It is not exactly a secret that Grant Williams talks a lot among his peers in the NBA. His teammates on the Boston Celtics know he’s just as communicative anchoring the team’s defense in the frontcourt as he is over a friendly set of six-deck Uno games on the team plane, and his loquacious personality is no recent development.
In the draft process that would ultimately land him with his current team, the Tennessee product shared his mind about prospective franchises and their faults as they were interviewing him in ways that did not always sit well with potential employers, according to Heavy’s Steve Bulpett.
“We all talked about it,” said an unnamed general manager, “but that kid wasn’t shy at all.”
“From what I can tell, every team that interviewed him, he told them what was wrong with their team and what they needed to do better,” they added, an image of Williams doing exactly that easy to imagine for anyone who has heard the former Vol speak at length.
“Some people liked that he was that prepared, and some others were really put off by this kid pretty much telling them where they went wrong. It was funny to hear the different opinions of him — not of his game, though there was some of that, but more of just how he came across.”
Whether you see the young forward as precocious or prescient, Williams’ approach to the game has fueled his growth as a player.
“I’ve been a chatterbox my whole life,” said the Charlotte native himself after practice on Saturday.
“Not only just on the court, I’m that kid who raised his hand in class to ask a question when everyone else wanted to move on. So for me, I feel like it’s always been the talking thing — I don’t really take things personally to heart, and I feel like all the guys will say that so they can joke on me, so they can mess with me, and nothing happens. I think that’s what makes me me, and I just try my best to be genuine and be exactly who I am, and bring that to the basketball court.”
“Because that energy, that tenacity, that exuberance allows me to play the way I play,” he added.
Averaging 11.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and just under an assist and block per game while shooting 43.1% from deep in the postseason so far, it would seem his teammates might want Williams to talk more if his self-analysis of how that aspect of his personality affects his game rings true.
Even if it might drive them a little batty at times.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
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