Grant Williams only spent a few months playing for the Dallas Mavericks this season before he was traded away to the Charlotte Hornets. According to inside reports, Williams didn't get along very well with the rest of the Dallas team and rubbed some people the wrong way.
Now Mavericks assistant manager Michael Finley has opened up about just how Williams upset people.
Speaking to 105.3 The Fan, Finley described one contentious practice featuring Doncic and Williams.
Finley said:
“One day in practice, a player on our team, I won't call his name out… But it was Grant Williams… He decided he wanted to get under Luka's skin. He felt that Luka didn't come that day ready to practice. So to make a long story short, they had a scrimmage going and he's talking trash to Luka up and down the court."
He went on:
"So finally, Luka says, ‘Okay.’ And I'll tell you, Luka went on a 26-6 run by himself. You can ask anybody, I'm not exaggerating. It was like a 26-6 run by himself. He showed everything, the threes, the post-up, the floaters, everything by himself.”
This sheds a lot of light on the relationships that developed between Williams and the rest of the Mavericks roster. When reports of unrest among the team leaked, it wasn't entirely clear how Williams upset others. But this story shows why he wasn't creating friendly partnerships with other players.
No matter how talented Williams is, he really set himself up poorly by getting on Doncic's bad side. Luka Doncic is easily the most important player on the Mavericks' roster and if he doesn't like someone, they can consider their days in Dallas numbered.
Williams seems much more comfortable with the Hornets, anyway. Since coming to Charlotte, he has averaged 13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists, a step up from his 8.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists during his time with the Mavericks.
Michael Finley talks about the time Luka Doncic cooked Grant Williams in practice “One day in practice, a player on our team, I won't call his name out… But it was Grant Williams… He decided he wanted to get under Luka's skin. He felt that Luka didn't come that day ready to…
