Jayson Williams' Estranged Wife Claims He Owes Hundreds of Thousands in Child Support

Jayson Williams' estranged wife is done waiting. Tanya Young Williams filed for divorce Monday in New York, according to court records obtained by TMZ, and she says the former NBA All-Star owes a staggering amount in unpaid child support.

Tanya told TMZ that Jayson provided no financial support for their daughters from his 2010 imprisonment through his 2012 release. Payments started after a 2015 settlement but stopped after two years, leaving him "hundreds of thousands of dollars in arrears."

The couple has been in legal limbo for 17 years. Tanya also claims Jayson has been absent from their daughters' lives for years and refused to communicate with them despite repeated outreach. She says attempts to resolve the matter with his team went nowhere, forcing her to seek court intervention to hold him "legally and financially accountable."

The two married in 2000 and share two daughters, Tryumph and Whizdom Williams. One of those daughters already called out their father in a 2022 open letter.

This isn't the first time Tanya has tried to walk away. She first filed for divorce in 2009, accusing Jayson of cruel treatment, threats, alcohol abuse, and infidelity. His attorney denied the allegations at the time and accused Tanya of making false claims to pressure him into a settlement. That divorce was never finalized.

Jayson's legal troubles stretch back further. He was charged in the 2002 shooting death of his limo driver, Costas "Gus" Christofi. Tanya stood by him during the legal battle, but their marriage eventually fell apart. Jayson later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and served time.

He spent 11 seasons in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets. That NBA career is now overshadowed by a very different kind of record: a child support bill that, by Tanya's account, runs into the hundreds of thousands.

• Basketball Wives LA
• child support
• divorce
• Jayson Williams
• NBA
• Tanya Young Williams