Former NBA player Shawne Williams indicted in Memphis on felony drug charges

Shawne Williams indicted on felony drug charges

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Former NBA and Memphis player Shawne Williams has been indicted on felony drug charges.

Prosecutors said Friday that Williams was indicted Tuesday by a county grand jury on eight counts for possession and conspiracy to sell a codeine-based syrup.

Williams was jailed with bond set at $16,000. It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer.

Earlier Friday, the New Jersey Nets said they had waived Williams, a 23-year-old forward, after acquiring him earlier this week from Dallas along with Kris Humphries for veteran forward Eduardo Najera.

“We brought him in to take a look at him and (he was) way out of shape … (we) didn’t like what we saw,” said Nets interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe on Friday. “He said he had to go home for some type of medical emergency, for one of his grandfathers or something like that. We sort of made the decision at that time that this wasn’t going to work, so we waived him, and all this other stuff came down. We hope he is OK. We wish him well, but luckily (it’s) not our issue.”

Williams averaged 5.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in his four seasons with Indiana and Dallas. The former first-round draft pick of the Pacers in 2006 has not played in a game this season.

“It makes me very sad,” said Pacers coach Jim O’Brien, who coached Williams during the 2007-08 season before he was traded to the Mavericks.