Iver Peterson and Al Baker report in the New York Times that former Nets start Jayson Williams has turned himself in to police who charged him with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a limousine driver at Williams's Hunterdon County estate nearly two weeks ago.

Williams, who has been charged with illegal gunplay before, was released on $250,000 bail. He received the lesser of two criminal charges available to prosecutors in a manslaughter case: recklessness rather than aggravated recklessness. The charge calls for a sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison.  

Acting prosecutor Steven Lember indicated it was deciding which charge to make that caused a 12 day delay in filing charges.  At the time, one person present suggested to police the death was a suicide, so there is a possibility of a charge of obstructing justice being laid.

The Times article details the case, and also provides information saying that -- had the previous firearms charge been prosecuted -- Williams would not have had a gun.

Among the scores of ridiculous trade rumors that were floated this past week, one makes Olympic figure skating judging seem logical.
 
Karl Malone to New Jersey.
 
Seriously.
 
A Malone-to-the-Nets story actually surfaced as Thursday's deadline approached. Supposedly, the Jazz would have received ex-University of Utah star Keith Van Horn and other players whose salaries would make the deal comply with league rules.
 
Malone earns $17.5 million this season. Van Horn makes $10.9 million. So the Nets would have had to include one or more other players whose salaries total about $8.5 million. Jason Kidd ($8.4 million) or Kerry Kittles ($8.1 million) would have done it. So would a deal including Van Horn and most of the Nets' extremely short bench: Aaron Williams ($2.5 million), Lucious Harris ($2.4 million), Richard Jefferson ($1.4 million) and Jason Collins ($1.1 million).
 
Of course, there were problems with such a deal.
 
Most significantly, Malone has a no-trade clause in his contract, and agreeing to a deal with New Jersey would have meant working for GM Rod Thorn and coach Byron Scott. One of his new teammates would have been Kenyon Martin.
 
For years, Thorn was the NBA's chief disciplinarian and handed down several fines and/or suspensions that Malone considered unfair and personally motivated.
 
Strike one.
 
Early this season, Scott got into a verbal war with Malone after the Nets beat the Jazz in Salt Lake City. Scott questioned Malone's heart and ability to produce at the critical moments. Malone suggested Scott road the "coattails" of others throughout his career and into his job as an NBA coach.
 
Strike two.
 
Just before Christmas on the Jazz-Nets rematch, Martin caught Malone from behind and clotheslined him during the final seconds of a Utah victory at the Meadowlands. Martin was fined and suspended for the takedown, which was as dirty a play as you will ever see.
 
Strike three.

Amy Westfeldt of the Associated Press reports that it's a week since limosine driver Costas Christofi was shot at Jayson Williams estate, and there's still no indication of who pulled the trigger.

At present the death is officially listed as a homicide, the legal term for a killing that does not indicate whether it was intentional or accidental.

At Christofi's funeral service Wednesday, a clergyman eulogized him as a man who turned his life around and questioned why the death remains unexplained.  "A spirit of repentance is the most important quality for any Christian to have," the Rev. John Theodosion told mourners. Christofi, a convicted burglar, had overcome a drug addiction.

Robert Kise, the limousine dispatcher who sent Christofi to the job with Williams, also questioned why so little is known about the incident.  "We know for a fact there was a lot of people in the room. It's a week later. If you have a lot of people in the room and someone was dead, someone should have pulled the trigger and it should not be a secret by this time."

Nothing like sticking to your guns.

Golden State Warriors center Marc Jackson had added the Nets and Bucks to the list of teams he would approve a trade to, according to the Associated Press. Of course, Jackson started with a list of 2 or 3 teams. If you're wondering what Jackson's full list is, suffice it to say that he'll accept a trade to anywhere but an NBDL franchise.

And even that may be negotiable.

But in case you're keeping score at home, Jackson's list now includes Utah, Minnesota, Dallas, New York, Seattle, Orlando, Memphis, Indiana, Phoenix, New Jersey and Milwaukee.

Game summary of the Nuggets loss @ Eastern conference leading New Jersey on Sunday afternoon.

The Associated Press reports that the Star-Ledger of Newark, The Record of Hackensack and several broadcast stations have said unidentified law enforcement sources told them ex-Nets Jayson Williams accidentally fired the gun that killed Costas Christofi early Thursday.

