Jayson Williams’ estranged wife has alleged that the former NBA All-Star owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid child support after filing for divorce in New York.
Tanya Young Williams filed the papers on Monday, ending 17 years of legal limbo, according to court records. The couple married in 2000 and have two daughters, Tryumph and Whizdom Williams.
Tanya, who appeared on “Basketball Wives LA”, said Jayson provided no financial support for their daughters during his imprisonment from 2010 until his release in 2012.
She claims payments began following a settlement in 2015 but stopped two years later, leaving him “hundreds of thousands of dollars in arrears”.
Tanya also alleges that Jayson has been absent from his daughters’ lives for years and refused to communicate with them despite repeated attempts to contact him.
She said efforts to resolve the issue through his representatives had failed, leaving her to seek court intervention to hold him “legally and financially accountable”.
The family’s relationship became the subject of widespread attention after Jayson was charged over the 2002 shooting death of his limo driver, Costas “Gus” Christofi. Tanya supported him during the legal proceedings, although the marriage later broke down.
She first sought a divorce in 2009, alleging cruel treatment and claiming that Jayson had threatened her and their daughters, abused alcohol and been unfaithful. His lawyer denied those allegations at the time and accused Tanya of making false claims to pressure him into a settlement.
The divorce was never finalised. Jayson later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in connection with the shooting and served time in prison.
He played 11 seasons in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets. One of his daughters publicly criticised him in an open letter in 2022.
