Draymond Green is renowned for his ability to agitate, but Grant Williams wants to make clear that he can hold his own.
Green and Williams sparred often during the Boston Celtics-Golden State Warriors NBA Finals matchup last month, trading verbal jabs repeatedly with the occasional physical dustup mixed in.
But during Game 2 of that series, cameras and mics caught Green telling Williams “you want to be like me.” It was clear in the moment and postgame that Williams responded in some fashion, but he declined to offer any specifics.
That changed though, as Williams finally shared some insight into his trash-talking with Green on Duncan Robinson’s podcast “The Long Shot”.
“His thing was he always says bozo or screams b—h. All that stuff, that’s his thing,” Williams said. “Versus me, I’m always trying to do the annoying s–t, like I’ve got facts about this man from Google and stuff. (I’ve said to him like) ‘Ain’t you supposed to be from Saginaw? How are you gonna be complaining about this b—---t-ass call?’
“I remember somebody told me a story about how he got into an altercation when he was younger and he got knocked out. I literally was doing research, I was dialed in trying to throw him off, and that’s the first time I’ve ever had Dray not say something back to me. I got one that time, because most times they only show his trash talk, so I’m over here like dang, nobody ever hears what I’m saying, I be saying some cool stuff.
“Next thing you know, I remember every single possession I’m like ‘Make a f–ing shot’. He said, ‘You trying to be like me.’ And I said 'How am I trying to be like you if I’m better than you already?’ I remember I said that to him, but we were just going back and forth. But that's all love, that’s a guy I modeled my game after, I idolized. At the end of it, we were just going back-and-forth on the court, it’s all love at the end of the day.”
The Celtics might have lost the series, but Williams can take some pride in his trash-talking. He landed some good ones.
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