Grant Williams and Jayson Tatum were teammates for four seasons with the Boston Celtics from 2019-23. Before the Celtics played Williams’ current team, the Charlotte Hornets, the six-year veteran said it was “special” to see his former teammates win the NBA championship last season.
“Honestly, I didn’t really feel anxious because I left Boston,” Williams said, via Noah Dalzell of CLNS Media. “I wasn’t one of those people where, if I had been traded out of there, like there was some bad blood, it would have been different.”
Some might question that “bad blood” remark after Williams laid out Tatum with a hit more suited to an NFL game than an NBA game toward the end of Boston’s 124-109 win over Charlotte on Friday. With 2:02 left in the game, Tatum grabbed a rebound and brought the ball up court. Williams ran at him at half court and laid him down with a shoulder check.
Williams was called for Flagrant 2 foul and was ejected from the game.
“Grant Williams accelerates, makes a significant impact on the dribbler,” referee James Williams explained in an update of the foul to Flagrant 2. “Non-basketball play, potential for injury.”
Looking at the play, it’s hard to argue that Williams was trying to go for the ball. Maybe he tried to force a turnover with the score 114-105. But he just met Tatum, leading with his shoulder. As the referee stated, “a non-basketball play.”
Tatum left without confronting Williams, perhaps just wanting the game to end. Maybe he knows how his former teammate plays sometimes. But Tatum’s current teammates, especially Jaylen Brown, seemed to feel differently, yelling at Williams as he left the court.
Following the game, Brown ripped Williams, saying the collision was intentional.
“Actions speak loudly. It is what it is, we got the win, but there’s no place in the game for that,” Brown said, via the Boston Herald. “I thought JT and Grant were friends. I guess not.”
“What are we talking about? Y’all see the same play I saw?” he added. “He hit him like it was a football play, like Ray Lewis coming across the middle or something. It is what it is. Grant knows better than that.”
Speaking to NBC Sports Boston, Williams maintained that he was not trying to hurt Tatum.
“I don’t think he saw me more than anything else,” Williams said. “Like, I reach, and I must have made contact with the body before I reached.
“Probably a hard foul; certainly not intentional. I’m not trying to hurt him in any way. We all know that’s one of my closest friends in the league.”
Tatum led the Celtics with 32 points and 11 rebounds, making 11-of-13 free throws. Williams had six points, seven rebounds and five personal fouls before being ejected. LaMelo Ball led the Hornets with 31 points.
If someone holds hard feelings over Williams’ obvious malice, that could become apparent quickly. The Celtics and Hornets play again on Saturday for the second leg of a back-to-back.
