Grant Williams (basketball)

Grant Dean Williams (born November 30, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Williams played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers. A 6'6" power forward from Charlotte, North Carolina, he was drafted 22nd overall in the 2019 NBA draft.

Grant Williams
Williams with Boston Celtics in 2022
No. 12 – Boston Celtics
PositionPower forward
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1998-11-30) November 30, 1998
Houston, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight236 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High schoolProvidence Day
(Charlotte, North Carolina)
CollegeTennessee (2016–2019)
NBA draft2019 / Round: 1 / Pick: 22nd overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career2019–present
Career history
2019–presentBoston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

College career
Williams at Tennessee

Williams was an All-Southeastern Conference player as a freshman, sophomore, and junior for the Tennessee Volunteers.[1] 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.[2][3] 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.[4] On July 11, 2019, the Celtics announced that they had signed him to a four-year, $11.8 million rookie-scale contract.[5] On October 23, 2019, Williams made his professional debut, coming off the bench in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.[6] On December 4, 2019, he made his first career start in a winning effort against the Miami Heat.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

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 career-high 20 points in a win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.[10] 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.

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

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 Boston 69515.1.412.250.7222.61.0.4.53.4
2020–21 Boston 61918.1.437.372.5882.81.0.5.44.7
2021–22 Boston 772124.4.475.411.9053.61.0.5.77.8
Career 2093519.4.449.369.7753.01.0.5.65.4

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2020 Boston 17010.0.577.588.7001.5.4.1.32.8
2021 Boston 5011.4.500.5001.0002.0.8.2.83.4
Career 22010.3.563.571.7691.6.5.1.42.9

College
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 Tennessee 322925.4.504.375.6675.91.1.81.912.6
2017–18 Tennessee 353528.8.473.120.7646.01.9.61.315.2
2018–19 Tennessee 373731.9.564.326.8197.53.21.11.518.8
Career 10410128.9.516.291.7586.52.1.91.515.7

Personal life

Williams' mother, Teresa Johnson, is an electrical engineer for NASA.[11] His father, Gilbert, is a jazz artist and former college player, who has worked as a bodyguard for musicians, including Prince.[12] He is a cousin of former NBA players Salim and Damon Stoudamire.[13] Turning down offers from Ivy League schools Harvard and Yale,[14] Williams graduated from Tennessee in three years with a degree in business.[15] At Tennessee, he received the C & C Millwright Athletic Scholarship.[16]

Williams threw out the first pitch at the Boston Red Sox game on August 7, 2019.[13]

References
  1. "University of Tennessee Athletics". utsports.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  2. Wilson, Mike. "UT Vols basketball sweeps SEC honors: Rick Barnes, Grant Williams best in SEC". www.knoxnews.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  3. "Tennessee's Grant Williams named AP SEC player of year". News Observer.
  4. "Celtics Draft Langford, Williams, Edwards & Waters". NBA.com. June 21, 2019. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  5. "Celtics Sign Pair of First-Round Draft Picks Langford, Williams officially join Celtics". NBA.com. July 11, 2019. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  6. "76ers top Celtics 107-93 in 1st battle of East favorites". ESPN.com. October 23, 2019. Archived from the original on October 24, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  7. "Grant Williams to make first career start vs. Heat". December 5, 2019. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  8. "Grant Williams Will Dye His Hair Pink If Celtics Teammates Make NBA All-Star Team". CBS Boston. January 14, 2020. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  9. "Grant Williams 2019-20 Game Log". Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  10. "Grant Williams highlights: Celtics forward gets 20 points, 10 boards vs. OKC Thunder (3/21)". Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  11. "5 things to know about former Tennessee star and Celtics draft pick Grant Williams". Boston.com. June 21, 2019. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  12. Washburn, Gary (August 3, 2019). "Celtics first-round pick Grant Williams, a true student of life and basketball - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  13. Wilson, Mike. "Grant Williams throws out first pitch at Boston Red Sox game". Knoxville News Sentinel. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  14. "Tennessee basketball star Grant Williams admits he's a nerd, but he sure can play basketball, too". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on June 13, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  15. Business, Haslam College of (June 13, 2019). "Grant Williams". Haslam College of Business. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  16. "Grant Williams - Men's Basketball". University of Tennessee Athletics. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
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