Williams Expected to Miss the Season

The Chicago Bulls believe point guard Jay Williams will miss next season because of the broken pelvis and knee injuries he suffered in a motorcycle crash last week.

“I would have to assume that, yes,” Chicago Bull General Manager John Paxson said Monday in Deerfield, Ill. “That’s a question for doctors and for his family to answer. But we do have to work under that assumption.”

Paxson also confirmed that Williams has a fractured pelvis as well as damaged ligaments in his left knee. He would not give further details on Williams’ injury or care, citing federal privacy laws.

While Paxson wouldn’t discuss Williams’ playing future beyond next season, a source close to Williams has told Associated Press his injuries are severe enough to jeopardize his career.

The No. 2 pick in last year’s draft remains in intensive care at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital, and is expected to have more surgery.

Williams was riding a new sportbike he’d purchased a week earlier Thursday afternoon when it slammed into a pole on Chicago’s north side. He sustained extensive injuries to his left leg and underwent surgery later that night.

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Antonio McDyess only recently became able to bend his injured left knee more than 90 degrees, and New York Knick Coach Don Chaney hinted that the oft-injured forward could miss the start of training camp.

“They said he was going to play. No one has really said when,” Chaney said. “If he’s not there for training camp I’m not going to panic.”

McDyess underwent bone graft surgery on his broken left kneecap April 22 -- his second operation since injuring the knee during the Knicks’ third exhibition game last season. The Knicks obtained McDyess in a draft-day trade with the Denver Nuggets last June after he missed all but 10 games of the 2001-02 season because of a different left kneecap injury.

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Jan van Breda Kolff, dismissed from St. Bonaventure after a player eligibility scandal abruptly ended the team’s season, was hired as an assistant with the New Orleans Hornets, joining the staff of new Coach Tim Floyd.

Van Breda Kolff, who has also been head coach at Pepperdine and Vanderbilt, was fired from St. Bonaventure last season after a players’ boycott of the Bonnies’ final two games after center Jamil Terrell was ruled ineligible.

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The Boston Celtics traded the rights to Lithuanian forward Darius Songaila to Sacramento for the Kings’ second-round draft choices in 2003 and ‘05, leaving the Kings with no picks in Thursday’s NBA draft. Songaila was the 50th overall pick in last year’s draft.