Jaylen Brown called out Grant Williams for a football-like foul on Jayson Tatum, while Williams defended it as an unintentional play during a fast break. Brown added: "I thought JT and Grant was friends. ... I guess not."
With just over two minutes left in Friday night's game, Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams got ejected for a Flagrant Two foul on his former teammate, Jayson Tatum, of the Boston Celtics.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
33
|
| Jayson Tatum | |
| Points | 32 |
| Accuracy | 9-19 |
| Rebounds | 11 |
| Assists | 3 |
It all happened when Tatum was bringing the ball up the court, and Williams charged into him at full speed. Tatum was clearly frustrated as he got up, but he just walked over to the foul line while officials reviewed the play.
Celtics forward Jaylen Brown couldn't believe what he saw from Williams, who played alongside him and Tatum in Boston from 2019 to 2023.
"Like, what are we talking about? Y'all see the same play that I was seeing?" Brown told reporters in Charlotte. "He hit him like it was a football play. Like Ray Lewis coming across the middle or something. It is what it is. Grant knows better than that."
Brown also questioned why Williams would commit a foul like that.
"I thought JT and Grant was friends. ... I guess not," Brown said.
Boston guard Derrick White chimed in, too: "He's just too damn big to be doing stuff like that."
On his part, Williams defended himself, saying the foul wasn't intentional.
"I think at the time of the game, that's probably what stressed the Flagrant Two," Williams told CLNS Media's Bobby Manning. "It was a transition opportunity, and I was trying to make a play on the ball. I did reach across his body, and probably when you slow down the replay, it looks like I kind of make a play and just kind of go after it.
"JT is one of my closest friends in the league. There was no intentional trying to harm him in any way. It was just one of those plays where fast, full speed, he passes the ball, which probably makes it worse. When I reached for the ball after the fact, the ball was already out of his hand. I don't think it leads to anything if it's not escalated after the fact. You see me raise my hand, say I fouled him trying to take the foul in transition, got held up by teammates, and walked away."
Williams also acknowledged Brown's reaction.
"JB was frustrated because you don't want to hurt your teammate and stuff like that, and I understand that," Williams explained. "But there was nothing in my mind that was difficult or intentional."
He added that Brown came up to him afterward, asking, "That's what we doing?"
"He knows me too well and stuff like that. It's just a hard foul," Williams added. "We play them again tomorrow. It's nothing crazy or beyond the means. We all know JT is my guy, so nothing intentional.
"I'll talk to him tonight or tomorrow. He knows. We probably won't even have to talk. He knows it wasn't malicious or intentional by any means."
In the same game, Hornets forward Miles Bridges was also ejected for volleyball action, spiking the ball into the bench after the whistle, while LaMelo Ball fouled out of the game.
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