Grant Williams came into the 2022-23 NBA season riding the crest of a wave. Following a disappointing sophomore year for the Boston Celtics, Williams bounced back in emphatic fashion, positioning himself as one of the best young three-and-d wings in the NBA. However, following the 2023 All-Star break, Williams fell out of Joe Mazzulla‘s rotation.
Last summer, Williams failed to agree a contract extension with Boston, meaning he entered this summer as a restricted free agent. Failure to secure Williams’ long-term future last summer allowed the Dallas Mavericks to swoop in and sign Williams to an offer sheet, leading to a sign-and-trade.
Recently, Celtics journalist Adam Taylor held a short interview with Williams for Heavy on Sports, where the former Celtic shared three regrets from his tenure with the Celtics since being drafted in 2019.
“I would say the Donovan Mitchell moment in terms of, like, missing the free throws in Cleveland, I would say, really the Miami Heat over the past [few years] that’s like the same moment, in a way,” Williams said. “Those two were definitely frustrating for me. And then I think my second year really just how I approached, and I played in that year, like, I could have definitely improved a little bit more than I had.
And I was frustrated by that. So those were probably the three biggest moments in my career in terms of frustrations. But I feel like you’ve grown because of things like that. You don’t always have success. You got to have some failures along the way.”
Williams spent four seasons in Boston but will now enter the new season with an opportunity to carve out a starting role with the Mavericks and potentially help them contend for a championship.
You can watch the full interview in the embedded clip above.
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