Mavericks reportedly grew tired of Grant Williams' personality

BOSTON -- The longstanding joke around Grant Williams and his time in Boston was that his Celtics teammates learned to tolerate his personality, in large part because of the forward's contributions on the floor. That personality, however, was not as accepted in the locker room of the Dallas Mavericks.

Williams had a pretty solid four-year run in Boston as an important role player behind the Celtics' star-studded lineup, and he certainly lightened the mood with his fun-loving attitude toward just about everything. It led to quite a few eye rolls from the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but for the most part, the Celtics seemed to enjoy having him around -- even if it was just to have a punching bag at their disposal. 

And while Williams may have gone a little too far from time to time -- this is the man who donned a full Batman costume for a chat with reporters -- he also had a knack for hitting some big shots for the Celtics. So the corner threes and big rebounds outweighed the corny jokes and antics in Boston. But with financial constraints coming in the very near future, the Celtics opted to move on from Williams over the offseason, sending him to Dallas in a three-team sign-and-trade.

As it turns out, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were much less tolerant to Williams' above-and-beyond personality, which played a part in why Dallas traded the forward to Charlotte on Thursday. According to DallasBasketball.com, "Williams' personality had worn on the Mavs' locker room in recent months." 

It sounds like Williams made one too many requests to play "Catan" with his Dallas teammates. It didn't seem to be a problem after Williams enjoyed a solid start to his Mavs career, but he recently saw a decrease in playing time after falling out of Jason Kidd's rotation. So Dallas decided to cut its losses and send Williams, Seth Curry and a 2027 protected first-round pick to the Hornets for PJ Washington and a pair of second-round picks ahead of the NBA trade deadline.

It took just a few months into a four-year, $53.3 million contract for the Mavs to sour on Williams' personality. He'll now bring his two-way game, and that unique Grant Williams character, to a rebuilding Hornets team.