Grant Williams (basketball)

Grant Williams

File:Grant Williams at the Barclays Center on 2-8-22.png Williams with the Boston Celtics in 2022
No. 12 – Boston Celtics
Position	Power forward
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1998-11-30) November 30, 1998 Houston, Texas, U.S.
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
Consensus first-team All-American (2019) 2× SEC Player of the Year – Coaches (2018, 2019) SEC Player of the Year – AP (2019) 2× First-team All-SEC (2018, 2019) SEC All-Freshman Team – Coaches (2017)

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.

College career

File:Grant Williams 2.jpg

Williams at Tennessee

Williams was an All-Southeastern Conference player as a freshman, sophomore, and junior for the Tennessee Volunteers. 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. 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. On July 11, 2019, the Celtics announced that they had signed him to a four-year, $11.8 million rookie-scale contract. On October 23, 2019, Williams made his professional debut, coming off the bench in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. On December 4, 2019, he made his first career start in a winning effort against the Miami Heat. 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. 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.

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. 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
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. His father, Gilbert, is a jazz artist and former college player, who has worked as a bodyguard for musicians, including Prince. He is a cousin of former NBA players Salim and Damon Stoudamire. Turning down offers from Ivy League schools Harvard and Yale, Williams graduated from Tennessee in three years with a degree in business. At Tennessee, he received the C & C Millwright Athletic Scholarship.

Williams threw out the first pitch at the Boston Red Sox game on August 7, 2019.

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.

External links

• Boston Celtics profile
• Tennessee Volunteers profile