Celtics' Amari Williams Discusses Protective Nature, Rare Skills, & Message From Mentor
If Amari Williams is on the court, there's a good chance he started the day with his version of the breakfast of champions: Weetabix. It's a light, crispy, whole-grain cereal that's popular in the UK.
The Nottingham, England native can't always get his hands on it in the U.S., but to his surprise, it was an option at Summer League in Las Vegas.
"Surprisingly, I've seen it at the breakfast table [on] the first day we got here, which caught me off guard," a delighted Williams told Forbes after the Boston Celtics wrapped up practice near the end of their stay in Sin City. "But I only have Weetabix on game days, so that's when I've been having it."
When he does, his preference is to do so with warm milk and sugar. However, the countless combinations to enhance this pregame staple are part of its appeal.
"I actually poured honey in it the other day. That was nice, too," shared Williams.
In his final collegiate season, a campaign spent with the Kentucky Wildcats, the seven-foot center would often settle for a few pieces of toast for breakfast before road games.
It was at the NCAA Tournament when his head coach, Mark Pope, realized this. He knew that had to change. He encouraged Williams to add more fuel before tip-off. As luck would have it, the team was able to find it in stock in Lexington, Kentucky, as well as at an international store in Milwaukee.
As Williams helped lead the Wildcats on a run to the Sweet 16, Big Blue Nation elevated Weetabix to the top-selling cereal on Amazon, per Tyler Thompson of On3.com.
That led to Williams getting on the cover of the cereal his parents used to force him to eat as a kid.
"After the NCAA tournament, I got two personalized boxes with my face on it," he told Forbes.
Coach Pope and teammate Brandon Garrison also indulged in Weetabix as Kentucky made its mark on March Madness. It was an example of the bond Williams cultivated with those he shared a locker room with.
"He is unbelievable," Coach Pope conveyed to Forbes in an exclusive interview where he raved about the person the Celtics' center is off the court.
"You talk about a guy who cares about all the right things. He's incredibly protective of his teammates. He loves his teammates. He would take a bullet for his guys, and that's not a cliche. That's actually deep in his heart. Like, it matters. His locker room matters to him. His guys, his staff, they matter to him. And so he's going to be a welcome addition in the locker room."
That's quite the role to take on after arriving in "The Blue Grass State" following four years at Drexel.
While discussing the roots of that protective nature, Williams shared, "I just knew that all of us were new last year, and just trying to meet new guys. It was different than a lot of teams, which we've all been on in the past. But I feel like in the summer, living together in the lodge, we all gelled well, and those relationships will last a lifetime."
Amari Williams has a unique offensive arsenal
The No. 46 selection in this year's NBA Draft grew up as a guard. From age 14 to 15, he shot up from about five-foot-11 to roughly six-foot-four, he recalls. Luckily, Williams retained his passing prowess and comfort level handling the ball.
It also helps that even after his height took him from floor general to patrolling the pivot, "My high school team was positionless basketball. So, anyone could push it in transition."
That's a part of the appeal the Celtics saw when deciding to draft Williams, who is expected to join Boston on a two-way deal. It's a talent that feels more valuable than ever, given the NASCAR-like pace of today's NBA.
"It's an incredible luxury," Coach Pope expressed to Forbes. "It also allows you to take elite-level scorers -- it allows you to take them, and instead of them being on the ball to start a possession, you could get them away from the ball and let them use some actions coming back to the ball early in a possession, early in the clock. So, the point guard doesn't have to give up the ball and get it back. He can start with it out of his hands, or a two guard, or a shooting guard, or a scoring guard can start with it out of his hands.
"Amari can do that work of getting the ball down the floor, and then they can be the first one to come back to it in a scoring position. I think it affords coaches an incredible luxury, with how to rethink the game."
Williams's standout trait also comes from growing up with the ball in his hands. He's an impressive facilitator, frequently delivering dimes to teammates cutting to the basket.
"I didn't even know he was a good passer, like such a good passer," Celtics teammate Jordan Walsh told Forbes at Summer League. "Eventually, I just started cutting, all the handoffs he was coming at me with, I just started back-cutting them, and he'd find it, and I was like, 'Oh, my goodness.'
"I didn't know he was such a good passer. He's a really good passer. And he's bringing the ball up the court, too, and facilitating, it's nice."
"It's been a lot of fun," voiced Baylor Scheierman about playing off a center with Williams's passing proficiency. "His vision and his passing ability is something that is unique."
As he works to sharpen his strongest suit, Williams is modeling that part of his game after three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, an offensive hub with elite court vision and a Patrick Mahomes-like ability to deliver perfect passes from any angle.
Specifically, he's studying Jokic's "Passing and being patient. I feel like it's easy to throw passes right away, but we [have] got to see the game out," stated Williams. "Take your time with a lot of things. So, I'll say patience and deciding when to throw the right pass."
Williams's defensive upside stems from being a multi-sport athlete
When he wasn't on the hardwood, the Nottingham, England, native was honing his craft on the pitch. His soccer background has helped him prove more nimble than your typical, plodding seven-foot center.
"I feel like it helped a lot, just being able to move quicker than the average big," Williams told Forbes.
Celtics assistant coach and Summer League bench boss Matt Reynolds conveyed, "Traditional centers, where they don't switch, I think he can. He can do some switching. He's got long arms, got good instincts, [and] active hands. So when you know he's in position to guard the ball one-on-one, I think he can do that, whether it's against speed or size.
"I think he's able to give the game what it needs with respect to whoever his matchup is. And so whether it happens in Summer League or down the line, I'm sure he'll get plenty of opportunities to mix up coverages and matchups and all that kind of stuff. And I think he's going to do pretty well."
Mark Pope agrees. He's already seen Williams come through for Kentucky because of his mobility on defense.
"I think he's got the potential to be an elite-level defensive player switching one through five. And he certainly showed a lot of signs for that and did that well for us in important moments."
It also helps that he has a seven-foot-five wingspan, allowing him to reject, alter, and deter shots at the rim.
It's all part of a package that could one day elevate him from a two-way contract to a rotation fixture in Boston.
Amari Williams is hard at work at a selfless trait
The seven-foot, 262-pound center can impose his will as a screener. He did so with a punishing pick in the backcourt on Jaylen Wells during the Celtics' 92-78 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
But it's one of the areas where the rookie has appreciable room for growth. It's something he's hard at work at with Boston's coaching staff.
"I try to do it anytime I can," said Williams of his bone-crunching screen on Wells. "Just to get the pressure off the guards most of the time, but that's something that Boston emphasized a lot. So, I was told a lot by the coaches, Coach Ross [McMains] and everyone here, [in] the first few weeks of training camp. So, that's something I'm taking pride in, and I'm definitely trying to get better at."
As he does, he's applying a message from Tosan Evbuomwan, an NBA veteran from Newcastle, England. The former was with Williams when the Celtics drafted him.
Suiting up for Brooklyn at Summer League, Evbuomwan has been able to watch Williams and the other British players in Las Vegas play, offering counsel along the way.
His message to Williams?
"Go out there and be aggressive. A lot of the games, I came out timid, but I learned as the game went on, I [have] got to be aggressive and trying to go get it myself sometimes."
Williams has the potential to be a defensive force, a punishing screen-setter, and an offensive hub his team can trust as a facilitator that can make passes many players at his position can't.
As he acclimates to the NBA, heeding Evbuomwan's advice and embracing an assertive mentality is essential to maximizing his talent and carving out his place in the league.
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