Injuries and disappointment marred Deron Williams time with the Brooklyn Nets and he’s since moved on to a happier and healthier time with his hometown Dallas Mavericks. Williams says he’s enjoying the game of basketball again, something he hadn’t felt with the Nets. In fact, playing in Brooklyn made him question whether he even wanted to play anymore.
“It took a lot out of me, man, those three years. Some of the hardest in my life,” Williams told Yahoo Sports of his time in Brooklyn. “Made me question if I even wanted to play basketball when I was done with that contract.”
As he prepares for his first game back at Barclays Center on Wednesday, Williams isn’t upset by the prevailing sentiment that he was unable to handle playing in New York.
“It’s cool. There’s a lot of people, I guess, who aren’t built for New York,” Williams told Yahoo. “New York is not for everybody.”
The Nets and billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov went all out to acquire Deron Williams and place pieces around him including Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. What resulted was the highest payroll (including luxury tax) in NBA history, and the loss of valuable draft picks all to never get further than the second round of the NBA playoffs. They finally wrote Williams a $27.5 million check to part ways.
Williams has managed to stay relatively healthy with the Mavericks so far playing in a total of 25-of-27 games. He’s averaging 15.1 ppg, 5.8 apg, and 3.3 rpg; numbers that didn’t cut it as the star player of the Nets but works just fine as part of a team. Plus he enjoys the comfort of being “home” and having family around as opposed to the bright lights and criticism of New York City.
“It’s been great. To be a part of this organization. The team has been great. Being home in Dallas, it’s been great for myself and my family. I’m definitely enjoying it,” Williams told Yahoo. “I enjoy playing with these guys. It’s a great group. It reminds me of my teams in Utah the first couple of years where we like being around each other. We do a lot of stuff off the court together. Like a college atmosphere. It’s loose. It’s fun. I have the ball in my hands a lot more. I have a better rhythm here. Those things all contribute to better confidence out there.”
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