Nate Williams: “God already planted the seed, I’m just doing the work”

[videos/interviews/captions/transcripts]

Albeit in the absence of a lot of guys, we might have found our next most-quotable player after Draymond Green in Jeenathan “Nate” Williams, postgame Warriors-Clippers:

(Kawhi Leonard) is a great player, but he bleeds just like I bleed. I don’t fear no challenge…

I fear God. That’s the only man I fear and I’m from Rochester, New York, in the back streets, so if you go in my neighborhood, you’ll know why I’m this way…

I just go out there and play my game and I let the chips fall where they fall. God already planted the seed. I’m just doing the work, for sure.

Intrigued by his Rochester reference, I did a relatively thorough search on Williams, but couldn’t find much except for a scouting report lauding his defense, and a University of Buffalo school newspaper article which said he received 19 offers including the likes of Syracuse, Virginia and Marquette.

Williams eventually chose to stay close to home because he had spent his senior year of high school way over here at Prolific Prep in Napa, so his parents never really got to see him play.

Their coach at the time, Jim Whitesell, was quoted as saying he was looking to Williams to improve in aspects of basketball not related to just scoring, which made me think, gee, he might be a super-good fit in the Steve Kerr ecosystem that has been built to get the ball to one Wardell Stephen Curry.

I have put excerpts from that article conveniently on our Discord server. Signup for free here: https://whop.com/letsgowarriors-discord-free

Now, I’m not sure if growing up in rough neighborhoods like Saginaw or Rochester necessarily equates to toughness on the court, but what I will say is, after seeing Green scold the bench… (the embed below automatically is set to the timestamp of this moment)

…which ironically Nate was a part of and literally sitting on that bench, I was extra-appreciative of Draymond because the confrontational personality type in the NBA has become near-extinct.

The Lakers were toying with the Dubs that night — remember the “for fun” trey LeBron James casually hit over Pat Spencer? — and there was nothing close to any physicality by the home squad. A little tongue-lashing isn’t a bad thing when a team plays passively and without grit out there.

Whether or not Nate builds a tenure long enough to where he can feel comfortable speaking up, let alone if he is built from that cloth, remains to be seen, but the no-nonsense approach we’ve observed so far is a welcome departure from the modern NBA era mainstream.

The Warriors will need Williams coming up on Thursday, even more so if Moses Moody is out, as they will be in Houston to face Kevin Durant and the third-place Rockets. I would love to see Malevy Leons get thrown into the fire and see how he fares 1v1 against the future Hall-of-Famer. Remember, while Nate does have a 7-foot wingspan, he’s only 6’5” as compared to Leons at 6’9” (wingspan: 7’1”).

My memory is foggy, but back on February 13, 2025, Nate tallied 11 points against Golden State in a game in Houston where Ime Udoka pulled the starters in the 4th quarter after a disappointing start. My game notes do mention that Williams was “heating up”, only to be thwarted late in the game by Jimmy Butler, who drew free throws on him in crunch time, eventually leading to a close GSW win:

Williams had been signed to a four-year standard deal last year upon conversion from a two-way, but was waived by the Rockets as the remaining years were non-guaranteed. Maybe Nate will treat this return to Toyota Center as a revenge game?

I’m going to go ahead and speculate that Mike Dunleavy, Jr. is leaving that 15th spot open as a tryout for Williams and Leons. Both seem to have what it takes to be a complementary piece in the Steph ecosystem, with perhaps Nate having the edge right now in terms of scoring and mobility, although I obviously lauded Mal’s performance last week in Memphis:

If Seth Curry can’t get back healthy — btw, Dunleavy seemed pretty sure that Kristaps Porzingis would be back at some point in an interview with Tim Kawakami on the TK Show — it might still be possible to waive Seth and convert both Williams and Leons. The Warriors did open up a bit more breathing room under the second apron after the Jonathan Kuminga trade, although that space of a couple million dollars shouldn’t matter too much if the old trick of converting a two-way player on the last day of the season is employed again, as the hit to the salary cap is pro-rated.

On our Discord server, we found a report that stated Lonzo Ball’s medical evaluations were of great concern, so who knows? Maybe Dunleavy still has a buyout candidate in mind, but if not, let’s see how roster spots No. 14 and 15 play out the rest of this season.

In the in-arena behind-the-scenes video below, you can see that on one of the possessions, neither Moody or Brandin Podziemski could shake Clips’ rookie center Yanic Konan Neiderhauser off the dribble. Nate ended up splashing a hand grenade which goes to show: you can never have enough 3&D wings when you don’t have that bucket-getter who can create his own shot.

Videos, recaps, interviews and transcripts from postgame Clippers below:

00:00 Is there any injury update on Moses that he didn’t play there for most of the — ?

00:03 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME LAC-GSW: He jammed his wrist on the fall there. Yeah, shooting hand. And he also hurt his shoulder during the game, but no update, so we’ll just see how he’s doing tomorrow.

00:18 Pretty general question that you’re up 14 at halftime, then what happened?

00:21 I’m sorry?

00:22 You’re up 14 at halftime, then what happened there in the second half?

