Now with the Dallas Mavericks, veteran forward Grant Williams had three head coaches (Brad Stevens, Ime Udoka, and Joe Mazzulla) over his first four NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics.
In a new appearance on JJ Redick’s “Old Man and the 3” podcast, Williams — who can speak his mind, now that he’s no longer in Boston — made his case for Udoka being the best of the three.
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As part of an extended interview, Williams seemed to express a clear preference for Udoka’s coaching style, which placed a strong emphasis on defense with the Celtics. Among his comments:
Brad, I would say was a great X’s and O’s coach, who’s a great analytics guy. He followed that, and he followed the numbers but also did a good job of making sure we drew up a play. He felt like he was directly involved.
About Ime, I thought he was the best of both worlds. He was not only able to do X’s and O’s, defense and everything like that and has a grit to him that allowed him to relate to players in a personal level that allowed him to challenge them to be the best they could possibly be while also having the respect enough to understand that he doesn’t have to challenge them, always. He can lift them up, too. That’s why I think Ime is probably the best one I’ve played for.
And then with Joe, he’s similar to Brad in the sense that he is very analytical, but he has an offensive-based mind. He’ll provide the team with a great mentality of pace, and space and open shots and threes, which is the new generation and new age.
JJ Redick asks Grant Williams about being coached by Stevens, Udoka & Mazzulla.
Williams says Udoka is best of both worlds: x’s & o’s/analytics while still relating to & challenging guys.
“Ime is probably the best one I played for.”
— Vanessa Richardson (@SportsVanessa) July 28, 2023
With Williams on the roster, Stevens, Udoka, and Mazzulla all had one season with a winning percentage of .620 or better. Thus, for the fifth-year forward, it makes for a fairly apples-to-apples comparison among contending teams. Udoka, of course, was the only coach of that trio to lead the Celtics to the NBA Finals (in 2022).
The complete podcast can be listened to below.
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