Don Williams this season has become a fan favorite at Minnesota Lynx home games. He stands tall, proud, and sometimes loud, cheering for both the team and for his daughter Courtney Williams.
“I’m a father that’s doing fatherly things,” Williams told the MSR referring to a June 21 local newspaper article published about him and Courtney, the Lynx’s starting point guard. He stands out in the crowd as he wears a replica team jersey with her number 10 on the front and his daughter’s name on the back, unabashedly rooting for her and her teammates.
“I don’t know what the big deal is,” said Don after a recent Minnesota win, between saying hello to everyone who passed him by, whether he knew them or not. “I don’t know why people like me,” he added, smiling. “Somehow I just feel like I’m doing what’s natural. And it’s astounding to me — this is natural.”
For as long as Courtney has been hoopin,’ Don has been in the stands cheering her on, and whenever needed, offering her constructive criticism. “Ain’t no rehearsing, just being me and loving her, that’s it,” he pointed out.
Courtney’s basketball has taken her from high school growing up in Florida, to South Florida in college, and throughout her 10 WNBA seasons, which began in Phoenix, then flourished in Connecticut, and later made a surprising position change in Chicago two seasons ago. She’s now in her second summer in Minnesota, having signed as a free agent during the 2024 off-season.
And her father has been with her all the way. “We like Minnesota and all the people in Minnesota, and Cheryl [Reeve, Minnesota head coach,]” Don reiterated.
Courtney has been starting at point guard since joining the Lynx. Along with her on-court energy and spunk, she is a big shot artist.
“A lot of people look at that jump shot,” explained Don. “But they don’t look at her defense. Her defense is tremendous, top notch. She can cover any player, and when she do it, she do it good. That’s the little thing that I look at more, and free throws,” stressed her father.
During a 2024 MSR interview, Courtney wanted not to be called a point guard, even though her on-court play belies her protestation. Don said when told this he wouldn’t agree with her at all.
“Being a point guard has always took everything out of her, so when she got to college and she can move to the ‘2’, she did it because she wanted to be a scorer,” he stressed. “I always knew she was a point guard, but she didn’t want to be a point guard because of the demand [of the position].
“But once she went to Chicago, Cheryl saw it,” said Don as he pointed to her only season with the Sky, where Williams started all 40 games at PG, averaged a career-high 6.3 assists, and finished fourth in the league in assists. “Her true nature is point guard. Man, that’s in her DNA.”
Asked what brings him so much joy watching his daughter play, Don said, “She come out and hit that baby J. That’s like euphoric. And the biggest one is her defense: “When she slapped somebody’s ball [away], that really gets me going,” he said proudly.
“Everybody looks at offense, that jumper and everything. I like defense when she can stop somebody from going [off].”
It’s been a couple of months since Don and Courtney premiered their co-hosted podcast, “Courtney’s Daddy & Her.” “We still got some [episodes] in the chamber we ain’t put out yet,” concluded Courtney’s dad.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.