Celtics commentator says Grant Williams was ‘annoying’ and a ‘bad locker room guy’

Boston Celtics play-by-play commentator Mike Gorman believes that power forward Grant Williams was “annoying” as well as a “bad locker room guy” during his time playing for the Celtics.

“He was annoying to everybody,” Gorman said. “I think he — I think initially, everybody thought, ‘Oh, isn’t he kind of a wise a–, but he’s kind of cute, and he’s kinda funny.’ And then it just kinda wore thin, and it got thin quickly in Dallas obviously. If you start to take on [Luka] Doncic, you’re not gonna be around for long. So, yeah, he had some issues in that area that if he doesn’t get rid of — he’s not good enough to have teams say, ‘Well, okay, but despite that, we’re gonna keep him here ’cause he’s a great player.’ He’s not — he’s an extra. He’s an eighth, ninth, 10th guy on your roster, so those guys are very replaceable, especially if you get a guy that’s a bad locker room guy. If you’re a bad locker room guy and you’re the eighth or ninth guy, you’re not gonna be the eighth or ninth guy for long because you’re not gonna be on the team for long.”

The Celtics selected Williams in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft, and he spent the first four seasons of his NBA career in Boston.

Williams was part of some great teams during his time in Boston, with the best team arguably being the 2021-22 iteration of the Celtics. The Celtics ended up reaching the 2022 NBA Finals, and Williams served as a solid two-way piece for that team. He averaged 7.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 0.7 blocks per game while shooting 41.1 percent from 3-point range during the regular season.

But the Celtics came up just short of the 2022 title, as they lost to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Williams had perhaps his worst series of Boston’s playoff run against the Warriors, as he averaged just 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game while being less of a threat from 3-point range.

After losing to the Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals the following year, the Celtics sent Williams to the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade transaction, but as Gorman noted, his stint in Dallas was brief.

Williams played in 47 games with the Mavericks during the 2023-24 regular season before the team decided to trade him along with Seth Curry and a first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets before the trade deadline in exchange for P.J. Washington and two second-round picks.

While Williams has logged just 14 games (four starts) with the Hornets this season, he has put up impressive numbers with the team. He is averaging 13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 36.1 percent from 3-point range on 4.4 3-point attempts per contest.

It’s unclear whether Williams has found a long-term home in Charlotte after his short stint with the Mavericks, but he is putting up the best numbers of his career since joining the Hornets, as he is averaging career-highs in points, rebounds and assists per game.