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Deron Williams on why his NBA career fell short of Hall of Fame status: 'My prime wasn't long enough'
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- Deron Williams on why his NBA career fell short of Hall of Fame status: 'My prime wasn't long enough'
Deron Williams: "I needed a couple more years at the top. My prime wasn't long enough. My run like missing out on a couple All-Star games, honestly, that I should have been. I should have been way more than three. I missed out on a couple All-Star games, honestly, that I should have been. I should have been way more than three."
More on Deron Williams : Recent HoopsHype Rumors
NBA Hoops: Raymond Felton , Charlie Villanueva and Deron Williams defend bronny James after Theo pinson says now that it's confirmed that LeBron James is leaving the lakers , bronny nba career is over — 7/1/2026 x.com
Deron Williams on Jaylen Brown: "Everything that he's doing right now is very calculated. I guarantee you it's very calculated. I think he wants out." — 6/30/2026 YouTube
Deron Williams on LeBron James : My stance is the same on this. We're talking about last shot. I think Kawhi's better at creating his own shot. Not saying LeBron can't create his own shot. Raymond Felton: When you was in the Olympics, who was taking that last shot for y'all? Williams: Kobe, probably . — 3/31/2026 YouTube
Deron Williams: I liked playing for coach Avery Johnson. Coach Avery's funny, too… 'Man! Let me tell you something, man' Coach Avery was cool, man. He was another one of those like player-coaches, loved the game, smart coach. It was fun playing for Avery. And it's unfortunate because like a lot of people even think I had something to do with him getting fired in Brooklyn . Tony Allen : So that was just your MO. Williams: I became the coach killer. I used to see signs like 'coach killer' and all this. I liked Avery. I ain't say nothing to him. I think he was doomed from the start, because the the Russians, from my first year, they started asking me about other coaches and I'm like telling them I like Avery, but they had their mindset on other coaches. They wanted Phil Jackson. — 2/21/2026 YouTube
Tony Allen: They were saying they were saying you and Jerry Sloan got into it and you were part of the reason of him retiring. Can you speak to the viewers and straighten that on the out? Deron Williams: I think we were both super competitive people. I think first and foremost, so I wanted to win. And like I said, I talked earlier about the animosity that I held, right? I was a guy who didn't know how to deal with emotions. I didn't learn how to deal with emotions growing up, right? You know, went through a lot of sh*t with in my personal life growing up. And so carried a lot of anger with me. And so when the sh*t went down my rookie year, like I kind of always held that against him. Like it always it always bothered me. There was times where we weren't getting along, especially that last year when what happened was Carlos Boozer left, Al Jefferson came in, we had kind of a new team for the first time. Ronnie Brewer trade got traded, and he was my guy. — 2/21/2026 YouTube
Q. When the trade happened, did you see it coming or did you expect it? F*ck no. No, I was in Dallas getting ready to play. I had like a suite. I had all my family, friends coming to the game. So I'm in there getting taped in the in the training room in the hotel in Dallas and TV's right here. I'm getting taped and it pops up. 'Breaking news: Deron Williams traded to the Nets', as I'm getting taped. Somebody was like, 'D-Will, is that true?' And I looked and I was like, 'Sh*t, I don't know.' Called my agent and he's like, 'I ain't heard that. Let me let me call Kevin O'Connor.' He was our GM. So he called Kevin O'Connor, called me back like five minutes later and he's like, 'Yeah, they traded you.' So I guess what happened was that was the year Melo was trying to get out of Denver . He had been talking to the Knicks . No, he'd been trying to get to the Nets . It was the Nets or the Knicks. I think they were all doing like trying to make a deal for Melo. And basically when the deal happened with Melo to New York, cuz it was right before the trade deadline, Kevin O' Conor literally just told the Nets, 'Whatever y'all offered for Melo, and they did the swap.' So it was that same package they had for Melo, they did for me and just made the swap. And so I found out that day. Didn't play in the game in Dallas , obviously. My teammates were on the bus, went out and told everybody bye and then packed up and headed to Brooklyn. — 2/21/2026 YouTube
ESPN Insights: Jalen Green is the first player with a three-point game-winning buzzer-beater in double OT or later since Deron Williams in 2016 — 2/21/2026 Twitter
Jorge Sierra: Donovan Mitchell passed Deron Williams, Bill Laimbeer and Jayson Tatum in scoring last night . He's now No. 208 in NBA history. — 11/24/2025 Bluesky
Why did you retire from golf? Deron Williams: Um... I don't know. I just stopped liking it. I think I hit my ceiling. I got to scratch, and I couldn't get to that plus one, plus two. Plus, man—it takes a lot of time. There's a lot of grind that goes with playing golf. I could spend 30 to 40 hours a week playing and there's no chance of me getting better. I could actually get worse. There's no other sport like that. So I just got frustrated with that process. Will Hardy: Well, I just want to let you know that the rumor going around here is Danny Ainge tells everybody that, because he beat you in a match in the Crew Cup, that forced you into retirement. I'm just telling you what's being said. Deron Williams: Oh, I know what—Danny's full of it. Actually, I think I got some receipts somewhere. Yeah, at Pebble Beach—I beat Danny. I closed him out on, I think, the 16th hole . So yeah. We know you're watching on Jazz Plus. The truth finally comes out. — 10/10/2025 YouTube
The NBA announced on Monday that basketball legends Tim Hardaway Sr, Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion, Shaquille O'Neal, Mitch Richmond and Deron Williams will headline the first-ever NBA House event to be held in China, set to take place in Macao from Oct 8 – 12 . An interactive fan event and immersive basketball experience celebrating the convergence of basketball, music, fashion and technology, NBA House will be held at The Venetian, Macao, in conjunction with the NBA China Games 2025 presented by Taobao 88VIP. — 9/8/2025 China Daily
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Deron Williams on why his NBA career fell short of Hall of Fame status: 'My prime wasn't long enough'
