[4] Raised Catholic, Williams moved to Brooklyn at the age of twelve[5] and attended Christ The King Regional High School and St. John's University, both in New York City, and played on the basketball team at both.

After two seasons as a bench player with the 76ers, Williams was traded to the New Jersey Nets for conditional draft choices on October 8, 1992.

In the first game of the following season, Williams set a franchise record with 17 offensive rebounds (20 total) in a win over the Indiana Pacers.

Williams' career came to a sudden end on April 1, 1999, after he broke his right leg in a collision with teammate Stephon Marbury in a game against the Atlanta Hawks.

On February 14, 2002, 55-year-old limousine driver Costas "Gus" Christofi was shot and killed at Williams's estate in Alexandria Township, New Jersey.

[12] Christofi had been hired to drive Williams's NBA charity team from a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, event to his mansion, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Trenton, New Jersey.

The New York Post reported that Williams was showing people around his 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) house when he aimed a shotgun at Christofi and killed him.

[13] On April 21, 2006, a Hunterdon County appeals court ruled that Williams could be retried on a reckless manslaughter charge.

[14][15][16] The New York City Police Department (NYPD) reported on April 27, 2009, that Williams had become suicidal and violent in a NYC hotel room.

[17] A few weeks after the NYC tasering incident, on May 24, 2009, Williams allegedly punched a man in the face at a bar in Raleigh, North Carolina.

[18] A few days before an important courtroom appearance, Williams crashed his Mercedes into a tree in lower Manhattan.

I've never seen a newbie go to jail and not cry the first two months every night, scream and have to get suicide prevention in front of his cell."

At that time, Williams reported being haunted not only by the shooting but also by how that incident contributed to the death of his own father: "I struggle with the loss of lives.

[book 3] In 1996, Williams proposed during halftime of a nationally televised basketball game to model Cynthia Bailey.