Lynx new point guard Williams shows adaptability

Sports odds and ends

Throughout her basketball career, Courtney Williams has rightly earned her reputation as a scorer. But the 5’8” Williams, now in her ninth season but her first in Minnesota, may have finally solved the Lynx point guard void that existed since Lindsay Whalen’s retirement in 2018. 

According to her, being a point guard was the furthest thing from her mind with a career-high 6.3 assists per game last season, fourth in the league in her one and only season in Chicago that turned heads around the league, especially Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve. 

“The only reason why I’m in Minnesota,” said the guard, who signed a two-year contract in February as a free agent, is “had I not played that point guard position in Chicago, nobody in this league would know I can play point guard.”

“I guess she saw a vision that a lot of people didn’t see,” said Williams of Reeve. “I’m thankful that I’m here.”

Williams went to the same high school as her mother, Charlton County (GA) High School, where the daughter broke the mother’s single-game scoring record with 42 points, two more than her mother’s 40 in her junior season. She matriculated to the University of South Florida, where Williams went from being a solid role player off the bench to three-time All-American, three-time all-conference, and the only player in USF history to amass 2,000 points, 900 rebounds, and 300 assists in a career.

Originally drafted by Phoenix in the first round (8^th overall) in 2016, Williams didn’t see much court time there. But Connecticut traded for her in mid-season and she played for the Sun (2016-19). Curt Miller, now at Los Angeles, was the Sun coach and GM who traded for Williams.

“That’s why I give a shoutout to that man,” said Williams as she pointed across toward Miller during pregame warmups before the Sparks-Lynx contest earlier this month. We chatted after she completed her shooting routine. Miller gave Williams “my real first opportunity,” she added.

Williams also played for Atlanta (2020-21), then back at Connecticut (2022) before her only season in Chicago (2023).

Since joining the Lynx, Williams hasn’t totally abandoned her scoring instincts. Against the Sparks that night we talked, the guard posted her first point/assist double-double of the season (fifth in her career) with a 15-point, 10-assist effort along with a team- and season-high eight rebounds, four steals and a block. 

“I just pride myself on being able to adapt,” said Williams. 

On now playing point guard on a full-time basis, “I think as I’m getting older, honestly, it’s better for me because you know when the ball is in my hand.” Then she added smiling that guarding more athletic guards at this stage in her career can be taxing. 

“I just think the mentality is different at point guard.”