We know the old saying that “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” When it comes to sports, especially lately, you must add “or smart.”
All young athletes make mistakes on the field of play that can be rectified through coaching and practice.
But when those same athletes make mistakes off the field of play, it can have severe ramifications. We saw that recently with Ja Morant and Friday we witnessed it with high school hoops sensation, Mikey Williams.
Williams, a Memphis Tiger commit, was arrested Thursday in California on five charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
According to ESPN.com, Williams is “accused of violating California penal code Chapter 9, Section 245(a)(2), which involves ‘any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a firearm.'” The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison.
The Williams family attorney, Troy P. Owens, released a statement about the incident stating that a disturbance occurred at the Williams’ home, shots were fired in the aftermath and Mikey was “alleged to match the identity of the shooter.”
While some will pile on him, posting memes about Morant, Williams and guns, others will defend him, posting well wishes and expressing heartache for Williams and his family.
But these incidents must be viewed as teaching moments for adults and children, especially when they’re athletes. Children, especially those with athletic talent, must be taught to recognize their position and the trajectory of their future athletic careers. They must be taught how to deal with stardom and the need to separate themselves from potentially harmful situations and people.
Unfortunately, some might lack proper guidance or a strong support system, and many times that results in the wrong element influencing these young athletes the wrong way. Other times, these athletes make bad decisions on their own despite having a supportive environment.
And learning about and seeing others fail and still making the wrong choice makes it even worse.
Mikey Williams and Ja Morant both had choices to make and real-life examples to help them decide what to do or not do.
Williams had Ja Morant’s incident in Colorado that happened roughly one month ago.
And they both could turn to former Lincoln High School star Sebastian Telfair’s story that resurfaced last month when he pled guilty to charges involving efforts to defraud the NBA Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan.
Telfair, Morant and Williams are all young, talented Black athletes who rose to elite levels in basketball and made poor choices that either derailed, hampered or could have serious repercussions to their promising athletic careers, respectively.
Williams’ arrest is another sad and painful lesson for young athletes on guns and “being about that life,” the latter of which not all are suited for and everyone will eventually pay for should they choose to live it.
These three young men had support systems around them but they made the mistake of not listening to them and not thinking about the consequences of the actions of those above them.
Telfair had his family and the entire Marbury family to learn from.
Morant has his parents and NBA veterans to learn from.
Williams has his parents and management team, yet because of one bad incident he’s now facing a possible four-year prison sentence.
As parents, we do our best to protect and educate our children. We try to put them in the best situations so that they can succeed and forge bright futures.
But children are apt to make bad decisions. Our hope is that they aren’t severe and that they can quickly overcome them.
“We are aware of several narratives being advanced online that are not factual and are designed to humiliate Mr. Williams. We are confident that the truth will come to light. Mr. Williams is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” said Owens in his statement.
Mikey Williams doesn’t appear to “be about that life”, but while he and his family wait for his day in court, he’s become the latest lesson about the need for young athletes in particular to separate themselves from guns and “that life.”
For like so many before Williams have learned, neither is worth it.
