The final no-look pass – after going behind the back and pounding the ball crisscross between his legs a few times, of course – was the retirement no one saw coming.

But, then, Jason Williams was never good at typical. He was captivating and confounding as a King, the height of ballhandling unpredictability and the depths of frustration and decorum in 10 seasons in all. So that unscheduled exit from the Los Angeles Clippers days before training camp opened last week apparently was J-Will being himself to the end.

The Clippers, who projected him as the backup point guard and important role player on a potential playoff team, were surprised. The Kings, who know him well, were surprised. After sounding for much of the summer like someone committed to 2008-09, Williams signed a one-year deal with L.A. on Aug. 7, reportedly rented a place there … then said he just wasn't feeling like he wanted to play anymore.

His legacy as one of the most memorable players of the Sacramento era cannot be captured in the career numbers of 11.4 points, 6.3 assists, 2.3 turnovers and 39.6 percent from the field in 679 regular-season games with the Kings, Grizzlies and Heat, just as starting for Miami's 2006 championship team does not put him among the star point guards of the era. Williams never was close to that.

For real impact, there was Arco Arena around the turn of the millennium. The gym bulged at the hinges from the noise, a fan base that supported constant losers was repaid with a lovefest of thrills and unabashed emotions, and that franchise became what the league wanted so many others to be. The Kings were funball, and their building was full.

"He really has a little bit of a unique place in the history of the NBA, I think," Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie said, "in the sense that his rookie year and into his second year, he kind of came out of nowhere at a time when the league was coming out of the lockout and sort of struggling with its style of play and just trying to regain some of the footing it had lost at that time. And here was this kid that had these incredible dribbling and passing skills and sort of pedal-to-the-metal attitude about the game. He just caught the imagination of the entire country, along with the rest of our team.

"It really helped the NBA. It really helped this franchise, along with a lot of other terrific players, too. He became the darling of ESPN highlights just about every night. I've told this to other people: There was a time there, probably for about a year or so, other than Michael Jordan, he was the most popular basketball player in America because of this flamboyant style he had."

No one knew it at the time, but J-Will was the living analogy of those Kings – electric and a great amusement park ride but lacking necessary discipline that, in the end, made it all about what could have been. Williams was traded to the Grizzlies in 2001, Mike Bibby took his place, and it still didn't change for the team that, like its former point guard, never quite grasped the potential.

This dazzling ballhandler averaged more than seven assists just three times in 10 seasons, once with Sacramento and twice with Memphis. Injuries came. He started as the Heat won the title, but with the ball in Dwyane Wade's hands. J-Will was coming close to the end one way or another, even if no one expected the way it went down.

Call The Bee's Scott Howard-Cooper, (916) 321-1210.