While Boston Celtics rookie forward Grant Williams may not have been as visible as some of his teammates when it comes to protesting racial injustice, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been deeply concerned with the killing of George Floyd or the ongoing and pervasive systemic racism that still haunts the U.S.
Speaking with CLNS reporter Sierra Goodwill in a recent interview, the Tennessee product related his feelings about how the NBA has handled those protests, and in turn incorporated the wishes of players via the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) into its Disney-hosted restart.
“I think they’ve done a great job. I think the NBA as a league is probably more than a more progressive league stay on allow their players to not only voice their concerns in society, but also speak their minds,” he began.
There had been some significant concern that playing the resumed season at the same time as there were nationwide protests for racial justice might distract from the cause.
But, it seems the former Vol thinks the restart will be a fruitful means of keeping that push moving forward, rather than an obstacle.
“[The NBA] gives us the platform to be able to [voice concerns over race]. So I think that it can go really well for us now to spread the message and spread the word of what we want to accomplish, but also to really make some change and use our platforms for the better.”
And I think that’s what’s going to be really exciting … is not just playing but what we can do to impact people’s lives,” he added.
As for what he might put on the back of his jersey now that the league plans on letting players put pro- social justice statements in place of player names, Williams hasn’t thought about it at length yet, “but we’ll see how it all turns out,” hinting that the team may have a unified message instead.
Enes Kanter talks his dad's release, protests and the restart on ESPN https://t.co/yMj8aEfNIl via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) June 27, 2020
As for the team itself and its support of the protests for racial justice several of his teammates participated in, Williams was also very pleased.
“I know they’ve done a great job,” explained the Charlotte native.
“They’ve been very active and proactive and to not only helping us what we want to accomplish, but also for themselves to not only show they are allies and advocates for the Black Lives Matter movement, and I think Brad [Stevens], Wyc [Grousbeck] and a couple of our owners even to have initiated some change.”
“And we’ve actually gotten the cohort together to [address] not only just education, but also economic reform and as well as police reform,” added Williams.
“So there’s a lot of things that we have in the world. Right now it’s just a matter of when they come into fruition over time. So I think that they’ve done a great job of not only being progressive in their social media output and the media but also what they’re doing behind the scenes as well.”
NBA, NBPA agree to use 'bubble' restart to promote racial justice https://t.co/2BbkRa7D9v via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) June 26, 2020
While the city of Boston deserves much of the bad reputation it has gotten over the years when it comes to a certain vocal minority of racist so-called fans, the Celtics continue to be at the forefront of addressing racial injustice as a franchise.
And with brilliant young players like Williams, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Enes Kanter’s personal efforts not only tolerated but amplified by the organization, that footing looks poised to continue, hopefully finding deep roots to help construct a better future when it comes to race.
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