00:26 Well, they were great in the second half. We played a fantastic first half. Our defense was excellent. We were flying around and getting some good shots and we didn’t foul. I think they only had, like, six free throws, first half, so we had a lot of pace and they got 12 free throws in the third quarter. So the game slowed down and we had to play in the half court. And they were really good defensively in that second half. Niederhauser came in and really controlled the paint and we just couldn’t get anything to go.

00:58 Nate Williams with 18 points, just what’d you see from him today and how important is he gonna be down the stretch, especially if Moses Moody has to miss any time?

01:05 I mean, he’s important anyway, given all the other guys who are a absent right now, but I think Nate has played really well. It’s fun watching him, young player, pretty live body, can make a shot. He guarded Kawhi at times. Nate’s a very impressive player.

01:24 It was Nate’s fourth game in the past four days. What does it say about a guy to be able to play with that much energy, given that kind of stretch?

01:33 And he just had a baby, so, like, right before all that. So it’s been quite a — I don’t know if I was supposed to announce that or not. I keep saying the wrong thing this week. You want any medical updates on — ? Anyway, yeah, it’s pretty impressive. It’s good to have young legs.

01:55 What’d you see out of Draymond tonight in the matchup against Kawhi and then just generally? It was a minus-18 in the box score.

02:03 I thought Draymond’s effort and energy defensively set the tone for the whole first half. He was all over the place, flying around, and we really were able to contain Kawhi in that first half because of Draymond. And then the second half got away from us and got away from all of us. I mean, it wasn’t any one thing or one player, it was just we struggled to score and they picked up their defensive intensity.

02:35 Coach, you kind of just hinted at it. It was like a tale of two halves. You mentioned wanting, coming into this game, wanting to have defensive intensity. That happened in the first half, but what do you think was the cause of that kind of dropping off in the second half, the reason that Kawhi was able to score a little bit better, and then what do you think was the reason that the Warriors weren’t able to score as much in the second half as they were first?

02:55 Well, it’s tough to sustain that kind of effort for 48 minutes when you’re severely undermanned and so you have to generate that energy defensively to try to create some offense out of it, like we did in the first half. But that’s a really good team. Kawhi Leonard has been probably the best player in the league the last month and they made a couple of adjustments to get him in the ball in different spots and he got going and so they, they’re a good team and they’re healthy and they’re playing well. And so they did what they were supposed to do in that second half and we needed to to find some offense and, again, I think all the fouls in the third quarter just kept us in the half court and it was really tough to find any space.

03:44 Steve, Draymond was — when Draymond went to the bench with four minutes and change left in the third quarter, you guys were up 10. They outscored you guys 53-30 the rest of the game. It seemed like the game changed in that late third quarter, early fourth quarter. Kawhi had only eight shot attempts at that point. Do you think Draymond’s absence was correlating to their —

04:05 For sure.

04:05 Their run?

04:05 He’s still one of the great defenders in the league and he, like I said, he set the tone in that first half and we were able to sustain the lead for much of the third, but they went on a run late in the third quarter and cut it to two going into the fourth, so they had a lot of moment but yeah, we had to — I had to get him out. He can’t play the whole game and he played 31 minutes, which is a lot for him at this stage, but that was the key stretch. Thanks.

—

04:45 I think four games and four days, just how crazy has this, these last few days been for you?

04:50 NATE WILLIAMS: It’s not crazy. It’s a blessing. I’m blessed to play this game. I’m blessed to play this sport. God is just amazing.

04:57 And then I saw there was one possession in third quarter where you were picking up Kawhi full court, where you didn’t even have the ball. Just what kind of challenges is it to guard a guy like that?

05:05 I mean, he’s a great player, but he bleeds just like I bleed. I’m not — I don’t fear no challenge, yeah.

05:16 I saw you and Steph talking on the bench in game. How are those conversations and what’s it like kind of being coached up by him in game?

05:22 It was great. He gave me some great dialogue, just talking about spacing and stuff, so it was really good to learn from one of the best players that ever played the game, so that was a dope moment for me.

05:34 Your competitive spirit guarding Kawhi saying, “he bleeds just like I bleed,” where does that mentality come from?

05:41 I fear God. That’s the only man I fear and I’m from Rochester, New York, in the back streets, so if you go in my neighborhood, you’ll know why I’m this way, yeah.

05:52 What’s helped you get comfortable here so far with Golden State?

05:55 I’m just being myself and the team allows me to do that. I give all thanks to Steve Kerr and the coaching staff for giving me a opportunity. They just let me be myself and they just put me on game as I go along. They just teaching me, telling me the plays and just throwing me in the fire, so I’m loving it.

06:19 Kerr was talking about how it’s hard to sustain that defensive intensity that you guys had in the first half. When you’re so undermanned, given obviously the competitive spirit that you have and you’re new to the team, obviously, but still, there’s a need right now for a go-to guy, a go-to scorer. Tonight, you were that in so many different situations. Is there any pressure to kind of take on that role, given this opportunity?

