Story by
Grant Williams Goes to Swarm Practice as Hamstring Keeps Him Out vs. Nets
- Story by
- Grant Williams Goes to Swarm Practice as Hamstring Keeps Him Out vs. Nets
(Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images)
The Charlotte Hornets assigned Grant Williams to the Greensboro Swarm, their G League affiliate, for practice Wednesday.
Charlotte plays the Brooklyn Nets that night at Barclays Center, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. ET, and Williams is listed out with a right hamstring strain. He has not appeared in any of the Hornets' first eight games.
Advertisement
Kon Knueppel's Swarm Practice Came Six Days Earlier
Knueppel went through the same step last week. The Hornets assigned him to the Swarm for an Oct. 29 practice and recalled him Oct. 30, and Knueppel, who could make his season debut in Brooklyn , is probable on Wednesday's report with a left hamstring strain. Coby White is also probable under left calf injury management.
Charlotte disclosed the two hamstring injuries in the same announcement on Sept. 25 . The team said they happened during offseason on-court activity, Williams' to the right hamstring and Knueppel's to the left. Neither played in the preseason, and the Hornets set a re-evaluation for the first week of the regular season.
Training camp at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, ended Oct. 2, and two days later Hornets coach Charles Lee said both injuries were trending positively .
Advertisement
"Their engagement has been really good in how they're helping and elevating our practices and our environment," Lee said. "... they're trending positively. They're doing a little bit more on the court every day."
The Hornets said Oct. 20 that Williams, Knueppel, and White had returned to individual on-court work, with each still following a return-to-play plan. Six days later, Lee said there was "no timeline as far as I know right now" for the three of them and that he would know more after Charlotte's two-game road trip.
Williams has been ruled out for every game since.
Grant Williams Returned From a Torn ACL Last Season
On Nov. 23, 2024, at Milwaukee, Williams tore the ACL, meniscus, and other ligaments in his right knee. Surgery followed in Chicago on Dec. 11 of that year.
Advertisement
Lee said before Williams' return that the forward was in the final stages of the rehab.
"Grant's obviously been out for an extended period of time with his injury now, has been able to be more involved in team activities and five-on-five play, and so far he's responded really well," Lee said.
His first game back came against the Utah Jazz on Jan. 10, 2026, more than 13 months after the injury in Milwaukee. Williams started three of the 36 games he played the rest of the way, averaging 7.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 19.8 minutes. He shot 42.6% from the field. From 3-point range, he made 38.8%.
Charlotte went 44-38 and finished ninth in the Eastern Conference. Williams scored 5 points in 18 minutes of a 127-126 overtime play-in win over the Miami Heat , then had 1 point in 15 minutes when the Hornets lost 121-90 at Orlando three nights later.
Advertisement
The Boston Celtics drafted Williams 22nd overall out of Tennessee in 2019, and he played high school basketball at Providence Day School in Charlotte. He came to the Hornets from the Dallas Mavericks in 2024.
This season is the last on the four-year, $53,341,500 contract Williams signed in July 2023. He is set to earn $14,265,750.
Four straight losses, the last a 124-91 home defeat to the Detroit Pistons on Monday, have dropped Charlotte to 3-5. Back at Spectrum Center, the Hornets host Boston on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. The Cleveland Cavaliers come in Monday, also with a 7 p.m. ET tip-off.
