And they have. Last weekend, Williams was in Champaign, Ill., for the Fighting Illini alumni game. Williams established a scholarship foundation, and the fundraiser attracted former players such as Dee Brown, Roger Powell, Kendall Gill and Nick Anderson, as well as Phoenix Suns' chairman Jerry Colangelo, Illinois coach Bruce Weber and former coach Lou Henson. A regular Memory Lane moment.

His reason for the foundation? Yup. He wanted to give back.

During his trip to China, he visited a hospital in Shanghai.

It's not like there was a lot of press there to cover his good deeds.

During the preseason, he will be granting a Make-a-Wish request to someone.

Then there's the rest. Williams was on "Oprah" with his Olympic teammates 1 1/2 weeks ago. This month he has also been on Fox Sports' "Best Damn Sports Show, Period" and "Jim Rome is Burning."

There have been local radio and newspaper showings by Williams this summer, too.

When Williams first appeared in Utah, he was confident but guarded. Charles Barkley he wasn't. But as time passed, he became increasingly willing to show his humor. Sometimes it's simply a glint in his eye or a short one-liner. For those he trusts, he's engaging and cooperative, the proverbial good guy. Which raises the obvious question: What's in it for him? Is this some kind of radical publicity blitz?

Probably not, since he had already signed his contract extension before most of this happened.

"We didn't just sit down and say, 'Deron, we've got to come up with a major media crash course,' like we're promoting a movie," said Wright. "It's not like that. People were calling and saying, 'Can you go here?' And a lot of it, if it fit into his schedule, we did."

Wright says Williams also did it because he understands he's the Jazz's guy. His team, his town, his responsibility. Which is quite unusual. The team has three players who have been All-Stars (Boozer, Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur), yet the most popular, and the unchallenged leader, is Williams.

Unlike other players, Williams lives in Salt Lake in the off-season. He likes the change of seasons, his neighborhood, the schools. Hence, you might see him at the convenience store, the movies, the library ...

Who knows, maybe he'll even show up at your birthday party.

Not likely, but these days it couldn't hurt to ask.

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E-mail: rock@desnews.com