Getting Better

It’s been two weeks since Fly left The Summit Hospital in Hermitage, near Nashville, and he’s feeling pretty good these days in Brooklyn. Except for a couple of things.

“I’m getting all kinds of tests now,” Fly said Thursday, Feb. 26. “My fiancée has got me like a Guinea pig.”

Fly says he’s getting stronger every day and looks forward to getting back to work at The Brownsville Rec Centerin Brooklyn.

His four-day stay at The Summit, where he was vaguely diagnosed as having a virus, was made more comfortable by the nurses and staff.

“They were so sweet, so nice and caring,” Fly said. “It was unbelievable. I didn’t mind staying in a place like that. The nurses were so nice. They’re rude up here. I told my fiancée, that’s the sweetest place I’ve been in my life. They really took care of me around the clock. If I get sick, I wish they could fly me down there. That’s what you need when you’re sick, and they did it so well.”

Whatever bug he picked up was just a bump in the road for Fly.

“I told my fiancée: I’m a Dinosaur, I ain’t goin’ anywhere,” Fly said.

Back home

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Fly is back at home, feeling good, and ready to start working again with the many kids in his basketball program at Brownsville Recreation Center.

It is two weeks after Fly’s No. 35 jersey was retired Feb. 5 by Austin Peay State University during a game against Tennessee-Martin. Fly was in Clarksville for all the ceremonies and, former teammates, friends, fans, and media gave him an overwhelming response.

“It was unimaginable, unbelievable,” Fly says. “There was still so much love in that town. I will never forget it, never in my life.”

For Fly, it was a hectic five days, starting Feb. 4 when he arrived at Nashville International until Feb. 8 when he was scheduled to depart to LaGuardia International in New York.

As was reported, Fly was hospitalized at The Summit Medical Center in Hermitage, a suburb of Nashville, about the time his Feb. 8 flight was taking off toward New York.

Fly spent the next four days at The Summit, resting and recovering, and during that time became a hidden celebrity in the hospital. Word quickly spread that the Fly was in the house. After a few days, Fly was ready to go home, so away he went, catching a flight Thursday night, Feb. 12.

Fly says he is feeling better every day and making all his scheduled visits to see his personal doctor. There is much on his schedule in the future – including a return trip to Clarksville.

“I can’t wait to get back,” Fly said. “It was unbelievable.”

Update From Fly

By Dave Link

For TheFly35.com

NASHVILLE -- Fly is sleeping comfortably and peacefully, and even has a slight smile on his face. He may be having dreams of this past wonderful weekend, starting Thursday night when his jersey was retired by Austin Peay and continuing with festivities through Sunday.

It is Monday night, 9 p.m. CT, Feb. 9, 2009, and Fly is in a Nashville hospital. He will be here until he is completely recovered and ready to go back to Brooklyn, whether it's in two days or whatever. He is in the best of care.

Fly had a weekend he will always remember.

"Incredible," Fly said Sunday on our way to the Nashville airport. "Absolutely incredible. I've never seen anything like it. Unreal."

Fly felt the love this past weekend that first drew him to Austin Peay and Clarksville in 1972. He says he will always love Clarksville and hopes to return every year.

He will be back.

Count on it.

Keep Fly in your thoughts and prayers, as he does for so many others.

Thanksgiving Memories

To all from Fly Williams: Happy Thanksgiving, 2008.
Fly spent much of Thursday afternoon visiting friends in Brooklyn for Thanksgiving, but he didn't forget to say hello to his old friends and fans down in the South.
"Tell everybody down there Happy Thanksgiving," Fly said. "Tell everybody I'm looking forward to seeing them."
Fly will be in Clarksville in early February for games against UT-Martin and Murray State. His jersey will be retired by Austin Peay the day of the UT-Martin game.
What is Fly's most memorable Thanksgiving from his days at Austin Peay?
"I went turkey hunting," Fly said. "I didn't hit nothin' but a tree. I'd shot little zip guns before, but never a big ol' shotgun like that. It was like, 'Kaboom! Kaboom!' "Fly recalls going turkey hunting with a man named Sammy Thomas

Kobe Bryant and Raymond Lewis

Fly was having a conversation a couple of days ago on the phone with Joe Bryant, father of Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant.
Their conversation went something like this:
"I know of two guys who could get off whenever and wherever they wanted to," Joe Bryant said.
"Who's that?" Fly said.
"You and my son Kobe," Joe Bryant said.
"Thank you, sir," Fly said.

Fly was asked again about playing against Raymond Lewis in Los Angeles.
"He was a terrific ballhandler and he had a good shot," Fly said. "I can't compare him to me. He was a decent player. If he had the right opportunity, he might have had a shot. Back then, it was just if you had the opportune time to get a shot."

Hall of Fame

It was a big Friday night in Brooklyn for Fly Williams and friends.
Fly was among four players inducted in the Brooklyn Athletic Association USA Hall of Fame. Also inducted were former NBA players Mel Davis, Greg "Jocko" Jackson and Kenny Hall.
Jackson and Fly have been close friends for many years.
"My phone's been ringing off the hook today," Fly said. "Everybody's gonna be there tonight."
Earlier in the day, Fly was among the many people working at the Brownsville Recreation Center to get a haunted house ready for Halloween night.
"It's awesome," Fly said. "We've got kids comin' from all around."
Fly is also amid his tournament/clinics for 14 to 16-year olds at the rec center.
"There's more than 3,000 kids in the program," Fly said. "I don't like to turn any kids away. I might have to start going on Sunday (with the tournament). I've got kids coming from every borough in Brooklyn. I've got one white kid coming from Troy, New York, and that's probably three hours away."

Freddie "Sugar Tree" Lee

Fly and Fred Lee were talking about old times on the telephone Sunday (Oct. 26). Fly was at home in Brownsville; Fred was in Long Island.
"We've been crackin' up the last 30 minutes," Fly said minutes later. "He knows everything that happened back then. Fred's got a great memory."
Indeed he does, the man they called Freddie "Sugar Tree" Lee back in the day.
Lee, who grew up playing with and against Fly in Brooklyn in the 1960s, recalls the many games they played on the playgrounds and gyms and their season together at Glen Springs Academy in Watkins Glen, N.Y. (1971-72). Fly signed with Austin Peay after that season, while Lee played another season at Glen Springs before joining Fly at Austin Peay in 1973-74. Glen Springs was helping many of the top players out of Brooklyn and New York hone their skills while becoming academically eligible to play NCAA Division I ball.
"We were the best players coming out of New York in that era," Lee said Sunday (Oct. 26). "Some of our grades were low, so we went to Glen Springs Academy to bring up our grades and our SAT scores."
Lee, 54, who splits time living between Brooklyn and Long Island, wonders why Fly's jersey hasn't been retired (see "columns" on this web site).
"If it wasn't for Fly, Austin Peay wouldn't ever have been on the map throughout the country," Lee said. "That center (Austin Peay's Dunn Center) was supposed to have been built for Fly, but he left. That's the stadium Fly built. He was hoping to be there for four years, but he couldn't stay."
For more info and comments from Fred Lee, check out thefly35.com in the next day or two.