Grant Williams (basketball)
File:Grant Williams at the Barclays Center on 2-8-22.png
Williams with the Boston Celtics in 2022
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No. 12 – Boston Celtics | |
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Position | Power forward |
League | NBA |
Personal information | |
Born | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
November 30, 1998
Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
Listed weight | 236 lb (107 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Providence Day (Charlotte, North Carolina) |
College | Tennessee (2016–2019) |
NBA draft | 2019 / Round: 1 / Pick: 22nd overall |
Selected by the Boston Celtics | |
Playing career | 2019–present |
Career history | |
2019–present | Boston Celtics |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Grant Dean Williams (born November 30, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6'6" power forward from Charlotte, North Carolina, he played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Williams was drafted 22nd overall in the 2019 NBA draft by the Celtics. He reached the NBA Finals with the team in 2022.
Contents
College career
Williams was an All-Southeastern Conference player as a freshman, sophomore, and junior for the Tennessee Volunteers.[1] He was awarded back-to-back SEC Player of the Year honors for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons, becoming the first player to do so since Corliss Williamson in 1995.[2][3] Williams led Tennessee as a third seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and second seed in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Professional career
Boston Celtics (2019–present)
Williams was selected with the 22nd overall draft pick by the Boston Celtics in the 2019 NBA draft.[4] On July 11, 2019, the Celtics announced that they had signed him to a four-year, $11.8 million rookie-scale contract.[5] On October 23, 2019, Williams made his professional debut, coming off the bench in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.[6] On December 4, 2019, he made his first career start in a winning effort against the Miami Heat.[7] In an effort to garner support for teammates making the 2020 NBA All-Star Game, Williams pledged to dye his hair pink if Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kemba Walker all received a selection.[8] However, Williams did not do so as Brown did not make the team. Williams finished his rookie season averaging just over 15 minutes per game in 69 games, 3.4 points per game, and 2.6 rebounds per game.[9]
Upon completion of the 2020–21 NBA season, Williams' second season in the league, he slightly increased his averages in all major statistical categories. He finished the season averaging just over 18 minutes per game, 4.7 points per game, and 2.8 rebounds per game.
On March 21, 2022, Williams scored a then career-high 20 points in a win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.[10] He finished the 2021–22 NBA season with career-best averages with over 24 minutes per game, 7.8 points per game, and 3.6 rebounds per game.
On May 15, 2022 Williams scored a career-high 27 points in a decisive Game 7 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. His performance was highlighted by a 7-for-18 mark from three point range, records for both made threes and three attempts in an NBA Game 7. Williams helped the Celtics reach the NBA Finals, but lost to the Golden State Warriors in 6 games.
Career statistics
Legend | |||||
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GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBA
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019–20 | Boston | 69 | 5 | 15.1 | .412 | .250 | .722 | 2.6 | 1.0 | .4 | .5 | 3.4 |
2020–21 | Boston | 61 | 9 | 18.1 | .437 | .372 | .588 | 2.8 | 1.0 | .5 | .4 | 4.7 |
2021–22 | Boston | 77 | 21 | 24.4 | .475 | .411 | .905 | 3.6 | 1.0 | .5 | .7 | 7.8 |
Career | 209 | 35 | 19.4 | .449 | .369 | .775 | 3.0 | 1.0 | .5 | .6 | 5.4 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Boston | 17 | 0 | 10.0 | .577 | .588 | .700 | 1.5 | .4 | .1 | .3 | 2.8 |
2021 | Boston | 5 | 0 | 11.4 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | 2.0 | .8 | .2 | .8 | 3.4 |
2022 | Boston | 24 | 5 | 27.3 | .433 | .393 | .808 | 3.8 | .8 | .3 | .8 | 8.6 |
Career | 46 | 5 | 19.2 | .457 | .427 | .800 | 2.8 | .6 | .2 | .6 | 5.9 |
College
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016–17 | Tennessee | 32 | 29 | 25.4 | .504 | .375 | .667 | 5.9 | 1.1 | .8 | 1.9 | 12.6 |
2017–18 | Tennessee | 35 | 35 | 28.8 | .473 | .120 | .764 | 6.0 | 1.9 | .6 | 1.3 | 15.2 |
2018–19 | Tennessee | 37 | 37 | 31.9 | .564 | .326 | .819 | 7.5 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 18.8 |
Career | 104 | 101 | 28.9 | .516 | .291 | .758 | 6.5 | 2.1 | .9 | 1.5 | 15.7 |
Personal life
Williams' mother, Teresa Johnson, is an electrical engineer for NASA.[11] His father, Gilbert, is a jazz artist and former college player, who has worked as a bodyguard for musicians, including Prince.[12] He is a cousin of former NBA players Salim and Damon Stoudamire.[13] Turning down offers from Ivy League schools Harvard and Yale,[14] Williams graduated from Tennessee in three years with a degree in business.[15] At Tennessee, he received the C & C Millwright Athletic Scholarship.[16]
Williams threw out the first pitch at the Boston Red Sox game on August 7, 2019.[13]
After a game against the Denver Nuggets on March 20, 2022 where he blocked a shot from Nikola Jokić, who is often referred to as "The Joker", Williams insisted that the media called him "Batman". The nickname has stuck among Celtics fans. [17]
References
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External links
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- Articles with short description
- Use mdy dates from June 2022
- Articles with invalid date parameter in template
- Pages with broken file links
- 1998 births
- Living people
- All-American college men's basketball players
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball players from Charlotte, North Carolina
- Basketball players from Houston
- Boston Celtics draft picks
- Boston Celtics players
- Power forwards (basketball)
- Tennessee Volunteers basketball players