Williams was giving guests a tour of his 65-acre estate early Thursday when the shooting occurred.  Christofi, 55, of Washington Borough, had been hired by Williams to take friends from a charity sporting event featuring the Harlem Globetrotters in Bethlehem, Pa., to a restaurant, and then to Williams' home, about 30 miles northwest of Trenton.

Authorities have no immediate plans to arrest anyone at present, but might file charges in the future, a prosecutor said Saturday.

Authorities believe the shotgun used in the fatal shooting of a limousine driver at Jayson Williams' estate belonged to the former NBA star.

Acting Hunterdon County Prosecutor Steven C. Lember said yesterday it appeared that the shotgun was one of several Williams kept at his 65-acre estate.

"I can't tell you specifically what the purpose of the shotgun was, but it was clearly a shotgun, and it belonged on the property," Lember told The Associated Press. "We have reason to believe it was one of a number of shotguns owned by Mr. Williams."

Limousine driver Costas Christofi, 55, was found with a shotgun wound to his chest at 2:54 a.m. Thursday inside a bedroom in the home.

Lember said an autopsy was scheduled for yesterday and results might not be available for weeks. He did not anticipate any immediate criminal charges.

Basketball provided a vehicle for Julius "Dr. J" Erving to do good for others.

The basketball legend and Orlando Magic Vice President was inducted into the National Consortium for Academics and Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony Wednesday at Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports Complex.

"It's nice to be recognized for the things that have transpired in your life," said Erving, who received the award for his longtime community service initiatives and inspiration as a basketball pioneer. "A lot of the words that will be said about me tonight have nothing to do with I set out to do, but how I have been able to be used in a manner that has helped others."

The NCAS is an organization geared toward using sports to create social change and encourage academic achievement among student athletes. The University of Central Florida is the current home of the NCAS, which is under the direction of Dr. Richard Lapchick, a longtime advocate of social activism in the sports arena.

Six others received "Giant Steps" Awards for their community service in sports. Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks won the civic leader honor for his work with the Tampa Bay Boys and Girls Clubs. Brooks has taken underprivileged Tampa youth on educational tours to Atlanta, Washington, D.C., the Grand Canyon and overseas to Africa.

Others honored included Herman Boone and William Yoast, the head coach and assistant coach of the 1971 football team from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., made famous in the movie "Remember the Titans", starring Denzel Washington.

Yoast, a coach at an all-white high school in Alexandria, was passed over for the job at T.C. Williams for Boone, a successful coach from North Carolina. What could have been a volatile situation turned into a lifelong friendship, as Boone and Yoast worked together to create a winning team that help eased the tide of integration in a Southern city.

Dr. Richard Astro, the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Drexel University, won the founder's award. Dirceu Hurtado, a soccer player at Fairleigh Dickinson University, received the Male Courageous Student-Athletes award after returning to play after suffering a life-threatening aneurysm. Amber Burgess, a softball player from the University of Nebraska, won the Female Courageous Student-Athletes award for her work with students affected by the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado, where she attended high school.

Orlando Miracle Coach Carolyn Peck was a 2000 honoree.

Jeffrey Denberg of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes about the Hawks upset over the Eastern Conference leading Nets and muses about the Hawks actually putting a string of hard fought games together.

In the summer of 2000, the big talk at free-agent signing time was the partnership of Tim Duncan and Grant Hill hooking up in Orlando.
  Hill went, leaving the Pistons, but Duncan stayed in San Antonio and the Magic's plans of Eastern Conference dominance never materialized.
  Come the summer of 2003, there will be talk of another power alliance. This time, it will be Jason Kidd and Duncan.
  Both have said they will test free agency that summer and are already trying to sow the seeds of a relationship.
  Kidd was quoted last week as saying he planned on talking to Duncan during the All-Star weekend to see what his plans might be. The league, not too keen on that kind of tampering, quickly sent word to Kidd to zip it.
  "I can't talk about that, I don't want to get into any more trouble," Kidd said Friday when asked about Duncan.
  Here's the problem, though. Because both players are going to command maximum salaries, it is highly unlikely a team other than their current teams, New Jersey or San Antonio, could afford both. (Miami, though, could get close.) The Nets and Spurs could use their cap space to sign one, then re-sign their own guy using the Larry Bird exception.