Hornets coach Charles Lee talked about the need to develop “emotional maturity” following a late-game skirmish in Friday’s loss to Boston, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The altercation started when Grant Williams ran into former teammate Jayson Tatum while the Celtics were pushing the ball up court (Twitter video link from NBC Sports Boston). Williams was ejected from the game with a Flagrant 2 foul and may face further discipline from the league office.
“It was a transition opportunity and I was trying to make a play on the ball. I did reach across his body and when you slow down the replay, it looks like I make a play and then I kind of go after it,” Williams explained. “J.T. is one of my closest friends always. There was no intention of trying to harm him in any way. So, it was just one of those plays where in full speed he passes the ball, which probably makes it worse because that’s when I reach for the ball. The ball is already out of his hand. … You seen me raise my hand, say I fouled him.”
Williams added that he wanted to apologize to Tatum immediately after the play occurred. But the teams were immediately sent back to their respective benches, and Williams was tossed out of the game before he could say anything to Tatum.
“We all know J.T. is my guy. Nothing intentional,” Williams added. “He got up quick and by the time I got up, there was a ruckus and they brought us to our benches. I’ll talk to him tonight or (Saturday). He knows. We probably don’t even have to talk. He knows it wasn’t intentional or malicious by any means.”
There’s more from Charlotte:
- There’s still no timetable for injured center Mark Williams, Boone adds in the same piece. It’s been five weeks since Williams was diagnosed with a strained tendon in his left foot, and he hasn’t been able to scrimmage or take part in any full team drills. “He’s engaged and observing all practice activities and film,” Lee said, “and even (Friday) at shootaround, he’s sitting next to me, trying to talk through the game plan and stuff. So, he’s doing all he can to make sure he’s soaking up all the information and terminology and when he comes back, he’s going to be ready to hit the ground running. But for now, he’s just kind of doing individual work. And the next phase of his return-to-play plan, he’ll do some group-type activities. And then once we get to practices and things like that, I think we’ll update further.”
- Brandon Miller will return to action tonight for the first time since leaving the season opener with a glute strain, Boone states in a separate story. However, Seth Curry will miss the contest with a right knee injury and Nick Richards, who has been starting at center in place of Williams, will be sidelined after leaving Friday’s game with a sore shoulder. “Nick has been a big part of what we’ve done these first five games. I’ve been very happy with him and his ability to kind of dominate the paint,” Lee said. “He’s altered a lot of shots, and I think he’s helping us with his pick-and-roll coverage and understanding the different gaps to be in in center field and create some indecision for ball-handlers. He’s done a great job defensively, and then offensively, he’s created a ton of advantages for all of our scorers, all of our ball-handlers.”
- Jared Weiss of The Athletic examines whether Miller, LaMelo Ball and the rest of the young Hornets can create an identity as a team. Weiss also talks to president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson about the unique approach he took in becoming the third team in the Karl-Anthony Towns deal, acquiring three players through sign-and-trades and effectively using the room exception as a trade exception.
