LOS ANGELES – The LA Clippers' regular season and pursuit of a playoff seed would've been over by early March instead of early April had it not been for their two stellar two-way players in guard Tyrone Wallace as well as guard C.J. Williams. While Wallace's representatives and the Clippers haven't been able to come to an agreement on a new deal yet, Williams and his representatives just finished locking up theirs.
Earlier this week on Monday afternoon, the Clippers officially announced the signing of Williams to a three-year deal. According to a report from LA Times' Brad Turner, Williams' deal will not be guaranteed in years two and three. Nonetheless, the 28-year old guard out of NC State is an ecstatic man after the deal.
“It's an amazing feeling knowing that I'm going to get an opportunity at this,” said Williams before Monday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans. “It's a dream come true. Obviously, I still have a lot to work on and I just want to get better each day to help this team win.
“It's something I've dreamt of since I was four years old. Watching basketball all the time, going outside ruining my mom's bushes throwing no look passes into them and everything. She always says that's the one thing she wants back from me. she doesn't want a house or anything like that, she wants her bush back,” Williams explained with a laugh. “She'll definitely get that and something else.”
While Williams is happy with the deal, I asked him why he decided to sign with the Clippers this late in the season when the potential to get a bigger deal in restricted free agency this summer could have brought itself to the table. His answer was simple. It wasn't about the money. It was about the love, the fit, and the stability he would get from the deal.
“The feeling that I've gotten from everyone in the organization from, top to bottom, is that they like me and they wanted me around,” said Williams. “I feel that that fit is better than testing the waters sometimes. Sometimes, you just want to be able to know that you're loved or liked somewhere, and you want to stay there. The guys on the team, I enjoy being around them. I enjoy going to war with them every night and that definitely played a big factor into it.”
This year alone, per the details of the two-way contract, Williams was only allowed to spend 45 days in the NBA. That meant for the most part, due to all the injuries the Clippers were dealt, he could not participate in practices and was only available on game days. Not being available for an off day meant the team would be able to get an additional day of availability for games. That's how shorthanded the Clippers were this season, but that's also how solid both he, Wallace, and previous two-way forward Jamil Wilson was.
Williams was naturally emotional after trying to make it as a professional basketball player for so many years. In fact, he said that the first thing he did after officially signing his NBA contract was visit his parents who, ironically, were visiting Los Angeles for the first time to watch him play in the last few games of the season.
“My parents are actually out here visiting me right now,” he revealed, “so first thing I did, I went down to their place and I actually cried for about an hour because you just think about all the things that you've done to get to this point… All the times when I was mad at my dad having me in the gym till 10 o'clock at night and I wanted to be home playing video games or something. Him yelling at me for doing things on the court that he didn't want me to do. Just everything kind of culminated and I'm just so happy that they were here and they were the first people I saw when I found out.
“My dad just told me, ‘hey, we want to come out there and watch the last few games' so then when I told them that we were negotiating a deal, they were like, ‘wow, perfect timing.' Then once I got the deal done, I was happy about it, went, and saw them. Here's the funny part: When I got there, I couldn't get the words out. I was crying. So my parents were like, ‘what's wrong? What's wrong?! Oh my God, what's wrong?! What's going on?!' And I said, ‘I got the deal done.' They were like ‘BOYYY!' I scared them at first, but then they kind of realized what I was trying to do and everything, so it was a great moment. I don't think they've ever seen me that emotional. My mom was scared the most, It took her a minute but then she kind of realized and she smiled more than she cried. My best friends did as well. We definitely turned up the gospel music and started shouting. It was awesome.”
In limited opportunities with the Clippers, C.J. Williams is averaging 5.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.8 steals per game in just 18.3 minutes per game over 37 appearances, including 17 starts. In one of those 17 starts, Williams hit one of the biggest shots of his career.
https://youtu.be/KH2kuGPnT7c
With the G-League affiliate Agua Caliente Clippers, however, Williams put up 16.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.8 three-pointers per game on 41.8 percent shooting and 37.6 percent from beyond the arc. He closed out his G-League campaign on a blistering tear, however, averaging 30.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2.7 steals, 1.0 block, and 6.3 made three-pointers per game over the final three games for AC.
“It was just thinking about every single day,” said Williams as he recalled memories of his college career. “There was a point in my college career that I didn't think I'd play basketball professionally. I was looking into getting a regular Human Resources job and now to see that I'm playing at the highest level possible… It's the best feeling in the world.”
Head coach Doc Rivers even had some praise for the four-year North Carolina State guard, saying he deserved the deal after all he's been through with the team.
“It's great! This has been the year of the 45-day guys. He's not only just a good player and a deserving NBA player, but he is a great, great person to have in your locker room. Just high character, he's one of those guys you need on your team so its really good to have him.”
Williams is now hoping to capitalize on his solid rookie season as a 28-year old by putting in the work this offseason.
“This summer is about getting better and bringing something else to the table. Everybody here knows what I can do in the game. I want to add something to my game so I can come back next year with more to be able to help the team. I'm definitely gonna work on ball handling. I have to be able to bring the ball up and set something up for the team, be able to attack off the dribble.”
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