleveland Cavaliers, in hope of seeing if the information it provided on Lebron James was truly accurate. In the post, I pinpointed that the “2003-2010: The Lebron James Era” section on the page was missing substantial information on the impact of Lebron James.  The revisions I made gave the proper respect to James without disrespecting the integrity of the Cavalier's Organization or any one player.

Losing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Cavaliers now focused on Lebron James and the fact that he was now becoming a free agent. Owner Dan Gilbert realized the demand would be very high for James and many if not every team would place their bids. On July 8, 2010, James announced that he had decided that he would sign a long term deal with the Miami Heat.  This announcement was aired on ESPN as a one hour show named The Decision. The repercussions of this announcement left many in the city of Cleveland and many in the Cavalier organization furious and feeling betrayed. Many Lebron James jerseys were burned, and the famous Nike "Witness" mural of James in downtown Cleveland was immediately taken down. Shortly after James made his announcement, Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, announced in an open letter on the Cavaliers website that James' decision was a "cowardly betrayal" and promised a NBA championship for the Cleveland Cavaliers before Lebron James wins one as a Heat player. Despite being ridiculed for the letter by the media, Cleveland fans embraced the owner, even offering to pay the $100,000 fine given by the NBA.  Instead of paying homage to a young man who has created many opportunities for the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland’s economy, James was ridiculed and disrespected for making a decision he believed would benefit his life. The new formed hatred for James followed him into 2011 NBA Finals, after the Heat had reached the finals in James’ first year with the team. When the Dallas Mavericks closed the Miami Heat out in Game 6, many in Cleveland celebrated as if the Cavaliers had won the championship. At the time it wasn’t about the Cavaliers not winning but mainly about Lebron losing. There were even tweets from Cavaliers ownership of sly remarks about the Heat losing in the Finals. For a man who did nothing but benefit the City in many aspects, this treatment was very harsh.  With the emergence of Kyrie Irving as a Superstar in the NBA, it is probable that the hate for James would decrease because of the increase in love for Irving. 

I felt the need to make edits to this particular paragraph in the section because it lacked the emphasis on how the events occurred during the end of the Lebron James era with the Cavaliers. Unfortunately my revisions were immediately changed back to the original the text. The fact that my edits were changed within 24 hours after I posted the edits on Wikipedia showed me the Cleveland Cavaliers fans were not as grateful to what Lebron contributed to the city, as I thought they should be.

In my opinion, Lebron forever changed the dynamic of sports in Cleveland. As a member of the Cavaliers, he enhanced revenues for the downtown business districts which created many job opportunities for the residents of the city. I believe someone who has that much affect on a city in such a positive manner should receive a lot of appreciation for all that they have done.

 

The Things You Can & Cannot Find On Wikipedia

It goes without question that I am a huge Lebron fan and it sometimes interest me to go to various websites and find out what the writers there feel or have to say about anything dealing with "King James". I know Wikipedia may not be a reliable source, it just amazed at some of the information I saw up there.
After evaluating the Cleveland Cavaliers Wikipedia page, I decided to make a few changes to the 2003–2010: The LeBron James Era Section of the page. The corrections can be viewed below:
Initially the section read:

With the Cavaliers out of the playoffs, the focus then turned to James' impending free agency. On July 8, 2010, James announced in a one hour show named The Decision on ESPN that he would be signing with the Miami Heat. The repercussions of this announcement left many in the city of Cleveland infuriated and feeling betrayed. Many LeBron James jerseys were burned, and the famous Nike "Witness" mural of James in downtown Cleveland was immediately taken down. Shortly after James made his announcement, Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, announced in an open letter on the Cavaliers website that James' decision was a "cowardly betrayal" and promised a NBA championship for the Cleveland Cavaliers before LeBron James wins one, although James would win a championship before the Cavs with the Heat's championship win in 2012. Despite being ridiculed for the letter by the media, Cleveland fans embraced the owner, even offering to pay the $100,000 fine given by the NBA.

My corrections read as follows:

Losing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Cavaliers now focused on Lebron James and the fact that he was now becoming a free agent. Owner Dan Gilbert realized the demand would be very high for James and many if not every team would place their bids. On July 8, 2010, James announced that he had decided that he would sign a long term deal with the Miami Heat.  This announcement was aired on ESPN as a one hour show named The Decision. The repercussions of this announcement left many in the city of Cleveland and many in the Cavalier organization furious and feeling betrayed. Many LeBron James jerseys were burned, and the famous Nike "Witness" mural of James in downtown Cleveland was immediately taken down. Shortly after James made his announcement, Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, announced in an open letter on the Cavaliers website that James' decision was a "cowardly betrayal" and promised a NBA championship for the Cleveland Cavaliers before LeBron James wins one as a Heat player. Despite being ridiculed for the letter by the media, Cleveland fans embraced the owner, even offering to pay the $100,000 fine given by the NBA.  Instead of paying homage to a young man who has created many opportunities for the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland’s economy, James was ridiculed and disrespected for making a decision he believed would benefit his life. The new formed hatred for James followed him into 2011 NBA Finals, after the Heat had reached the finals in James’ first year with the team. When the Dallas Mavericks closed the Miami Heat out in Game 6, many in Cleveland celebrated as if the Cavaliers had won the championship. At the time it wasn’t about the Cavaliers not winning but mainly about Lebron losing. There were even tweets from Cavaliers ownership of sly remarks about the Heat losing in the Finals. For a man who did nothing but benefit the City in many aspects, this treatment was very harsh.  With the emergence of Kyrie Irving as a Superstar in the NBA, it is probable that the hate for James would decrease because of the increase in love for Irving. 

I felt the need to make edits to this particular paragraph in the section because it lacked the emphasis on how the events occurred during the end of the Lebron James era with the Cavaliers. I should mention that I was unable to change some of the information on Lebron's Wikipedia page because it was locked. This suggest that there was a lot of back and forward re-editing of his page between his supporters and critics, leading Wikipedia to lock it down. I saw a lot of information that needed re-editing but because of the restriction on the page I found the edits on the Cavaliers page just as important and in need of further emphasis.