Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty ImagesThink Deron Williams can get hot shooting for the Jazz? You should see him play "Call of Duty."
Deron Williams couldn't care less about his character in "NBA 2K11." You won't find him playing "Halo," "Madden" or "Red Dead Redemption," either.
"I actually don't play any new video games except 'Call of Duty,'" Williams tells me. "I'm addicted to 'Call of Duty.' It's the only game I need."
Make that the only franchise the Jazz superstar plays, as Williams says he's been playing COD nonstop since the beginning and is eagerly anticipating the release of the latest in the series, "Call of Duty: Black Ops" on Nov. 9.
"The online play is the best," Williams explains. "I'm a guns blazing type of guy when I play online. I'm not very good with the sniper rifle, so I don't even mess with those.
"And now that 'Black Ops' is going to be in 3-D, that's crazy. Technology is getting so good, and I have my 3-D TV already, so I can't wait to play. Every 'Call of Duty' game just seems to get so much better, so I'm excited to check out the new maps and new weapons."
And as Williams breaks it down, he's not the only one on the Jazz who spends late nights online shooting it out in virtual warfare.
"We're all hooked," Williams says of his teammates. "We come home from road games and we get in at 2 in the morning and can't go to sleep, so we all go online and play 'Call of Duty' and talk crap. We've played until like 5 in the morning before."
As for who on the Jazz is the best gamer, Williams is quick to respond.
"I am," he says with a laugh. "Everyone thinks they're good, but Paul [Millsap] always runs up from behind people and slices them, so he gets on my nerves."
When Williams isn't playing "Call of Duty," you'll probably find him on his iPad playing old-school Nintendo games. "I still play 'Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!,' 'Super Mario Bros.,' 'Double Dragon,' 'Double Dribble' and 'Tecmo Super Bowl,'" he says, adding that the Steelers are his "TSB" team of choice.
"The only other new game I want to play is 'NBA Jam' because that's old-school,'" says Williams. "The new games just have too much going on. I've always liked 'Jam' because it's simple. I'm waiting on the 360 version, though. My kids play Wii and I'll play bowling with them, but I never play the Wii by myself. I'm just not into that."
When it comes to the Xbox 360, though, the Jazz bring their systems everywhere they go.
Deron Williams House
Deron Williams House
I always played basketball, and I played other sports as well, but basketball was always my true love and the one I liked the most. I got pictures of me playing basketball when I was 2 years old, on one of those little plastic hoops. And I was dunking on that, going way back. Growing up, I always knew that I wanted to go to college and then go to the NBA. That was my dream. That was my goal. My favorite team in the NBA, it was the Chicago Bulls, of course.
Everyone liked the Bulls because of Michael Jordan.
I had a great time playing basketball in high school, at The Colony in Dallas. My first year, my freshman year, I got moved up to the JV. I didn’t get moved up to the varsity, which I’m still mad at my coach, Tommy Thomas, about to this day. Because I was way better than the senior who was starting! I still remind him regularly; I bust his chops every day.
Coach Thomas was my mentor in high school. He kept me straight, kept me focused on what was important in life. He and my mom, they both helped me a lot. My mom got me involved in basketball. She played in college, and she really got me going with basketball at an early age.
In Dallas, as far as a look, well, you know, we kind of country in Dallas. People were wearing leather shorts. It’s 110 degrees outside and people were rockin’ leather shorts! I didn’t do that, though. When I was a kid, I was a sneakerhead, but I could only look at them. I couldn’t afford Nikes, but my uncle used to buy them for me. But once I got a pair of the shoes Jason Kidd wore, the Air Zoom Flights, and I was so happy that I ran down the street for like a mile! They were all black with a white strip up the middle of the shoe with a little air pocket on the back. My favorite pair of all time would have to be Air Force 1s, any and all colorways. And I like the Nike Dunks, too.
I had a moment my rookie year, standing at the free-throw line, and I was like, Damn, I’m really playing in the NBA! I dreamed of this and I’m here! These days, I probably keep the same shoes for about three to five games now. I usually give ’em away to a kid. I kept my shoes from the Rookie/Sophomore game I played in, and I kept a bunch of my Playoff shoes from last season, too.
When I was younger, I loved to watch the NBA Playoffs and NCAA March Madness. That was the most exciting thing. There’s something about March Madness. I think it’s the “one and done” thing. If you lose, you’re out. There’s no best of five, best of seven, come back from three down, anything like that. Anybody can win.
I had a blast in the Playoffs last season. It was one of the best times of my life. The year before, I was sitting at home watching Dallas beat Phoenix.
It beat that for sure. It was fun, it was exciting. I didn’t know what to expect, but I played in the Final Four and the Championship Game in college with Illinois, and it was a great experience, but I had even more fun playing in the Playoffs this season than I did then.
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