Celtics' Jayson Tatum Backs 'Great Teammate' Grant Williams amid Recent Criticism

Jayson Tatum has his former teammate's back.

The Boston Celtics star responded to a social media post about a commentator criticizing Grant Williams by saying the forward was a "great teammate." Williams, who plays for the Charlotte Hornets, played with Tatum in Boston during the previous four seasons.

Matt John of Heavy noted Celtics color commentator Mike Gorman discussed Williams during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub and said "he was annoying to everybody" and his presence "kind of wore thin."

Gorman also said Williams irritated people on the Dallas Mavericks as well, including Luka Dončić.

"An eighth, ninth, or 10th guy on your roster, so those guys are very replaceable," Gorman said. "The guy's a bad locker room guy. If you're a bad locker room guy, you're an eighth or ninth guy, you're not going to be the eighth or ninth guy for long because you're not going to be on the team for long."

Williams arrived in Dallas as part of a sign-and-trade with the Celtics this past offseason, and he agreed to a four-year, $54 million deal with the Mavericks.

However, he played just 47 games for Dallas before the team traded him to the Hornets during the first season of that contract. He has been more of a contributor in Charlotte while averaging 13.4 points per game in 14 contests compared to the 8.1 points per game he posted with the Mavericks.

While he won't be in the playoffs this season on the Hornets, he helped lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals in three of his four seasons with the team. One of those seasons is when Boston reached the 2022 NBA Finals but ultimately lost to the Golden State Warriors.

There were more important players on those Celtics teams, but Tatum clearly appreciated what Williams did during his Boston tenure.