HOT CORNER

What: “SportsCentury: Jayson Williams.”

Where: ESPN Classic, tonight, 5.

Bigger stars have been profiled on the “SportsCentury” series, but few with a life as complex and intriguing as Jayson Williams’. And not only because of the shooting incident at his home one year ago today that left limousine driver Costas “Gus” Christofi dead and Williams charged with aggravated assault.

Williams, whose father is African American and mother is of Polish and Italian descent, always tried to fit in. He was known as a fun-loving guy, but several friends remember him as a sad person, one who laughs on the outside to hide the pain inside.

Williams had to cope with the deaths of two half-sisters from complications of AIDS.

“There were a lot of warning signs with Jayson and guns, and when you mixed alcohol in the mix, you had a real problem with Jayson,” says Adrian Wojnarowski of the Bergen (N.J.) Record.