Robert Williams III Opens Up About Recovery From Knee Surgery
Williams spoke to reporters for the first time since a November knee surgery cut his first season with the Trail Blazers short at six games.
📍 PORTLAND, Ore. — “It’s good to be up here again,” Robert Williams III said as he sat down at the podium for his end-of-season exit interview on Friday night, following a completely meaningless Trail Blazers loss to Houston in their final home game of the regular season.
It was the first time Williams had spoken with reporters since he suffered a torn right knee ligament back in November, which required season-ending surgery.
In an ideal world, Williams would have been integral to the first year of Portland’s post-Damian Lillard rebuild. When he came over from Boston along with Malcolm Brogdon in the Jrue Holiday trade that closely followed the Lillard deal with Milwaukee, the Blazers envisioned him and Deandre Ayton as one of the best center tandems in the NBA. In the six games he played at the beginning of the season, Williams made good on his end of that. It’s been years since Portland has had a rim protector that impactful.
The caveat, as it has always been, was Williams’ health. With the Celtics, he underwent two surgeries on his left knee and only played 50 or more games twice in five seasons. The right knee ligament he tore in November required the most serious surgery he’s had yet, ending his season when it had barely started.
"It was pretty tough,” Williams said. “But it was eye-opening. I got a chance to work on stuff while I was put down for a minute."
Despite the depressing nature of the circumstances—talking after a largely lost season that he barely played in—Williams was just as I’ve found him in my handful of conversations with him over the year: thoughtful, philosophical, funny.
And cautiously optimistic about his health and prospects of being ready to go for next season.
Williams said he’s progressed to be able to do jogging and some on-court work. He was hesitant to put a timetable on anything, but he’s hoping to be fully cleared for contact at some point during the summer and, barring any setbacks, a full go for training camp.
He was honest about the mental burden of having another season cut short due to injuries and how good it was for him to be around the team when he rejoined them in February after doing the first part of his rehab at home.
“We're all looking for the way, but we've got to lean on each other,” he said. “It's hard to do stuff on your own. When you're out there on your own, you be in your head, trying to get through anything on your own when you need help. One of the biggest things is coming together and being more honest with each other.”
Williams was, of course, far from the only Blazers player who dealt with injuries this season. Shaedon Sharpe, one of the other players who spoke after Friday’s game, had a core muscle surgery in early February and missed the rest of the year. Anfernee Simons had thumb surgery after the season opener and missed six weeks. They barely got any time with their most important players actually spending time on the court together.
Under those circumstances, Williams thought his new team did a good job staying connected.
“I think we did decent,” he said. “A lot of it was on us older guys to keep stuff together. But I feel like everyone was out there looking for the way on their own. It may not be a negative thing, but everyone was out on their own, trying to do their best to help the team.”
On all levels—not just with an injury this severe—this season was an adjustment for Williams. He had to move across the country from Boston to Portland as training camp was beginning in October, for one thing. And, basketball-wise, he went from being part of a Celtics team that went to the Finals in 2022 and the Eastern Conference Finals two more times in his five seasons there to being, at 26 years old, one of the veterans on a young, rebuilding team.
“Every trade, you've just got to make the best out of it,” he said. “I look at it as an opportunity. This is the first time I've been on a team where I'm one of the older guys. A lot of those things that I did learn in the past from those older guys, I'm trying to bring over here.”
Because he barely played, not much attention publicly has been paid to Williams’ influence in the locker room as compared to, say, Brogdon or Jerami Grant. But Williams around, and he was well-liked. And as one of only two players on the team with Finals experience, he commanded respect.
“My voice, it carries weight,” he said. “Teaching these young guys the right way in the league. I'm not that old when I say 'young guys.' But just teaching them the ins and outs and the right way. It's easy to learn the messed-up way, the messed-up life in his league. Making sure they get the hard-work part of it. Even though we might be losing, not on the right side of winning, we don't want that to be our identity.”
Williams’ future in Portland will be something to monitor this summer. A few teams called at the deadline, but with Williams out for the season, it didn’t make sense to move him. The Blazers would love to keep him long-term, but the same factor that may hurt his trade value—his health—could also make that a tough proposition.
But as his first season in Portland comes to a close, Williams is optimistic about the future, and planning on staying local for most of the summer to continue his rehab.
“I'll be here,” Williams said. “I'll be in PDX a whole lot this offseason.”