Ziaire Williams (born September 12, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

Early life

Williams was born in Lancaster, California as the only child of Ziaire Williams and Marquita Fields-Williams. He began playing basketball at age five and was training under the guidance of his father by age eight.

High school career

For his first three years of high school, Williams attended Notre Dame High School in

Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

. In his freshman season, he averaged 13.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Williams missed much of his sophomore season with an injury but saw success in the summer with his club team BTI Select. On January 14, 2019, as a junior, he was named ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...

'' boys athlete of the week following two consecutive games with at least 34 points. In his junior season, Williams averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists per game. He earned All-

Mission League The Mission League is a high school athletic league that is part of the CIF Southern Section. Member schools * Bishop Alemany High School (Mission Hills) * Chaminade College Preparatory (West Hills) *Crespi Carmelite High School (Encino) *Harvar ...

first team and '' USA Today'' All-USA California second team honors. On July 18, 2019, Williams transferred to Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, Los Angeles for his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year. He joined the team with fellow five-star recruit

BJ Boston Brandon Elliot "B. J." Boston Jr. (born November 28, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. High scho ...

, as well as

Bronny James LeBron Raymone "Bronny" James Jr. (born October 6, 2004) is an American basketball player. He was named a McDonald's All-American as a senior in 2023. He is the eldest child of professional basketball player LeBron James. Early life Bronny Jam ...

and Zaire Wade, the respective sons of basketball players LeBron James and

Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. (; born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and won three NBA champi ...

. Williams was not eligible to play until December 29, due to CIF Southern Section (CIF-SS) transfer rules, and missed more than 10 games. In his season debut, he scored 28 points in an 85–81 overtime loss to Rancho Christian School. On March 11, 2020, Williams scored 17 points and made a buzzer-beater in a 63–61 comeback win over

Etiwanda High School Etiwanda High School is a public high school in Rancho Cucamonga, California, United States. It is one of the twelve schools of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District and serves students in the Etiwanda community on the northeast side of Ran ...

. As a senior, he averaged 15 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, helping Sierra Canyon win the CIF-SS Open Division title. He was named player of the year by the '' Los Angeles Times''. Williams was selected to play in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

, Jordan Brand Classic and Nike Hoop Summit, but all three games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recruiting

Williams was a consensus five-star recruit and the number one small forward in the 2020 recruiting class. On April 12, 2020, he announced his commitment to

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

over Arizona,

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, North Carolina and UCLA. Williams became Stanford's highest-ranked recruit in the modern recruiting era and the program's first five-star recruit since Reid Travis in 2014.

College career

In his collegiate debut for Stanford on November 30, 2020, Williams scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds in an 82–64 win against Alabama. On January 7, 2021, he recorded 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, the first triple-double by a Stanford player since 2007, in a 91–75 victory over Washington. As a freshman, Williams averaged 10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, shooting 37.4 percent from the field. On March 31, he declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.

Professional career

Memphis Grizzlies (2021–present)

On July 29, 2021, Williams was selected with the tenth overall pick in the

by the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

, then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. After missing 14 consecutive games due to an ankle injury and a stint in the NBA’s COVID–19 protocols, Williams got his first career start on January 6, 2022, recording 14 points and two steals in a 118–88 win over the Pistons. On February 2, Williams set a career-high with 21 points in a 120–108 win over the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. He then tied that record on February 24, in a 114–119 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. During the first round of the playoffs, the Grizzlies faced the Timberwolves. Williams made his playoff debut on April 16, scoring four points in a 117–130 Game 1 loss. The Grizzlies ended up winning the series in six games, but were eliminated during the second round by the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

in six games. Williams missed the first 24 games of the 2022–23 season with a right knee injury. He made his season debut on December 7, recording four points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 123–102 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

National team career

Williams played for the United States at the

2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (Greek: Παγκόσμιο Κύπελλο Μπάσκετ FIBA Under-19 2019) was the 14th edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, the biennial international men's youth basketball championshi ...

in Heraklion, Greece. In seven games, he averaged 5.3 points and 1.2 assists per game, helping his team win the gold medal.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Memphis , 62 , , 31 , , 21.7 , , .450 , , .314 , , .782 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .2 , , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Memphis , 37 , , 4 , , 15.2 , , .429 , , .258 , , .773 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .4 , , .2 , , 5.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 99 , , 35 , , 19.3 , , .443 , , .298 , , .779 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .2 , , 7.2

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, style="text-align:left;", Memphis , 10 , , 1 , , 16.8 , , .442 , , .306 , , .923 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , .5 , , .0 , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, style="text-align:left;", Memphis , 4 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .286 , , .333 , , , , .5 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 14 , , 1 , , 12.8 , , .424 , , .308 , , .923 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .4 , , .0 , , 5.3

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 14 , , 27.9 , , .374 , , .291 , , .796 , , 4.6 , , 2.2 , , .9 , , .6 , , 10.7

Personal life

Both of Williams' parents have served in the military: his mother, Marquita Fields-Williams, in the Army and Air Force, and his father, Ziaire Williams, in the Marine Corps. His mother is a probation officer, and his father works for 7 Up in

Sylmar, Los Angeles Sylmar is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley and is the northernmost neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles. Historically known for its profusion of sylvan olive orchards, Sylmar can trace its past to the 18th century and t ...

References

External links

Stanford Cardinal bioSierra Canyon Trailblazers bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ziaire 2001 births Living people American men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Memphis Grizzlies players Memphis Hustle players New Orleans Pelicans draft picks Sportspeople from Lancaster, California Sierra Canyon School alumni Small forwards Basketball players from Los Angeles County, California Stanford Cardinal men's basketball players