When they were both players of the Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum had a close relationship with Grant Williams. Williams was selected by Boston in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft and spent four complete seasons with the Celtics before joining the Dallas Mavericks in an offseason sign-and-trade deal.
Tatum and Williams formed a friendship over the course of four years, always talking garbage to one another. Tatum threw a blow on his old teammate at halftime of Boston’s 119-110 win against the Mavericks on Monday, January 22. Just before the halftime buzzer sounded, Williams hoisted a halfcourt jumper that Tatum firmly blocked, delivering a message to Williams that appears to be private.
Throughout their stay in Boston, Tatum and Williams were frequently joking with one another. Williams joined the club two years after Tatum was drafted in 2017.
During the winter, Williams became a free agency, and the Celtics chose to let him go rather than provide the 6-foot-6 forward a big salary.
Tatum and Williams met for the first time as NBA players on Monday, when the Celtics faced the Mavericks in the second part of a back-to-back in Texas. Tatum concluded with a game-high 39 points, helping Boston to an NBA-best 34-10 record. Williams got two points off the bench for Dallas, but he made headlines when his halfcourt heave was swatted by Tatum just before the teams entered the locker room at halftime.
Tatum missed a free throw; Williams grabbed the rebound and dribbled to halfcourt, where he flung the ball. Tatum showed little mercy by smashing the ball into the seats, then saying a few words to Williams before heading to the locker room.
What were the words?
“I can’t repeat what I said,” Tatum remarked afterward.
Tatum claimed he made an extra attempt to prevent Williams’ shot.
“Yeah, I tried to kick that s***, I ain’t going to lie,” that’s what he stated. “It was a nice, competitive atmosphere. But I needed to get that one off.”
Tatum bounced back from a tough night in Houston.
Tatum needed a night like this. Although he struggled from the three-point line (2-for-8), he was 11-for-21 overall and had 11 rebounds to go with his 39 points.
In Sunday’s victory over the Houston Rockets, he missed 13 of his 17 shots while scoring 18 points. Tatum had 22 points in the previous game, a loss to the Denver Nuggets, shooting 9-for-24 from the field. In games against the Rockets and Nuggets, he shot 2-for-14 from three.
“I say it all the time, we play so many games, and it’s not always going to go the way you want it,” Tatum said after the Mavs victory. “That’s the beauty of being in the NBA: there’s always a game the next day or the day after, and you have a chance to redeem yourself.
“I didn’t play as well as I wanted to on Sunday, for whatever reason, but my teammates helped me out. I really wanted to come out tonight and do better than I did yesterday.”
