Celtics Forward Addresses 'Unwritten Rule' Faux-Pas

Athletes are superstitious people, and the list of unwritten rules in any professional sport can be vast enough that it seems like gibberish to the uninitiated. Fans got a taste of these tenets on Friday, when Grant Williams of the Boston Celtics made the mistake of wearing his opponent’s signature shoe. Coming out for pregame shootaround against the Dallas Mavericks, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon noticed that Williams was wearing Luka Doncic’s Luka 1 sneakers.

Celtics forward Grant Williams is wearing Luka 1s while warming up in Dallas. pic.twitter.com/3mCBXIonpj
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 5, 2023

Williams acknowledged his blunder after the game, stating he recognized that it’s frowned upon to wear an opponent’s signature shoe, but that he chose to since they both represent Jordan. He insisted as well that there was no chance he would take it easy on Doncic in the game.

Grant Williams told me he violated an unwritten rule by wearing an opponent’s signature shoe while playing against him. “You’re not supposed to, but I’m a Jordan guy now. And we’re with the same agency, [Luka] is a great dude, and I will compete against him no matter what.” https://t.co/Qhi6fAjwjv
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 6, 2023

If anyone was worried about Doncic getting an extra advantage, those fears were quickly put to bed as the Celtics crushed the Mavs 124-95. Williams played well off the bench, scoring 12 points in 23 minutes, while Doncic had a brutal night by his world-beating standards, with 23 points on 7-23 shooting, going 0/6 on threes with a plus-minus rating of -20.