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). He played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers. A 6'7" power forward from Charlotte, North Carolina, he was drafted 22nd overall in the 2019 NBA draft.

For other people named Grant Williams, see Grant Williams (disambiguation).

Grant Williams
Williams with Tennessee in 2019
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 School
(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
  • Consensus first-team All-American (2019)
  • All-American Honorable Mention (2018)
  • 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)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

College career

Williams was an All-Southeastern Conference player as a freshman, sophomore, and junior.[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] He led Tennessee to a #3-seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and #2-seed in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. He is recognized by most Volunteer fans as the greatest player in Tennessee history.

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 Boston Celtics announced that they had signed Williams.[5] On October 23, 2019, Williams made his debut in NBA, coming off the bench in a 93–107 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers with a rebound.[6] In an effort to garner support for his teammates making the NBA All-Star Game, Grant pledged to dye his hair pink if Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker all made the all-star game.[7]

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
Career 69515.1.412.250.7222.61.0.4.53.4

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
Career 17010.0.577.588.7001.5.4.1.32.8

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 who works for NASA.[8] His father, Gilbert, is a jazz artist and former college player who has worked as a bodyguard for musicians including Prince.[9] He is a cousin of former NBA players Salim and Damon Stoudamire.[10] Turning down offers from Ivy League schools Harvard and Yale,[11] Williams graduated from Tennessee in three years with a degree in business.[12] After missing his first 25 career three-point attempts, Williams' Celtics teammates hired the physical tone setter Aron Baynes to inspire Williams."[13]

Williams threw out the first pitch at the Boston Red Sox August 7, 2019 game.[10]

References
  1. "University of Tennessee Athletics". utsports.com.
  2. Wilson, Mike. "UT Vols basketball sweeps SEC honors: Rick Barnes, Grant Williams best in SEC". www.knoxnews.com. 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. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  5. "Celtics Sign Pair of First-Round Draft Picks Langford, Williams officially join Celtics". NBA.com. July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  6. "76ers top Celtics 107-93 in 1st battle of East favorites". ESPN.com. October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  7. "Grant Williams Will Dye His Hair Pink If Celtics Teammates Make NBA All-Star Team". CBS Boston. January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  8. "5 things to know about former Tennessee star and Celtics draft pick Grant Williams". Boston.com. June 21, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  9. Washburn, Gary (August 3, 2019). "Celtics first-round pick Grant Williams, a true student of life and basketball - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  10. Wilson, Mike. "Grant Williams throws out first pitch at Boston Red Sox game". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  11. "Tennessee basketball star Grant Williams admits he's a nerd, but he sure can play basketball, too". Star Tribune. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  12. Business, Haslam College of (June 13, 2019). "Grant Williams". Haslam College of Business. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  13. Twitter.com. December 9, 2019 https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1204247466108956672?s=20. Retrieved December 11, 2019. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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