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After not putting on a jersey for nearly a year, Mark Williams made his long-awaited return to the NBA floor with the Charlotte Hornets. After only playing in 19 games in the 2023-24 season, Williams has dealt with a few different injuries that have kept him sidelined, from back issues last season to lower extremities problems going into the 2024 offseason and the NBA regular season.
After playing around nine minutes of action in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Williams sounded nothing but grateful for getting to grace an NBA floor again.
“It felt good to put a jersey on. It’s obviously been a while,” Williams said. “It’s been a long time coming. Shoutout to my teammates; shoutout to the staff for keeping my head in it. It was tough. Nobody likes to sit out that long. I think it’s just a shoutout to them for keeping me up.”
Williams had four points, three rebounds, and a block in his season debut. He's got a little bit of rust to shake off after not playing since December 8th, 2023, against the Toronto Raptors in a win.
Mark Williams knows his rhythm will come back eventually
Williams continued to reflect on his performance, but more so about his play on the floor.
“Like it’s been 360 days since I put a jersey on. It’s definitely been a while. There’s definitely some rhythm stuff that I’ve got to get back in the flow of. You can’t replicate the game, as much as you try, it’s obviously not the same. I think that’ll just come with time, but it definitely felt good to be out there just doing what I can.”
He was still a live body and put himself in good positions to defend the rim. Williams opened up about his feelings on coming back into action for his team as well.
“It was a whirlwind of emotions. I think I was just trying my best to focus on the task at hand – focusing on Philly, their stuff defensively, and what they run offensively. That’s what I was really just trying to focus on in the game, but I definitely had a moment, though.”
What Mark Williams means to the Hornets moving forward
With Williams back into the fold, the Hornets are getting closer to having a full deck of cards again. When healthy, Williams once helped the Hornets rank in the top five for defensive efficiency. His ability to switch one through five could potentially change the outlook of how this team protects the paint or their pick-and-roll coverages.
Alongside Nick Richards, the Hornets will have two bigs back in the rotation that can provide similar things for their team: rim-protecting, second-chance points, and a rim-running lob threat. Throw in Moussa Diabate, and Charlotte has options at the center spot that could play in spurts. If LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, and Tre Mann can come back healthy and ready to play, maybe Charlotte can turn their season around.
