From rock bottom to playoff hunt
Carter-Williams thrilled to get shot at NBA redemption
The Orlando Magic locker room is in a very happy state at this stage of the NBA season. With two games remaining and the playoffs a very realistic possibility, the locker room was all smiles Friday night after a nearly 40-point dismantling of the Atlanta Hawks.
One might be hard-pressed, however, to find a smile wider than Michael Carter-Williams’ ear-to-ear grin. The newest member of the Orlando Magic, just 10 games into his newest opportunity, is giddy and has no intention of letting the moment he’s been fighting for slip away.
“It’s great. It’s a blessing. I can only thank everybody here for giving me the chance to come in and show what I can do,” CarterWilliams said. “I always believed in myself … just a matter of time until I got the chance.”
The Magic are 8-2 since CarterWilliams joined the fray, and while the sixth-year pro will not take direct credit for the sudden surge by an Orlando team now in complete control of its NBA postseason positioning, he’s been a huge part of that recent success.
“It definitely feels good, I can’t lie,” Carter-Williams said. “Everybody is playing well … everyone’s been solid. We’ve all had big moments in those [eight] wins.”
Carter-Williams made an immediate impact. He brought a contagious energy to the court in his first game against Atlanta on March 17 and it hasn’t wavered. It’s obvious why Magic coach Steve Clifford, who coached Carter-Williams last season in Charlotte, felt comfortable bringing him on board.
“He’s a terrific defender. … He’s one of the few guys who can contain the ball and create turnovers,” Clifford said. “He anticipates very well and he’s got a good knack for playing off the ball.”
The Magic needed an experienced back-up point guard to not only spell starter D.J. Augustin but also to provide energy off the bench and a more deliberate presence on the defensive end of the court. They had Jerian Grant in the wings, but he didn’t necessarily provide the boost level the team needed. Grant has had good games this season, but CarterWilliams’ aggressive nature matched what Clifford has been preaching to his squad from Day 1.
Clifford has always said the only way this team could be successful was if it became one of the top defensive teams in the NBA, and the Magic have delivered. Carter-Williams contributes to that defensive intensity.
The Magic had just settled into a comfort zone with former backup point guard Isaiah Briscoe. He turned up his game after the allstar break, but that was shortlived. Briscoe was sidelined by a partially torn meniscus in his right knee at the beginning of March. He opted for surgery, officially ending his season. In stepped Carter-Williams and the team has enjoyed positive dividends.
Carter-Williams was signed Thursday for the remainder of the regular season, making Briscoe expendable and he was cut to make roster space.
At 6-foot-6, Carter-Williams is an imposing presence by comparison to most opposing point guards. He forces the ball into the paint on offense and creates for his teammates. He also plays tough defense. All of that seems to have had a trickle-down impact on the rest of the squad.
It hasn’t always been a fun ride in the NBA for the 27-year-old, who was drafted out of Syracuse in 2013 by Philadelphia 76ers as the No. 11 overall pick. He won the NBA Rookie of the Year award that season, but he then began a downward spiral. The Sixers surprisingly traded him in the middle of his second season to the Milwaukee Bucks.
His career started with solid numbers. Carter-Williams averaged 16 points, 6.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds in his first 126 games. Then came the trade. While he had decent numbers in Milwaukee, but the self-doubt seemed to accrue with each trade as he bounced through stints with Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Chicago and Houston. His numbers got progressively worse with each season.
Carter-Williams was baffled. This had all come very easy for him in the past. Suddenly, five seasons removed from the pinnacle achievement of his career, he was floundering and left searching for answers. In six seasons he was traded twice, experienced injuries and endured a deadline trade to a team that cut him the next day.
He had hit rock bottom. Selfpity, however, was not his style. He took full ownership of his downfall and went about trying to figure out what happened along the way.
“It’s a different experience for me. … You’ve gotta think a lot, you gotta just press the reset on your life and that’s what I did,” CarterWilliams said. “I got back to the drawing board and started doing things that got me here in the first place and I stayed with my faith and I was lucky enough to be presented with great opportunity [in Orlando].”
He’s always been driven by difficult times and even naysayers along the way. As high school player in Massachusetts, CarterWilliams was once labeled by a basketball analyst as an NCAA Division III prospect. That was a huge driving force as he worked to earn a Syracuse scholarship, an opportunity he eventually turned into becoming an NBA first-round pick. He has never been deterred by heartache and negative events. His childhood home burned to the ground while he was away at Syracuse. It caught fire, in fact, while his family watched one of his NCAA Tournament games with the Orange during his sophomore and final season at Syracuse.
Carter-Williams has always pointed to patience being the key to getting him through the adverse times and once again he found himself having to be patient after being traded in January from the Rockets to the Bulls, who placed him on waivers the next day.
“In my mind, I slowed down and I feel like I translated it over into my game. I put in the work, got in the weight room and really worked hard and really built confidence within myself,” CarterWilliams said. “I watched a lot of film of myself and, you know … some of the things that I was doing. … being more patient. That’s helping me a lot.”
Basketball wasn’t the only change going on in his life. He and his fiancée, Tia Shah, welcomed a new face to the family eight months ago with the birth of Charleigh Carter-Williams. With that event, his life had even more purpose and responsibility.
“You just become more mature as a human being, having a child. The stakes are a lot higher, things are different. It teaches you to be patient and it’s changed me a lot,” he said. “Every decision I make, I think about how it’s not only about me. It’s for her and I try to be the best person I can be.
“Whatever I want her to be, that’s how I want to be. It definitely motivates me more and puts things in perspective.”
He’s enjoying every bit of the ride while he can in Orlando, both on and off the court. The Magic are certainly glad to have him and it’s shown.
“It’s been so fun. … The guys are just great here, the coaches … I’m having so much fun on and off the court with these guys,” he said. “It’s fun when you in there competing. It’s not fun when you’re losing, but it’s fun when your teammates are diving for loose balls and you’re helping them up and clapping for each other. That’s where the fun comes in. If we keep playing hard for each other, that’s where the fun just comes.
“I’m just excited … more excited than anything. Looking back, what I’ve been through, what I’ve had to overcome, injuries that I’ve had to deal with … how much courage it takes to do that and get to this point, I definitely can say that I’m proud of myself. … I’m happy to be in the position I’m in and I just want to keep going forward.”