[外電] Williams' home fires yearning
Williams' home fires yearning
Hawks rookie returns to Seattle during All-Star break
By SEKOU SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/17/06
Houston — Marvin Williams had but one request upon his return home
for the All-Star break. The Hawks rookie wanted his mother, Andrea
Gittens, to pick him up when his plane arrived at Seattle's Sea-Tac
Airport.
That would mean she'd have to abandon her daily ferry ride from their
home in Bremerton, Wash., an hour's cruise west of the city.
If she promised to be there this morning, Marvin promised he'd
drive her to work in downtown Seattle and ride the ferry back
home himself.
It's the least a son could do for a mother whose ferry rides
helped pave his way to NBA riches.
"That ride across the water will give me a chance to finally
sit back and relax and breathe a little bit," Williams said as
he detailed his plans for his first true break from a whirlwind
ride that began the summer after he graduated from high school,
when he left Bremerton, Wash., for the University of North
Carolina.
"It's going to be wonderful to have him home, even if it is
just for a long weekend," Gittens said last week amidst a
sea of family and friends clad in Hawks jerseys with her son's
name across the back for the Hawks' only game in front of the
home folks at Seattle's Key Arena. "I know he probably needs
to get away from it all, and the best place to do that is at
home."
Most people assumed Williams would be spending this weekend
here in Houston, taking part in the sights, sounds and giddiness
of NBA All-Star Weekend.
But he didn't make the cut for Friday night's Rookie Challenge,
a game that pits the top rookies against the top second-year
players, as voted by the league's assistant coaches.
The snub hurt when Williams learned of it two weeks ago. He
was more upset for his teammates, fellow rookie Salim Stoudamire
and second-year forwards Josh Childress and Josh Smith, than
himself.
The whispers that followed about him being a disappointment —
though only from an ignorant few who haven't grasped the role
he's being asked to play on a Hawks team that's clawed its way
to a 16-34 record — barely pierced Williams' even-keeled mental
armor.
The sting, of course, was tempered by the knowledge that if he
wouldn't be in Houston this weekend he'd be in Bremerton, a
sleepy Navy town that serves as his one refuge from the world.
And though it's just four days away, it would allow him the time
for rest and reflection that he'd never get with all those
microphones and cameras in his face had he made the cut.
"This is my first real break since the season started," Williams
said. "I just want to get home and let my body heal. I'll get
up a lot of shots and keep my conditioning intact. But other
than that, I'll just lay low and stay out of sight."
He couldn't have picked a better location for that than
Bremerton, a place by his own admission no one could just
stumble upon by accident.
And how things have changed in the 19 months since Williams,
still just 19, departed for Chapel Hill, eager to prove
himself worthy of the lofty praise being heaped upon him when
he was tabbed one of the nation's premier high school recruits.
His mom has that new house he promised he'd buy her nine years
ago, an upgrade from the tidy three-bedroom apartment that
suited a single mother and her three sons just fine all those
years in between.
Even those 7:20 a.m. ferry rides to work have been interrupted
by the occasional break. Gittens recently returned from a
weeklong vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where she tried
snorkeling and other things she never would have before.
"It was a trip," Gittens said. "I've never really been anywhere.
I saw New York for the first time when Marvin was drafted.
And this was my first trip out of the country."
If her son has his way, it won't be her last. While money
isn't an issue for Williams, Childress insists the rookie is
by far the Hawks' "cheapest" player. It has transformed the
lives of his family.
"It's been such a big difference," said Williams, who'll earn
in excess of $3.8 million this season from the Hawks. "And
sometimes it's just the little things. My brother [Demetrius]
graduates high school this year and will go to school in the
fall, so I'll be able to help my family with that. And my mom
just got back from Mexico. We can't complain about anything."
He wouldn't dare complain about his first 50 games in the NBA
or the life he leads in Atlanta, where his father, Marvin Sr.,
lives, as do his roommates, two high school friends from
Bremerton who relocated with him.
So what if he's coming off the bench, reprising the role he
played as the top sub on North Carolina's national title-winning
team during his one college season?
So he's not the leading contender for Rookie of the Year, a
distinction that belongs to New Orleans/Oklahoma City point
guard Chris Paul, a player the Hawks could have taken with
the No. 2 pick in the June draft.
Williams is measuring his progress differently, as is his
coach, Mike Woodson, who said he's more than pleased with
the way the future of the franchise is coming along.
"We started him off slow on purpose," Woodson said. "It's a
process. And the kid is 19 years old and played just one year
of college. I'm sure missing out on something like the rookie
game was a shock to him at first, but as a player, you can't
worry about stuff like that.
"He's got the skills and desire to improve, which is what this
league is all about. Longevity as a player is what will define
a career. And he's going to play this game for 15 years or more.
So being in Houston on Friday and Saturday is not something he
should be concerned about because it doesn't make or break you
as a player. It's just one game."
Woodson will continue to crank up the minutes for Williams in
the last 32 games, contingent upon the rookie continuing to
earn them and produce while he's on the floor.
That's welcome news for a player who prides himself on getting
better every day.
"I can honestly say that the basketball has been a lot tougher
than I thought it would be," Williams said. "The traveling, the
skills level of the guys I'm playing against every night, all
of it is more than you can imagine when you're dreaming about
being here.
"I'm getting better, though, and that's the biggest thing I
wanted to do. I've still got a long way to go, a long way to
go on both ends of the court. But the main thing is that I'm
getting better."
He's already vowed to make the Rookie Challenge as a second-year
player next year.
"That's my motivation for next year," Williams said. "That's
how I have to deal with that. The guys who get there deserve it,
so you can't take anything away from them because you know they
worked hard just like you did. But I want to be there next year."
That means Gittens will have to soak up as much time as she can
with her son this weekend and in the offseason, because he
promises he won't stop working until he becomes the player he
knows he's destined to be.
Gittens will have to settle for her son's constant tribute to
her — the tattoo Williams taps on his left shoulder when he
shoots free throws reads "Andrea" — a ritual he says will never
be replaced.
"My mom, that's my heart," he said. "She's my hero and my best
friend. She has been for years and she always will be."
Who else would you want picking you up from the airport?
資料來源
http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0217hawks.html
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