The New Jersey Nets' visit to the Verizon Center to visit the Washington Wizards was supposed to be a homecoming of sorts for Jordan Williams. The former Terps' star was drafted by the Nets in the second round after bolting the program after his sophomore year. Instead, he was made inactive, and Williams' old conditioning issues were the reason.
Ben Standig of CSN Washington caught up with Williams before the game, and Williams admitted he was out of shape.
"I thought I could have been in much better shape. I could have prepared myself better," said Williams, sitting down inside the visiting team locker room Monday night. "I wasn’t sure [when the lockout] was going to end. I kept pushing it off, pushing it off. You can’t really dwell on the past. You just have to move on and stay positive, be the best teammate I can and just keep working hard and get myself ready to play."
General manager Billy King told Standig that Williams came in "heavier" than he anticipated. During training camp, Williams had to miss almost every practice because he got severely dehydrated and was rushed to the hospital. Yikes. And to think, Williams looked like this just seven months ago.