SOMERVILLE, N.J. (AP) Early on Feb. 14, 2002, a shotgun discharged at the home of former basketball star Jayson Williams. The gun's pellets fatally ripped into limo driver Costas Christofi's chest.

What exactly happened moments before Christofi's death is the subject of Williams' manslaughter trial. The first of 300 prospective jurors were to begin being questioned Tuesday.

The pool is triple the regular size because of the difficulty of finding panelists who will be able to serve through a two-month trial. Jury selection was expected to take about a month.

The retired New Jersey Nets center is accused of shooting and killing Christofi, then trying to cover up the incident. Williams, 35, faces seven charges, including aggravated manslaughter and witness tampering.

Prosecutors say Williams was showing off with the shotgun when it fired. Williams' defense team has maintained the shooting was accidental; the former star could face nearly 55 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

His trial comes as Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case proceeds in Colorado, putting a spotlight on two prominent basketball players charged with serious crimes. Bryant's next hearing dates are Feb. 2-3.

Christofi, 55, had driven Williams' friends from a Harlem Globetrotters show in Bethlehem, Pa., to a restaurant, then to the 65-acre, 40-room estate in Alexandria Township.

Two guests pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence, one for wiping the shotgun that killed Christofi, the other for hiding Williams' clothes. Both agreed to testify against him.

Williams' lawyer, Joseph Hayden Jr., and a defense spokeswoman did not return several messages Monday. Hayden will be joined by Washington lawyer Billy Martin. Opposing them will be Steven Lember, first assistant Hunterdon County prosecutor since 1991.

Williams is accused of taking a Browning 12-gauge shotgun from a cabinet in an upstairs bedroom, opening it and closing it in one motion, after which it fired and hit Christofi, who was about 3 feet away.

According to prosecution documents, Williams wiped the gun down after the shooting and tried to put the victim's hand or fingerprints on it; he removed his clothing, jumped into a pool and put on new clothes. He told guests they must agree the shooting was a suicide and tell police they had been downstairs, the documents said.

Williams retired from the Nets in 2000 after a decade in the NBA, unable to overcome a broken leg sustained a year earlier. He was one of the game's big personalities, always quick with one-liners. He was suspended from his job as an NBA analyst for NBC after the shooting.

At the request of the defense, the judge moved the trial to neighboring Somerset County, agreeing extensive publicity hurt chances for a fair trial in Hunterdon County.

Besides being one of the league's best rebounders, the 6-foot-10 Williams was known for his fondness for firearms. He wrote in his 2000 memoir that he almost shot New York Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet at a range at Williams' estate. Williams wrote that he got distracted and turned around while firing the gun, narrowly missing Chrebet's face.

In 1994, Williams was charged with reckless endangerment and possession of a weapon after shots were fired at an unoccupied security vehicle outside the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford. He never admitted shooting at the truck.

He entered a pretrial intervention program and spent a year preaching gun safety to kids. He placed a local newspaper ad in 1995 that read: ``Shoot for the top. Shoot for your future. Shoot Baskets, not Guns.''

Williams completed the program a year later, and the charges against him were dismissed.