They say that every musician wants to be an actor, and every actor wants to be a musician. Every NBA player, it appears, wants to be both.
The list of former NBA players to have taken a turn at acting is too long to even attempt, although it is fair to say that often it is the big men that get a head start on it. (See for example the acting turns of Slava Medvedenko, Jahadi White and Pavel Podkolzin.) And back in 2013, former Boston Celtics forward Eric Williams – he of the twelve seasons in the NBA and eleven seasons on Basketball Wives – took his turn, when he appeared in a film called The Caribbean Heist.
As of yesterday, the creator and producer of that film, Ernest “Ruff” Ruffin (who also starred in it, a proper Orson Welles, alluding to the auteur theory of cinema) chose to publish the entirety of The Caribbean Heist in full on YouTube. As of the time of writing, that video has eight views, two of which were from me. Let’s make that number grow.
The Caribbean Heist, Explained
Film review site Letterboxd provides the following plot summary for The Caribbean Heist:
Five women move to Miami Beach in search of a better life but find the reality of the streets hard to overcome. The struggling gangster driven economy makes things difficult for the ladies so they decide to take a few risks by robbing rich business men they befriend who make millions of dollars illegally
In the blurb attached to the upload, Ruffin – who describes himself as Williams’s mentor – says The Caribbean Heist is “about five preety ladies who robbed successful businessmen for millions of dollars. Its set in Miami and ST. Kitts. Action pack drama.” And across its short 56 minute run time, there is certainly quite a bit that does happen – a lot of it in partial clothing.
Williams’s appearance comes at the 29 minutes and 10 seconds mark, which would be enclosed below had Ruff allowed his videos to be played on other websites. In his, Williams’s character – named in the credits as “EW”, which is presumably meant as initials and not an expression of mild disgust – is seen drinking, smoking, wearing and chopping wood when visited by Ruffin’s character, who is called “Ruff”. In this attempt at an Ocean’s Eight-style heist film, Williams plays the role of a particularly rich entrepreneur and potential victim of unexplained origins and wealth, who encourages Ruff to not run scared from the vigilante band of hotties, all while saying the word “organization” somewhere in the region of 400 times. [It should be noted that this film about women was made by men, with the expected results. Poker, cars, cigars, midriffs, beds, silk shirts, gangster clichés, whiskey, guns, money, no smiling unless women are around, and always lots of skin on show. Got them all in there.]
Truth be told, Williams is not bad in his role, at all. While the movie as a whole is somewhat predictable in its plot and clearly short of budget in places, it is nonetheless well shot, has been thought about and crafted with care, and although one or two of the other acting performances are dire, Williams comes across pretty good. He has charisma and inflection in his voice, and although his role does not do much to advance the already-thin plot, he was good in it. Few too many filler words, perhaps, but he is not wooden. It is, however, a brief appearance. Williams’s one scene lasts for only three minutes before he departs, never to be seen or mentioned again – and his line in the trailer is not even in the film.
Williams’s Celtics Career
Across his twelve NBA seasons, Williams played 658 regular season games, 462 of which came with the Celtics. He played with them in two stints, beginning his career there after being selected with the 14th overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft out of Providence.
Williams made an immediate impact in Boston, averaging 10.7 points as a rookie before improving to 15.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game during his second season. His combination of size, toughness and scoring ability made him one of the brighter spots on a rebuilding Celtics team. However, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets before the 1997-98 season in exchange for only two second-round picks, later used on Kris Clack and Earl Watson.
His time in Denver was disrupted by a serious knee injury after just four games, and although he returned the following season, he was unable to recapture the form he had shown in Boston. The Celtics reacquired him in 1999 as a part of their trade for Ron Mercer, whereupon Williams reinvented himself as a versatile role player – during his second spell with the franchise, he became a valuable contributor to teams that reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002 and the Conference Semi-finals in 2003, providing perimeter defence, some outside shooting and veteran experience.
Following his second stint in Boston, Williams played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Bobcats. He retired after the 2006-07 season having averaged 8.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.8 steals across his NBA career while shooting 41.5% from the field.
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