Boston Celtics: Robert Williams viewed as legitimate MIP candidate

Prior to suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee earlier this week, Robert Williams III was having himself quite a tremendous season serving as the full-time starting center for the Boston Celtics.

In 61 games played (the most he’s logged since coming into the league back in 2018), the man known as Time Lord was putting up career-high numbers and production in seemingly all facets of the game, boasting per game averages of 10 points, 9.6 rebounds, two assists, and 2.2 blocks (second-best mark in the entire league) per contest on 74 percent shooting from the floor whilst spearheading the charge for the team’s top-ranked defensive unit, sporting a defensive rating of 102 and a defensive box plus-minus score of 3.0, both the best marks on the C’s.

During his five-month run throughout the 2021-22 campaign, Williams managed to transition himself from being viewed as a promising, yet raw young prospect into a true rising stud in the association who has the abilities to serve as the starting big man for a championship aspiring team.

To some, in fact, the 24-year-old played so well during this year’s regular-season for the Boston Celtics that they believe he should be in the mix for the Most Improved Player award.

At least, according to the folks at Hoops Habit.

According to writer, Giovanni Torres, though Williams’ on-paper production may not appear to be all that drastic of an improvement over what he was posting last season, it is the center’s ‘subtle’ advances that has him believing, at the very least, he should be considered for the illustrious honor:

"By spending more time on the court, he has been able to showcase his impact on both ends. Williams’ defensive prowess is one of the main reasons the Celtics boast the league’s best defense and have been dominant on that end since the start of the new year. He’s been the catalyst of the Celtics miraculous turnaround.On offense, he probably is the league’s best lob threat, which gives the Celtics a much-needed vertical option who can be a safety valve on stalled possessions. His athleticism has also helped the team gain extra possessions, as he’s grabbing 3.9 offensive rebounds per game, which is the fourth-highest mark in the league.Also, he is one of the best passing big men in the league, functioning as a connector out of the short roll, often finding open shooters on the corners."

While Torres did have four other players mentioned on his list of potential MIP candidates (Jordan Poole, Miles Bridges, Dejounte Murray, Darius Garland), all of whom likely have a better shot than Robert Williams of taking home the honors, in the end, it’s nice to see the Boston Celtics big getting some much-deserved praise and recognition for his contributions and unsung improvements from throughout this year’s campaign.

Now, we can only hope that the C’s have a long-enough playoff run where they can be graced with his talents once again while this season is still underway.