WATCH: LaMelo Ball dishes a no-look alley-oop to Mark Williams
Former Duke basketball star Mark Williams has always been remarkably powerful at the rim, both on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, throughout his basketball career. On Wednesday night, he completed a spectacular play from LaMelo Ball, who’s established himself as one of the NBA’s best and brightest stars. Check out this play in the first quarter between the Hornets and Spurs, where Ball does a no-look alley-oop to Williams, who slams it home with ease.
This season, Williams has averaged 7.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game. He’s averaging 64.6% from the field in his rookie season for the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets drafted him with the No. 15 overall pick in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft. He’s just scratching the surface of his ability and has plenty of time to grow and develop throughout his NBA career. The former Duke star is blessed with tantalizing tools, it might just take some time before he reaches his full potential on the next level.
Williams was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year last year and was a big reason Duke was able to make the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. He helped the Blue Devils to a 32-7 overall record, including a 16-4 mark in ACC action in Mike Krzyzewski’s final season as head coach. Last season for the Blue Devils, Williams saw a massive leap in his production, averaging 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. He established a reputation as one of the nation’s best shot blockers.
Out of high school, Williams was a four-star recruit and the No. 31 player in the nation from the class of 2020, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.