Before NBA semis, Heat’s Bam Adebayo, Celtics’ Grant Williams were NC high school rivals
Four years ago, Grant Williams and Bam Adebayo were rivals who played in a N.C. high school basketball state championship game.
Wednesday night, the pair will play in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, just a few games from playing for an NBA Championship.
Adebayo and the Miami Heat lead Williams and the Boston Celtics 2-1 in a best-of-7 series.
And the four years between the state championship game and now have gone by quick.
In 2016, Adebayo was one of nine future Division I players on a High Point Christian team that was ranked among the nation’s top 20. They were a heavy favorite to win a N.C. state title and to play for the DICKS’ national basketball championship.
Adebayo was a McDonald’s All-American who played one year at Kentucky before being taken with the 14th overall pick by the Heat in the 2017 NBA draft. He was named an NBA All-Star and voted to the NBA’s All-Defensive second team this season.
Williams, meanwhile, was the leader of a Providence Day team that featured five future Division I starters. Williams would go on to become a two-time SEC player of the year at Tennessee. His teammates included Devon Dotson, who played two years at Kansas and is likely an NBA draft pick this year. Also on that Chargers’ team: Trey Wertz, one of the nation’s top 15 transfers after two seasons with Santa Clara, is now a junior at Notre Dame; Isaac Johnson, a 6-8 forward who started four years at Appalachian State and is now playing professionally overseas; and Josh Howard, son of Michigan coach Juwan Howard, who was a multi-year starter at Brown.
In the 2015-16 season, Williams and Adebayo played two high profile games. The first was at the Charlotte Hoops Challenge at Myers Park High School. High Point Christian was ranked as high as No. 12 in the nation.
Providence Day won 76-66. Wertz, then a sophomore, led Providence Day with 22 points. Dotson, also a sophomore, had 18 points, and Williams had 13 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks. Adebayo had a game-high 23 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and several ferocious dunks.
A few months later, both teams were nationally ranked and met in the state final. Providence Day won 67-53 in front of a standing room only crowd at Raleigh Ravenscroft. Wertz had 25 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead Providence Day, which got 15 points and eight rebounds from Williams. Adebayo, guarded by Williams for most of the game, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Providence Day later played in the DICKS’ Nationals in New York.
Now, the two former high school stars, Williams and Adebayo, are playing on one of the NBA’s biggest stages. Williams was selected No. 22 overall by the Celtics in the 2019 NBA Draft.
In the postseason, Williams is playing about 11 minutes per game and averaging three points. In the NBA bubble, Williams has improved his 3-point shooting. He shot 25 percent in the regular-season but is making 64 percent in the playoffs.
Adebayo is averaging 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists this season. In the playoffs, he has raised his averages to nearly 17 points per game and 11 rebounds. His block of a Jayson Tatum dunk secured a win in Game 2 after Miami rallied from a 17-point deficit.
This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 4:05 PM.
