Williams was a Top-10 pick in the 1997 NBA draft and scored 52 points in one game. It turns out that with all the years he spent learning to become a basketball player, he failed to prepare for life after basketball. Both Ray and his brother Gus filed for bankruptcy, after their playing days were over.

"Ray is like many players who invested so much of their lives in basketball,'' said NBA veteran Mike Glenn. "When the dividends stopped coming, the problems started escalating. It's a cold reality.''

Williams is now 55 years old and diabetic. He is asking that the NBA players of today contribute to helping him and other retired players who are struggling financially:

"When I played the game, they always talked about loyalty to the team,'' Williams told the Boston Globe. "Well, where's the loyalty and compassion for ex-players who are hurting? We opened the door for these guys whose salaries are through the roof.''

Well, the NBA has tried to offer help to Williams, sort of. The NBA Legends Foundation gave him grants of more than $10,000 in 1996 and 2004, but recently denied his request for additional help. The NBA Retired Players Association offered Williams $2,000. The amounts may sound significant, but that's about how much money LeBron James earns for about four minutes of play on the basketball court. Clearly, the NBA could do more to help retired players.

Charles D. Smith, a veteran of the NBA, says that Williams has turned down opportunities to find work, though:

"You can only do so much for any one player, because there are a lot of guys who need help,'' Smith said. "Ray needs to let us help him help himself.''

Williams says that he doesn't have transportation to get to a job and that the NBA should do more to support him. I'm not sure what the situation is, so I won't try to speculate. At the very least, we can all agree that the outcome is ultimately sad and unfortunate.

One of the things we advocate for in ALARM, the Athlete Liberation Academic Reform Movement is that athletes must understand that their mission in life goes beyond dribbling a basketball and throwing a football. Far too many African-American male athletes commit every ounce of their soul to playing sports - only to find themselves in desperate circumstances when their careers are over. This is not helped by an amateur and professional sports system that is designed to encourage athletes to skate through school without getting proper educational fundamentals. Some athletes don't even have a sixth grade reading level when they receive college degrees. I am not sure if this is the case with Williams, but his problems are not unique.

The key to avoiding financial devastation for men like Ray Williams is for them to make sure that they are properly educated. The same skills it takes to memorize a complex offensive scheme can be used to do complicated math problems. The same hustle I once used to go to practice every day was eventually applied to studying every day. For some reason, however, the culture of the black male in America has been inundated with a disdain for intellectual fulfillment, but I can tell you clearly that there's nothing cool about being uneducated in a competitive workforce.

With regard to the NBA's ability to help Williams, it's clear that they could do more. Like the NFL, it seems that perhaps the NBA may want to find ways to help athletes who played in the league before the big money days, after the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson rivalry. The problem for Williams is that he seems more determined to take money from someone else than he does to earn a living for himself. If the NBA has offered Williams help in getting a job and he has refused to take it, then I can't imagine there being much more they can do. Either way, the story is sad all the way around.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the Athlete Liberation and Academic Reform Movement (ALARM). To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.