NBA: 30 players who should be coaches someday

NBA: 30 players who should be coaches someday 24. Grant Williams

Oftentimes looking at a player’s bloodlines can provide support for a player’s athleticism or future potential. Stephen Curry learned to shoot from one of the NBA’s all-time great shooters. Kobe Bryant’s father was a professional basketball player. Steve Kerr was the son of an academic and politician, an easy through-line to his success as a coach.

For Grant Williams, tracing his family tree back a generation reveals his mother, Teresa, who works for NASA. Williams grew up devouring any book he could get his hands on. His grandfather on his father’s side was a professional jazz musician, and Williams is proficient in at least four. as he learned to love and play music from his “Pop Pop.” Intelligence and a love for learning, combined with the improvisational nature of jazz, is an excellent foundation with which to build both a basketball and a coaching career.

Williams is an academic on the court, learning opposing player’s tendencies and knowing where to be on defense, a must given his below average physical gifts. He likes to play strategy games like chess and Settlers of Catan, both great training programs for making strategic decisions from the coaching level.

The 6’6″ forward also gets to learn from Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens early in his career, an excellent mentor to develop ATOs (after timeout plays) and make rotation decisions. Williams should be an excellent coach bringing a fresh perspective to the ranks; it’s in his blood, after all.