SI's Ben Pickman joined Madelyn Burke to discuss Celtics rookie Grant Williams' interesting connection to space. Williams' mother, Teresa, has worked at NASA for more than thirty years in a few different capacities. Pickman shares how Williams' mother and curiosity about space has taken him on the path of nurturing several other interests.

Video Transcript: 

Madelyn Burke: For Grant Williams, the recent SpaceX and NASA launch was something special. The Celtics rookie has always had an interest in space. His mother is a big part of that. She's an engineer who's worked at NASA for three decades. So joining me now is SI staff writer Ben Pickman, who just wrote a great story on this. And Ben, as Grant says of his mother, she's done some amazing things. How did she influence his passion? 

Ben Pickman: Yeah. Grant has been interested in space since he was a child. As you mentioned, Maddy, that his mother Teresa has worked at NASA for more than 30 years in a variety of capacities. Grant has collected toy shuttles as a child and has taken part in simulations. He's traveled the world - going to different parts of the world to different kinds of space stations, internationally. He has really formed a clear passion for space. But that's not his only passion. His mom has kind of used it to teach him about being well-rounded and discovering other interests. Being curious. And so Grant speaks multiple languages or learned multiple languages and played multiple instruments as a child and was a chess champion and in high school musicals. He is certainly a well rounded and curious individual, and space is just one of his core passions. 

Madelyn Burke: Absolutely. I mean, you slide 62 games for the Celtics this season, but obviously has a lot of other interests. And, you know, as I mentioned, SpaceX at NASA, they recently launched two astronauts to the International Space Station. Did he have a story about watching that launch or what it meant to him?

Ben Pickman: Yeah, I mean, this was a historic moment, a remember where you were kind of moment, as Williams described it. Now, he was in the house of Kemba Walker in Charlotte, which is where he is spending his quarantine, his hiatus from the NBA. And Williams was really excited about the launch in particular. And he said the thing that is amazing to him is just the different kinds of launches, the different kinds of shuttles, the different kinds of launch pads and launch procedures that we've seen in recent years. That kind of change, that evolution, that advancement, he said, is something that's really jumped out to him.

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