Robert Williams III’s talent has never been in question.
When he arrived at Texas A&M in 2016 as a skinny teenager from northwest Louisiana, his coaches saw his potential during the first week of practices. Williams stood at 6' 9" with a 7' 6" wingspan, an impressive vertical and relatively light feet on the perimeter. On top of that, he was comfortable with the ball in his hands, belying the stereotype of a rim-running center.
“I felt like he had God-given abilities, but he didn’t know it,” says former Aggies assistant Isaac Chew, who is currently an assistant at New Mexico. “He was just scratching the surface.”
It took some time for Williams’s talent to translate on the floor. But an early-season practice in 2016 showed what he could do. Pitted against returning big men Tyler Davis, Tonny Trocha-Morelos and DJ Hogg, Williams was in for a little initiation. After multiple rounds of pushing and shoving, however, Williams was set off. There would be no more niceties from the soft-spoken freshman.
“When he gets mad, he can kick his game up to another level,” former A&M coach Billy Kennedy says. “One time early on, somebody popped him in the face, and he just started taking over the whole practice. Blocking shots, shooting the ball, going end-to-end—he just dominated everything.
“Being able to channel Robert’s talent was our biggest challenge. And that didn’t take too long, to be honest.”
Williams impressed from the outset in College Station. He earned All-SEC honors as a freshman, and won SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2016–17 and '17–18, before the Celtics selected him in the first round of the '18 draft.
He spent his rookie season in Boston largely tethered to the bench behind a veteran group, but his unique offensive skill was evident in his scant minutes on the floor. By Year 2, Williams’s trajectory as the Celtics’ big man of the future became more of a reality.
Now in his fourth season in Boston, after signing a four-year, $54 million extension this past offseason, Williams is increasingly relied on as both a facilitator on offense and a rim protector on defense. As the Celtics look to steady the ship after a shaky 5–6 start to 2021–22, Williams has a chance to provide a spark.