Grant Williams admits to ‘immature act’ against Jayson Tatum earlier this season
“No matter what happens in our life, I’m gonna have his back."
Grant Williams was a dependable player off the bench for the Celtics for four seasons from 2019-23 — forming a close bond with Jayson Tatum over his successful tenure in Boston.
But Williams nearly burned a few bridges with Tatum and the Celtics in November after delivering a cheap shot against Boston’s top player.
Wiliams — who now plays for the Charlotte Hornets — drew the ire of the Celtics in Boston’s 124-109 win on Nov. 1 after Williams delivered a blindside hit on Tatum that dropped the superstar forward to the court.
Williams was assessed a flagrant 2 foul on the play and was later ejected. Before leaving the court, Williams exchanged words with former teammate Jaylen Brown, who called out Williams during his postgame press conference.
“I don’t know what that was about. I think that spoke for itself,” Brown said of Williams’ hit on Tatum. “That wasn’t a basketball play. Grant knows better than that. … There’s no place in the game for that. I thought JT and Grant were friends. I guess not.
“It was for sure intentional,” Brown added. “What are we talking about? Did y’all see the same play? He hit him like it was a football play, Ray Lewis coming across the middle or something.”
After the incident, Williams even acknowledged to NBC Sports Boston’s Kayla Burton that he might be persona non grata with his former Celtics teammates after the hit.
“I would assume most of those guys won’t be coming over for dinner tonight,” Williams told Burton. “… I had wings and stuff prepared, so it’s kind of funny that the game ended that way. But I’ll see them tomorrow; we’ll compete again.”
Months after that play, Williams acknowledged to CLNS Media’s Bobby Manning that he’s on good terms with Tatum — while also acknowledging that delivering that open-court hit was a poor decision.
“Me and J.T. are cool. That’s my dawg, forever,” Williams told Manning. “No matter what happens in our life, I’m gonna have his back and I believe he’s gonna have mine as well. I made an immature act. When that happened, I reflected on it and at the time, I think I kind of brushed it off.
“It’s helpful that the injury gave me a perspective, too. It’s just like making sure you’re not only doing things the right way, but also competing and stuff like that and recklessness. So I was able to have that conversation and that’s being two mature men, that’s a guy that would do anything for me and I feel like I’d do anything for him as well.”
It’s been a difficult season for Williams — who was ruled out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season after suffering a torn ACL on Nov. 23. But Williams seems to have smoothed over tensions with Tatum and the Celtics, as he was spotted chatting with Tatum after Boston’s regular-season finale victory over Charlotte on Sunday.
“(Tatum) will always be family,” Williams told Manning. “I told his mom, you gotta curse me out soon. I don’t know when it’s gonna happen, but she has to.”
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