Mark Williams is the newest member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Rob Pelinka made a trade late in the night to land the former Duke star to plug the gap at the center position. However, in what could be a bad omen for the Lakers, Williams was criticized by Hornets announcer Terrence Oglesby for showing no effort against the Washington Wizards.
“I’m okay when shots are missed, I’m okay when errors happen. But if there’s at least effort, I can live with those things. Mark Williams has put together a first half that I’ve never seen from a starting center at the NBA level…”
“He was so poor from an effort perspective today that they had to switch him off of Jonas Valanciunas, and then he was giving up wide-open three because he wasn’t hustling out to contest threes.”
“The effort has to be better. You might be down 23 points, whatever. This is a Washington Wizards team that’s dead last in offense and defense. And they are beating you by 23 points on your home floor because you don’t feel like moving. This is crazy.”
“Mark Williams, if you’re going to be a center of a franchise where they’ve invested in you, and they have planned for you to be a core piece of what they’re going to be moving forward, that effort is unacceptable.”
Mark Williams had a decent performance against the Wizards from a numbers standpoint, as he put up 23 points (7-12 FG), 14 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block. However, his defensive performance left a lot to be desired, ending the game with a defensive rating of 112.6.
His performance in what ended up being the final game of his career with the Hornets was far worse. Against the Milwaukee Bucks, he put up six points (2-8 FG), five rebounds, and two assists, finishing the game with a defensive rating of 126.4.
He will have to improve massively if he wants to avoid the vocal and harsh criticism that comes associated with being a Lakers player.
Williams Set Up To Thrive With Lakers
While fans shouldn’t ignore how poorly Williams has played in the last two games, it should be noted that Williams was playing on the Hornets, who have a 12-35 record in the East and are widely recognized as one of the worst teams in the entire NBA. Playing on the Lakers, with two of the best and smartest players in the league – Luka Doncic and LeBron James – Williams is set up to succeed.
Both Doncic and James are excellent at elevating the players around them, especially bigs. If Williams locks in and listens to the two stars, he will be able to take his game to another level. He currently averages 5.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 58.6% from the field and 78.0% from the free-throw line.
Luka and LeBron will be able to raise Williams’ ceiling quite well when they get to know him and build some chemistry. But as Oglesby said above, it will be for nothing if Williams doesn’t put in more effort.
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