06:42 No, it’s no pressure at all. I just go out there and play my game and I let the chips fall where they fall. God already planted the seed. I’m just doing the work, for sure. That’s it. Thank y’all. Stay blessed, y’all.

—

07:04 Al, what did you think happened, generally, in the second half?

07:13 AL HORFORD: Yeah, I mean, I think that they just started to play better. I feel like we weren’t able to sustain the energy that we needed defensively. And I still felt like we were gonna be able to in the fourth there, kind of come back and win the game, but Kawhi went on a great run there and that kind of put it away for us.

07:43 How would you just kind of describe this portion of the season with so many of your main guys out and it seems like you’re kind of in this standings holding pattern right now, but there’s still playoff hopes ahead? Just how would you just describe where y’all are at?

08:00 Yeah, I mean, I think that the biggest thing in a season is that — and this holds true more than ever — you can’t get too high or too low and you have to be able to stay the course. And right now where we are — we obviously lost this one and now we have to find ways to be better and get ready for the next one. And we’re moving on to Houston and seeing how we can go in there and compete and get a win.

08:32 Have you’ve been able to touch base at all with Porzingis in the past couple weeks?

08:37 Yeah, yeah, yeah. He’s been around. He’s been at a few of our practices and stuff and yeah, we’ve been talking quite a bit.

08:47 How is he doing, do you know?

08:50 He seems to be doing okay. He seems to be doing well. He was at our shoot around this morning. He didn’t participate in shoot around, but he was here and we just don’t know how he’s gonna be or anything like that, but he’s working out, he’s in here and he seemed to be doing okay.

09:23 What have your early impressions of Nate Williams been? He’s only been with the team for a couple weeks, but he had a big game tonight.

09:29 Yeah, just impressed with his defensive ability, picking up, really making his presence felt there. And then on offense, relentless going to the glass, offensive glass. He’s knocking down open threes which is important. And he has size to him, so he’s a guy that I feel like he knows who he is and that’s always a good thing because you can use guys like that, that bring that energy and bring that toughness to our group.

10:05 Al, you guys were up, I think, 10 late in the third quarter and Draymond had done a really good job on denying the ball from Kawhi. He had eight shots up to that point and they closed the quarter really strong. Kawhi got a couple of quick buckets, got going, they outscored you guys by 23. After that game kind of changed that late third quarter, early fourth, did you sense any of the — well, you said the defense, but what do you think broke down there?

10:29 Yeah, I felt like there was some momentum plays there where we turned the ball over even though we didn’t have, overall tonight, I mean, we had 12 turnovers total. But I think that there was some key ones that they had some breakaways and things like that. And I feel like that was the start of getting them going. And then that start of the fourth quarter, that was tough. They made some shots there and then at that point we just couldn’t really recover after that point. I feel like we kind of lost our rhythm and offensively, we just didn’t have much purpose there in that little stretch.

11:11 That it? Cool. Great.

11:15 Cool.

—

11:16 What was working for you in the first half and what did they do differently in the second half defensively?

11:25 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: I think the first half there was just a flow for all of us collectively. A lot of 50-50 balls went our way. Second half, we turned it over a lot, so it was easy for them to just play in the half court defensively and kind of just switch everything out there.

11:42 So how would you just kind of describe the challenge of this portion of the schedule for y’all, where you’re kind of waiting for maybe Steph to get back, maybe Porzingis, but you still have some playoff hopes ahead, but obviously you’re playing without a lot of your kind of main guys?

11:59 I mean, we just gotta suit up and try to win games. We can’t worry about the uncertainties or unknowns of the season. And at least that’s how I approach it and I just try to go out there and give it my best every night.

12:14 It is kind of like a next man up thing, right? Because you’re undermanned right now, you got so many guys that are injured tonight. You were the guy that were leading the Warriors, scoring-wise, but then when you become a threat, the other team’s trying to, of course, neutralize that threat. How do you kind of approach the next game and the next game after that, trying to continue to be that threat, but also keep from being neutralized in the second half?

12:34 Yeah, I think just being aggressive and putting pressure on the rim, really the whole game basketball is how can you get two people to play on the ball and then play 4-on-3, so just trying to do that as much as we can and find different ways to do it. And I think that, not resembles Steph, but that’s really what he’s good at. And so it allows other people to play 4-on-3 and we practice that a lot, so how can we find that situations in a variety of ways throughout the game, is something I try to do.

13:08 With so many of the main guys out, what kind of play style, what kind of principles do you guys need to commit to?

13:15 I think offensively, like I said, just how do we get a domino to fall? Is it self-creation? Is it throwing the ball in the post to Al? Is it our splits? I mean, just, it has to be a variety of things and it can’t just be a heavy dose of one thing and I think you’ve seen it in spurts throughout these games and we’ve been able to find it, and second half we did it.

13:39 Podz, on a different note, your respect and love for the women’s game is well-documented. How closely are you following the labor negotiations that are going on right now?

13:48 Not too much in depth. I do, obviously, know about some of the stuff that’s going on, but as a fan, definitely wanna see something get done, so we can have a season to see and watch. But you understand it as a player from their perspective. They want what they want, they feel what they deserve and so you kind of see it from both perspectives.

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