Ex-Bull Jay Williams: Teammates bet $20K on Rock, Paper, Scissors

September 7, 2015

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Many an NBA talent has been known indulge in the lavish and extravagant lifestyle that comes with the territory of being a professional athlete. And sometimes, things can get a little reckless. Blowing thousands of dollars betting on frivolous schoolyard games would seem to fall under that category.

But that’s exactly what former Duke star Jay Williams claims that his teammates on the Chicago Bulls used to do. Making an appearance Monday on the The Brilliant Idiots podcast, Williams spilled some juicy details about his NBA adventures, including witnessing $20,000 bets on Rock, Paper, Scissors, and other similar games.

Williams can be seen talking about the Rochambeau ridiculousness at the 4:51 mark (though a word of warning about the presence of rather NSFW language in the interview). The former No. 2 overall pick also spoke about how Michael Jordan, though no longer a member of the team at that time, would gamble on occasion with the youngbloods.

Still just 33 years old, Williams is now a college basketball analyst for ESPN. After a promising career with the Blue Devils got him drafted second overall by the Bulls in 2002, he was severely injured in a catastrophic 2003 motorcycle crash and his NBA dreams were cut short.

But apparently, his brief time in the Association was sufficient to provide Williams with enough stories to last a lifetime. This isn’t even the first time he has shared an outrageous story about his ex-Bulls teammates, famously making the controversial claim a couple years back that they used to smoke weed before games as well.

Nevertheless, it’s fun to look at that 2002-03 Bulls team and speculate which of the colorful characters on the roster might have been involved. Eddy Curry? Marcus Fizer? Jalen Rose? Or maybe even current Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg?

And just imagine if these shenanigans went down a decade later with the addition of Lizard and Spock to the traditional Rock, Paper, Scissors stockpile. Would we have seen bets run up to $50,000?