Mavs’ Dereck Lively II Speaks on Grant Williams Viral Comments: ‘You Just Have to Play Basketball’

After his former teammate Grant Williams made some questionable comments following the trade deadline, Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II gave his thoughts on those comments at All-Star Weekend.

Dalton Trigg | Feb 17, 2024

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The Dallas Mavericks made two big trades at this year’s deadline, one sending Richaun Holmes and a pick to the Washington Wizards for Daniel Gafford, and the other sending Grant Williams, Seth Curry and a pick to the Charlotte Hornets for P.J. Washington.

After the Hornets won their first game following the trade, Williams made some postgame comments that raised the eyebrows of Mavs fans, as it appears as if he was taking some subtle shots at Luka Doncic or the Mavs in general.

“It’s great to get a win for the city and play for the jersey that’s across your chest, not on your back,” Williams said. “Everybody touched the ball, we trusted one another, a team that never played, practiced together, every single person seemed like they had each other’s back.”

Dereck Lively II is in Indianapolis this weekend, where he shined as his team won the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night. Lively was asked about his former teammate's comments, and he wondered how anyone could feel like players are being selfish when those players – Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving – are two of the best in the world.

'Everybody Touched The Ball': Did Hornets' Grant Williams Take Shot at Ex-Mavs Teammate Luka Doncic?

"Just going out there — why would I want to shoot a 3 if I give the ball to Luka and Kai, then they're going to knock down a step-back 3 or a side-step 3," Lively said. "Having players like that, you just have to play basketball. Not going out there, focusing on the name on the back of your jersey, focus on the name on the front of your jersey."

Both the Mavs and the Hornets are 3-0 since making their trade deadline moves, but Dallas' would appear to have more sustainability given its overall talent level. Lively views the Mavs as being a "dark horse" title contender now, and if they can make a deep run into the playoffs, the last thing people will be thinking about is Williams' comments.

Published Feb 17, 2024

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.