Heroin bust for ex-hoops star
LEGENDARY STREET baller Fly Williams counseled countless Brooklyn kids, spinning his wild life of drugs, disappointment and near-death experiences as a cautionary tale.
Then the flamboyant former hoopster, whose real first name is James, ignored all his own advice.
The troubled Brownsville native, 64, was busted as the kingpin of a massive drug ring that peddled 2 million vials of deadly heroin on the Brooklyn streets of his youth.
“His popularity and status in the community may have ironically helped him hide this elaborate criminal enterprise,” said Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
“He’s beloved as a local legend,” Gonzalez said Thursday. “He will now be held accountable for his actions.”
Williams, a high-scoring college basketball prodigy and American Basketball Association washout, was one of 13 people arrested Wednesday for allegedly spreading massive amounts of heroin throughout Bushwick, Flatbush, Fort Greene and his old Brownsville neighborhood.
Some of the dope found its way upstate, officials said. Prosecutors say the ring put an estimated $12 million to $20 million of heroin on the street.
Arrested along with the flashy scorer for the long-defunct Spirits of St. Louis were his namesake son James Williams, 36, of East Flatbush, and his stepson Jeffrey (Doobie) Britt, 34, of Flatlands.
James, under the name Fly Williams III, was an actor who appeared in the movies “Freedomland” and “Finding Forrester” in addition to spots on the TV series “Law & Order” and “Third Watch.”
The son was apparently high when arrested inside his Brooklyn apartment, according to a source.
Investigators also recovered more than $185,000 in cash, six weapons and another 2 kilos of heroin to wrap up the “Operation Flying High” investigation that started in September.
Many of the drug buys allegedly took place near the Brownsville Recreation Center, a place Williams knows well from working as a volunteer mentor for local youths over 15 years.
“He ran a tournament here that kept a lot of kids out of trouble,” said Cardell Alston, 19, one of the Brooklyn kids who blossomed under Fly’s guidance.
“This center changed my life,” he continued. “I started playing basketball here and basketball is about to take me to college. Hearing that is shocking.”
In a 1997 interview with the Daily News, a clean and sober Williams detailed how he used his past to illustrate life’s pitfalls for a new generation of Brooklyn kids.
“I know what they mean now about a second life, because I’m in my second life,” he said. “Some people think I’m dead, I know.”
The 6-foot-5 Williams was a scoring machine at Austin Peay State University in the early ’70s, pumping in 28.5 points per game in two spectacular seasons.
The James Madison High School product sported a giant Afro, weighed about 140 pounds and had no teeth when he joined the St. Louis team for the 1974-75 season — his one and only year of pro ball.
“Man,” he once said, “I wouldn’t be the Fly if I had teeth.”
After averaging just 9.4 points per game, Williams’ hoops dreams were over — leaving behind a legacy of potential unfulfilled. He played in Israel, but without the same success.
Williams struggled to find his way off-court, battling with drugs and alcohol, doing a pair of jail stints and remarkably surviving four shootings.
In 1987, an off-duty court offic-