Club 520 - Grant Williams on being TEAMMATES w/ Jeff Teague, GUARDING Joel Embiid & Steph Curry, Luka vs. Tatum

·1 hr 16 min·5 clips

Grant Williams and Jeff Teague both told Celtics coach Brad Stevens, 'Just don't play us,' during a confusing roster crunch.

["The episode begins with hosts DJ Wells, Bishop B Henn, and Jeff Teague introducing guest Grant Williams, an NBA forward for the Charlotte Hornets.", "Williams and Teague reminisce about being teammates on the Boston Celtics during the 2020-21 COVID-affected season.", "He reveals that due to a crowded backcourt with him, Teague, Shake Milton, and Peyton Pritchard, both he and Teague separately asked coach Brad Stevens not to play them to resolve the rotation.", "Williams explains the team later told him they were playing Shake Milton to increase his trade value, a detail not communicated at the time.", "The conversation shifts to Williams' background growing up in Charlotte and his fandom for the Hornets, discussing the team's current success.", "He talks about LaMelo Ball's impact on the Hornets, arguing Ball deserves an All-Star nod for his playmaking and gravity.", "Williams recounts his high school and AAU basketball days, playing with and against top prospects like Harry Giles and Bam Adebayo.", "He details a heartbreaking loss in the AAU national semifinals where his team blew a 20-point lead after his point guard got severe cramps.", "Williams describes his college recruitment, being a three-star recruit, and a motivating moment when Davidson coach Bob McKillop told him he didn't work hard enough.", "He discusses his family's basketball background, including his cousin Salim Stoudemire, known for intense 'perfects-only' shooting workouts.", "Williams talks about his college career at Tennessee under coach Rick Barnes, including a brutal training regimen where he lost 30 pounds.", "He shares stories of Barnes' demanding practices, including Saturday lockdowns from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. with no devices and multiple workouts.", "Williams recounts his NBA draft process, expecting to go in the late first round after chasing higher-ranked prospects in workouts.", "He tells a key story about his Celtics pre-draft workout where he grabbed the clipboard from an assistant coach to draw up a play, which nearly cost him.", "Williams was eventually drafted by Boston at pick 22, and he discusses his rookie year and veterans like Kemba Walker who let him live with him during COVID.", "He describes the surreal experience of the NBA bubble in Orlando, including limited food, no takeout, and LeBron James having private accommodations.", "Williams talks about guarding elite players, preferring to guard bigger forwards like Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo over shifty guards.", "He reflects on playing in the 2022 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, noting Stephen Curry's incredible performance in Game 4.", "The conversation touches on recent NBA events, including a fight between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets that Williams witnessed from the bench.", "Williams analyzes the fight's sequence, praising players' restraint and discussing the potential outcome if it had escalated to grappling."]

As heard by us

A Boston workout story becomes a compact lesson in confidence, spacing, and speaking up when the diagram is wrong.

The guest turns a draft-process memory into a sharp study of self-belief, tracing how Orlando, Brooklyn, San Antonio, Boston, Oklahoma City, and Memphis seemed to shift around him before one Boston workout changed the feel of the room.

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Why you'd press play

You want to hear a Boston workout turn when the prospect reaches for the clipboard and redraws the play.

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