The Boston Celtics will be without Grant Williams when they take the floor Friday, which seems to have gotten to the forward.
Williams was suspended one game by the NBA on Wednesday for his role in his ejection from Monday’s game against the Chicago Bulls at United Center.
The 23-year-old inadvertently made contact with an official in the fourth quarter of the game after being called for a shooting foul. Williams jumped up off the floor and looked to be running off some steam, but bumped a referee in doing so. That is grounds for an automatic ejection in the NBA. You can find the video here.
On Thursday he was asked about the incident, with reporters pondering if he’d make the choice to appeal it. Williams, a Vice President of the National Basketball Players Association, said he wouldn’t.
“When it comes to the punishment, it’s just, I made a mistake.” Williams said Wednesday, per NBC Sports Boston. “So for me, probably something I won’t challenge, especially because of the fact that, one, it’s a female referee, and two, it’s not something that we want our players to be doing in the league.
“So, no matter if it was inadvertent or not, I’ve got to be better, I’ve got to be more mindful, I’ve got to be more conscious of my surroundings and more conscious of my mental state and not letting things affect me during the game.”
Despite declining to fight the ban, Williams made it clear the contact was inadvertent.
“I looked up and saw ‘block’ and I got up and tried to run off in disagreement,” Williams said. “And then I look up and I was like, ‘Oh crap, I’m about to make contact.’ You’ve seen the video. I tried to avoid it, and that’s when my glute hit her hip. And that’s when I made contact.”
Sam Hauser, Blake Griffin and Luke Kornet are candidates to handle additional minutes for the Celtics in Williams’ absence.
