On the eve of the NBA Finals, Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams admitted he used to cheer for the Warriors when they were beginning their dynasty with three championships against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I was going for the Warriors then, back in the day, because I'm a Draymond guy,” Williams told reporters.
It’s easy to see why Draymond was a basketball role model for Williams.
Green is listed at 6-foot-6, 230 pounds. Williams is listed at 6-6, 236. Both guys are renowned for their defensive abilities, toughness and ability to muck up the game. Neither guy is a prodigious scoring talent, though Green has blossomed into the Warriors’ best facilitator throughout the course of his career.
While Green slipped all the way to No. 35 in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft, Williams was picked at No. 22 overall by the Celtics in 2019 out of Tennessee. Perhaps Green’s career-long success as a ‘tweener helped NBA teams view players like Williams as a first-round talent.
Draymond, 32, is definitely aware that the 23-year-old Williams used to look up to him.
“You work to create a path for the next young guy,” Green said Tuesday. “Like, my goal when I came in here was to create a path for Grant Williams. To hear him say that is an honor, so I don't take that for granted one bit.”
With that in mind, Green said he was caught off guard a bit with the way Williams was barking at him during Game 2.
“Once he starts going at me and it got chippy and he's, ‘yap, yap, yap,’ all right, bro, you can't say that and then come and say this,” Green said. “It just doesn't add up to me.”
So it sounds like Green felt provoked by Williams in Game 2. The two got tangled up on a couple of occasions and engaged in some trash talk.
Microphones caught Green telling Williams, “You’re not me. You wanna be me,” during a free-throw attempt. Green also called Williams a “bozo” and told teammates that Williams was a “big fan” of the Warriors.
WIlliams might just be establishing himself in his third season and first career NBA Finals, but he’s clearly not one to back down from anyone, even if it was a player he rooted for in high school and college.
“I feel like a little bit of it is you don't necessarily see other guys doing it to him,” Williams said. “You can't be so overwhelmed or overcome by it as a team. One guy does it, then one guy does it. You don't let one guy affect eight others. At the end of the day, you're going to have a guy go at it, you have somebody go at it with him and you keep moving.”
The two firebrands didn’t have any notable back-and-forths during Game 1. Draymond was aware of Williams’ friendly comments heading into the Finals and initially didn’t feel the need to use it as verbal ammo against him.
“You start talking junk to me, then yes, I'm going to say something about that. Of course,” Green said. “But I didn't say anything about that Game 1 because he wasn't talking to me. I'm not going to go watch his press conference where he gives me props, where he appreciates my game and then go throw it in his face. That's whack to me. I'm not doing that. That's just not how I roll.”
Draymond knows what it’s like to be in Williams shoes, too. He recalled how he used to face LeBron as a young player in the league while wearing his kicks.
“He didn't throw it in my face -- like, dude, you got on my sneakers,” Green said. “It's just not something you do.”
Well, Williams went barking up Green’s tree and got the full Draymond experience. Welcome to the Finals, kid.
Emotions should only continue to rise as the rabid Boston crowd welcomes Draymond and the Warriors on Wednesday night. Green embraces the villain role and he’ll surely be public enemy No. 1 in Game 3.
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