Grant Williams downplays tough foul on Tatum: ‘We’ve seen a lot worse’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Several Boston Celtics players thought Grant Williams was out of line when the Charlotte Hornets forward Jayson Tatum entered late in the fourth quarter on Friday night.
Williams, however, sees things a little differently.
In interview with Kayla Burton of NBC Sports Boston after Boston’s 124-109 win over CharlotteWilliams claimed his actions were not intentional when he collided with Tatum at midcourt on a play that resulted in a Flagrant 2 foul and an ejection for Williams.
“I think it’s more that he hasn’t seen me more than anything else,” Williams said. “Like, I’m reaching and I’m definitely making contact with his body before I’m reaching; probably a hard foul, definitely not on purpose, not trying to hurt him in any way. We all know he’s one of my closest friends in the league, and as you see, he got up and just walked away.”
Celtics forward Jaylen Brown immediately took issue with Williams’ foul, standing over Williams with a few words for the Hornets forward. Williams, who spent his first four NBA seasons in Boston and says he still has close friends on the team, understood Brown’s anger but continued to play down the foul play.
“JB took it a little too far, but I understand he’s trying to protect his teammate,” Williams told Burton. “But that’s my dog anyway.”
“I understand how maybe it was like a blindside (hit), and he was more surprised than anything else, but it wasn’t like I took him out or took his leg out or did anything else,” he added. “Like, we’ve seen a lot worse in the league. I think at the end of the day, we all know that’s my dog, so no malice or anything about that.”
Whether Williams will face discipline for his foul on Tatum remains to be seen, but there was one immediate consequence of his actions: His plans to host several Celtics players for dinner after the game have apparently been canceled.
“I would guess most of those guys aren’t coming to dinner tonight, but I’ll talk to them again tomorrow,” Williams told Burton. “I had wings and stuff set up, so it’s kind of funny that it’s like, well, the game ended like that. But I’ll see them tomorrow and we’ll compete again.”
The Celtics and Hornets play each other again Saturday night at Spectrum Center, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the C’s players are a little less friendly to their former teammate this time around. Tip-off is set for 6 pm ET on NBC Sports Boston.
