ABSTRACT:

For six months, team executives throughout the NBA had a lot of time on their hands. Nets president Michael Rowe killed numerous hours playing a pro basketball video game. Always, he was the Nets. And always he had Jayson Williams on his side.

“I played Play Station all winter,” Rowe acknowledged, “and I’ve never put him on a different team.”

Well, Rowe and the new Nets ownership can make sure that scenerio transfers to real life starting tomorrow when formal discussions begin about re-signing Williams, the All-Star free agent center whose value to the franchise cannot be measured in game stats…