INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Jawad Williams has plenty of memories of his youth in Cleveland. His fondness for the city was fostered further when he returned as a young adult to play professional basketball. Now, he's ready to make more Cleveland memories after returning to help coach his hometown team.
From East Side to West Side
Williams grew up on Cleveland's East Side. His childhood was full of passion for basketball, which led him to play across town at St. Edward High School in Lakewood.
"I remember those early mornings getting up at 5:15 a.m. to go from the East Side to the West Side just to go to school in the morning," Williams said.
As he poured his all into the game as a teenager, there were plenty of coaches pouring their knowledge and guidance back into him, from grade school to graduation.
"I had a lot of great coaches coming up. Coach Nate had me at St. Joe's Collinwood. Rich Smith was my AAU coach for the Cleveland Top Prospects. Michael Duncan from OVC. Eric Flannery at St. Edward's. I had really great people in my corner who helped shape my career," Williams said.
Williams' freshman year saw him win a state championship with the Eagles in 1998. His time there led him to earning both Associated Press and Gatorade Player of the Year honors in Ohio and go on to play in the McDonald's All-American Game.
His love for the game began at home, but was forged throughout Cleveland.
Outside of Ohio
After high school, Williams went on to play for the University of North Carolina. His four seasons with the Tar Heels saw him play in 128 games, averaging 12.7 points and 4.8 rebounds, shooting 48.7% from the field. As a starter in his senior year, Williams helped lead UNC to an NCAA Championship victory.
Following his college graduation in 2005, Williams went undrafted in the NBA. He had a journey through the NBA's developmental league and then into professional basketball in Israel and Japan. But, as Williams began to learn back then, all roads lead home to Cleveland.
Homecoming No. 1
"It's funny how things work. I remember telling my parents when I was in high school that I would never go to a Cavs game unless I was playing for the Cavs, and that was the first time I actually stepped into the arena," Williams said.
Growing up, Williams never watched the Cavs play at the then-Gund Arena. He made that promise to his family, hoping to perhaps one day play in wine and gold himself. In 2008, that became Williams' reality. After joining Cleveland's summer league team and then making it to the training camp roster, Williams earned a full-time roster spot on the LeBron James-led playoff squad.
It was a time in Cleveland basketball history that Williams won't soon forget.
"I just remember the excitement around the city. We had LeBron here at the time. Shaq [Shaquille O'Neal] was here. That was the one time I had seen the city actually come together. Being from Cleveland, I understood what it was like. East Side, West Side, different neighborhoods, whatever it may be. But I felt like back then, the team brought the city together and it still is that way now," Williams said.
From the court to coaching
Williams spent time on the 2008-09 Cavs and the 2009-10 team before continuing his professional career at different stops around the globe. In 2022, Williams retired and began his coaching career.
Starting as an assistant coach at Nagasaki Velca of the Japanese B. League, Williams returned to the NBA in 2023 in a coaching capacity as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings. That opportunity saw him reunited with his former Cavs head coach Mike Brown, who until this week was leading the Kings—he's now the head coach of the Knicks.
Brown helped acclimate Williams to life coaching in the NBA. He spent the past few seasons in Sacramento, but this offseason, an opportunity to return to Cleveland presented itself.
Homecoming No. 2
A few weeks ago, Williams looked down at his phone and saw a familiar area code appear. He didn't know at the time that it was Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson on the other end.
"Kenny gave me a call on a Saturday morning. I actually sent him a voicemail a couple times," Williams said, laughing. "I get 1,000 Cleveland calls a day, usually scam calls. So I sent him to voicemail. I get a text message and I call him back. We talked for about 30 minutes, had a good conversation, hung up the phone, and Tuesday morning I found out I was coming to the Cavs."
On June 18, the Cavs announced that they had hired Williams as an assistant coach on Atkinson's staff. He's eager to get to work and bring his passion to the team. With the Cavs coming off a 64-win regular season, Williams feels the pressure to help keep the team winning and improve their success in the playoffs.
"It's exciting, but it comes with a lot of work, and there's going to be pressure. The pressure is the fun part because now we have to go out there and do it again. We won 64, now we need 65. We want to go a little farther in the playoffs. So it's going to be exciting and I'm looking forward to it," Williams said. "I'm coming back to a place I'm familiar [with] and it's not like, 'Welcome to Cleveland,' it's 'Welcome home.'"
As Williams prepares to aid Atkinson in coaching his hometown team, he has given himself a brief moment to reflect on his journey. It's a journey that began in Cleveland and wove its way back through, landing him back where his roots are deeply planted.
There are two words he came up with to describe his path to date: "Simply unbelievable."
"I grew up on the East Side from St. Clair, from St. Clair to North Carolina, to the NBA to all around the world, and then back here again. It's been unbelievable," Williams said. "To see how far I've come—and I don't take many moments to actually look back—but actually signing here as a coach, that was the one time I did look back and remember how far I've come. It's been a blessing, and I couldn't ask for a better story right now."
