Jay Williams' time at ESPN is not over.
In a surprising turn of events, Williams announced via social media on Sept. 8 that he will be staying on with ESPN after months of speculation that ESPN was going to let his contract expire.
“I’ve been getting a lot of questions from a lot of people. ‘Yo Jay Wil, what’re you going to do next? Are you going to set your own stage? Are you going to keep it a buck? Are you going to build your own platform?' The answer is, you’re damn right I am. And I’m going to do it right at ESPN,” Williams said in a short video.
Wanted to share breaking news with ya’ll. I hope ya’ll ready. pic.twitter.com/OUudyAtYlH
— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) September 8, 2023
The details of Williams’ next role with the network are unclear, but he teased viewers in the video that more announcements are set to come soon.
ESPN declined to comment on the situation to TheStreet.
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Williams has been with ESPN full-time since 2008 after his NBA career was infamously cut short due to a motorcycle accident. He was known most recently as a member of the show “Keyshawn, JWill, and Max” that was cancelled in June.
His co-hosts Keyshawn Johnson and Max Kellerman were both let go by ESPN during the company’s layoffs of about 20 on-air talents in the same month.
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Williams has said in the past that his contract was set to end by the end of August, and before this announcement, he had been silent on X since Aug. 31.
There were several signs that Williams was going to receive the same fate as his former partners, especially due to the manner in which he signed off during his last show on ESPN radio on Aug. 31, including giving a warm welcome to the crew replacing him.
"I just want to say thank you to everybody who allowed me to have this opportunity," Williams said.
Thank YOU, @RealJayWilliams
— ESPN Radio (@ESPNRadio) August 31, 2023
👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/12v4MvVdOq
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