Deron Williams’ fall from from the upper echelon of NBA point guards, has been as swift as it has been puzzling.
Once upon a time Williams and Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul were neck and neck for the title of the league’s best floor general but in the past few years the Brooklyn Net has fallen off the pace considerable. And he knows it.
In a story via ESPN, Williams spoke about his disappointment with his play of late and the feeling of letting the people who depend on him to play well, down.
“I feel like I’ve kind of let people down, so I don’t like feeling like that,” Williams said. “I take my job seriously, I work hard in the offseason, I work hard every day. It’s just real frustrating not to be able to play how I’m capable of playing.”
This offseason, Williams is focused on getting healthy and returning to All-Star form.
“I used to step on the court and feel like I was the best player no matter who I played against, so I gotta get back to that,” he said. “Even if I’m not the best player on the court, I gotta feel like I am.”
Don’t know what happened to Williams between the move from Utah to Brooklyn, but he hasn’t been an All-Star point guard since his days with the Jazz under Jerry Sloan.
I believe his decline has more to do with recurring injuries than the system change but either way, he needs to rediscover his old form.