Mo Williams(notes) is 27, healthy and has three years and $26 million remaining on his Cleveland Cavaliers contract. But none of that mattered much to him this summer after he watched LeBron James(notes) leave the Cavs to join the Miami Heat.
Williams said he was so depressed by James’ exit that he considered walking away from the NBA.
“That’s how bad it got,” Williams said. “I contemplated it. I really sat down and envisioned life after basketball. …I really saw myself not playing.
“It just didn’t make sense to me. …It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Williams played alongside James the past two seasons, serving as the Cavs’ starting point guard and second-leading scorer as they finished with the NBA’s best record two years in a row. Cleveland’s regular-season success, however, didn’t translate to the playoffs, where the Cavs fell short of reaching the NBA Finals both times. Still, Williams felt comfortable in his role next to James. He was named to the All-Star team in 2009 and remained hopeful that, together, they could deliver a championship to Cleveland in the 2010-11 season.
Those hopes all but disappeared on July 8 when James announced he was leaving. By the time of James’ televised special, Williams had heard from enough people around James to know his days of playing next to the two-time reigning MVP were over – even if Williams didn’t want to admit it.
“As anyone tied to the Cavs, you want to be in denial,” Williams said. “…You never want to say, ‘Yeah, OK, he’s gone.’ ”
Williams didn’t hide his disappointment, even tweeting in the hours after the announcement that he hoped James would change his mind. Williams also publicly expressed his regret for how James broke the hearts of Clevelanders and for the earlier firing of coach Mike Brown, who had lost James’ support.
“I had to get it off my chest,” he said.
Williams said he and James remain friends, but he’s also tried to use the past two months to move on.
“You get back here to Cleveland, get around the new coaching staff, start a few workouts, get around the young guys and basically accept the fact that we are not what we once were,” he said. “We don’t have the No. 23 jersey hanging in the locker before every game now.”