Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Continues To Support ‘Brother For Life’ Grant Williams

It’s been a trying season for former Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams.

Williams was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason, and that’s where it all began to unravel for the 2019 first-round pick. Williams, who received a four-year, $53 million contract from the Mavericks, quickly wore out it his welcome just 47 games into his tenure with Dallas and was shipped to his hometown Charlotte Hornets at the NBA trade deadline.

Williams’ reputation took another hit last month when longtime NBC Sports Boston’s play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman called out the Tennessee product for being “annoying” and a “bad locker room guy” during his four seasons with the Celtics.

But through it all, Williams continues to receive support from his former teammates back in Boston, especially from star forward Jayson Tatum.

Tatum and Williams formed a strong friendship during their time together with the Celtics and the two remain close. That was evident Monday with Tatum and Williams going head-to-head as the Celtics beat the Hornets, 118-104, in Charlotte.

“It was good. That’s my brother for life,” Tatum told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “So, always good to see him, good to compete against him. Just having fun out there, competing against each other.”

Tatum added: “Grant always got some (expletive) to say. … I don’t talk trash at all. But if it’s somebody I’m close with or I know, like today with Grant, I like to have fun out there. It always good to see him, compete against him. So, we just had some fun out there.”

Tatum and Williams both turned in strong performances for their respective sides. Tatum finished with a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds while Williams netted 23 points on 10-for-16 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. There was no half-court block from Tatum on Williams this time around, though.

Tatum and Williams caught up prior to the game as the two shared a moment. They went through a special handshake before embracing.

Williams was all smiles during that moment, something that has probably been hard to do at times given the rough season he’s had.