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On December 9, 2019, Grant Williams broke a streak of 25 straight missed 3-pointers to start his career. It took 21 games for one to finally fall.
“Yeah, we were calling him Ben Simmons,” Jaylen Brown said in the Celtics locker room after that game, making sure to say it within earshot of the rookie, whose locker was a few feet away from the scrum.
He actually shot 34% after that drought. In the postseason bubble, he shot 10-17, nearly 59%, including a perfect 4-4 in a sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers. Ime Udoka was an assistant on that Sixers team.
“I’m kind of scarred from it from two years ago ... lighting us up,” Udoka said. “I’ve seen it firsthand, what he works on every day. He works extremely hard, came back in great shape. He asked me in the summer months ago when I got hired what he can do, and I said, ‘Get that 3-point percentage up to 40 and defend.’ He’s doing all of that right now.”
... And more.
This hasn’t been easy for Williams. He was asked to become a small-ball center, and he added the bulk necessary to bang with the big boys down low. Then after a quick turnaround that caught everyone by surprise, the Celtics asked Williams to step out onto the perimeter more often because of the Tristan Thompson signing. Williams, still carrying the weight of his previous role, struggled defensively, fell out of the regular rotation, and put on more weight.
Now he’s slimmed down again, which didn’t help when he had to face Julius Randle on opening night.
"It's a difficult job, but it's what I signed up for,” Williams said after his 5-7 3-point shooting performance against the Rockets. He's now 9-13 from 3 after three games. “That's something that I've tried to take pride in: being a versatile guy, a guy that can stay on the floor no matter what situation is on. If I ever get to a point to where that's not that important to me, I'll be out this league.”
That last line shows Williams’ awareness of just how tenuous his position is. He, as much as anyone on this roster, had to come into camp and prove he belonged. Yes, all the stuff about what he was asked to do and how it impacted him physically is true, but the NBA can be cruel when it comes to role players.
'Hey, yeah, we know we asked you to be three different things already and that might not be totally fair but if you can’t handle that then download the Duolingo app and start learning the language of whatever country you’ll be playing in next season.'
His coach said be a knock-down 3-point shooter. So he’s becoming one.
When the Celtics were dead against the Knicks, it was Williams who calmly drilled huge 3-pointers to help force overtime. When the Houston Rockets kept charging back, Williams hit 3’s to keep them at bay.
“We need it,” Jayson Tatum said. “Being able to be a threat from out there is only going to make us better. He’s put a lot of work in, in his craft and his shot specifically, knowing that he’s going to get those open looks. For us to be a good team, we’ve got to space the floor and we need guys to knock down shots like that. He knows his role and he plays it very well. Just adding the ability to hit those shots is big for him and big for us.”
The return of Al Horford has helped Williams as well. They’re not the same kind of player, but they do similar things. Williams started in Horford’s place because of that on opening night, and Horford’s experience and guidance has helped polish Williams as a defender.
“I'm really thankful he's around because you see how -- he just pulls me aside during the game, after the game,” Williams said. “Just having a good conversation about what he saw and what I could do in a situation ... He's been very important to this team.”
Williams hopes that can help lead to some consistency in his game, rather than the ebbs and flows of hot and cold streaks. Williams is still very much a work in progress but he hopes the good he provides can outweigh whatever mistakes he makes.
For now, he’s mostly doing what he’s been asked to do, which means no more being called “Ben Simmons” when it comes to his shooting.
"It's just impressive for me just to see how far I've come, just trying to stay grounded, stay humble and understand that the hard work is paying off but it still has a lot more to go,” he said. “That's just a step-by-step process and they've encouraged me ever since the beginning. They've been telling me, keep shooting, we know how good of a shooter you are and hopefully that just continues to show.”
