Grant Williams Responds To Poor Depiction From Stint With Celtics

Grant Williams has undergone two scenery changes in the past year, moving from the Celtics to the Mavericks to now the Hornets, which has painted an ongoing negative portrayal of the 25-year-old as a teammate.

Boston's play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman recently got real open and honest when asked about Williams, calling the ex-Celtics forward "annoying" and a "bad locker room guy." Williams was known as the without-a-doubt the biggest chatterbox on the Celtics and that even carried over to his short-lived stint with Dallas after inking a $53 million payday in the offseason.

"You can't control what other people say about you or what other people do around you," Williams said, according to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. "All you can do is focus on what you are really involved with in the moment. And my goal right now is to just continue to grow this bond with this team, continue to grow the Hornets franchise in general and continue to impact winning."

Williams joined the NBA after the Celtics drafted the Tennessee product 22nd overall in 2019. From there, Williams developed into becoming a semi-serviceable, off-the-bench 3-and-D role player for Boston, but not one nearly worth the $53 million price tag that Williams found with the Mavericks.

Nevertheless, with bad press surrounding Williams after a falling out in Dallas that included a soiled relationship with Luka Doncic, ex-Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum spoke up and defended him. Tatum referred to Williams as a "great teammate" online, which Williams caught wind of.

"I had to thank him afterward because that's my dog for life," Williams added, per Boone. "And all those guys up in Boston are."

With a clean slate in Charlotte, Williams has averaged 14.1 points on 49.1% shooting with 5.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists through 17 games. He's still under contract for the next three seasons before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2027.