Johnathan Williams

Johnathan Lee Williams III was born in 1995 in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the son of Johnny and Barbara Williams. Williams attended Southwind High School in Memphis, where his basketball play earned all-state honors by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association in 2011, 2012 and 2013. As a high school senior, he averaged 18.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and led Southwind to a 34-6 record and state title. Williams was also a member of Team USA for both the U17 World Championships and the U16 squad that won the FIBA Americas title in 2011. For college, he initially attended the University of Missouri before transferring to Gonzaga after his sophomore year. Williams started his NBA career with the Lakers in 2018, and in the summer of 2019, he signed an agreement with Maccabi Rishon LeZion of the Israel Premier League. In December 2019, he returned to the NBA via a contract with the Wizards. Check him out on Twitter and Instagram (iam_j3). Williams played two seasons (2013-15) of basketball at the University of Missouri before transferring to Gonzaga where he exercised his final two seasons (2016-18) of collegiate eligibility. As a freshman at Mizzou, Williams started all 35 games for the Tigers and delivered 5.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. The 6-foot-9 forward delivered 11 points, 15 boards, four assists, two blocks and a steal on Mar. 13 during a double-overtime SEC Tournament win over Texas A&M. With the departure of a few veteran teammates, Williams was expected to see more playing time as a sophomore, but suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee during the preseason. Williams led the team in points (11.9), rebounds (7.1) and blocks (0.6) per game over 32 contests, but he still struggled with that knee injury for much of the season. At the end of his sophomore season, he decided to transfer to Gonzaga and use the one year (2015-16) of transfer ineligibility to strengthen his knee. Williams averaged 10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in his first year at Gonzaga, but he really came into his own in his senior season, posting career-high marks of 13.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Williams declared for the NBA Draft after that season and while he went undrafted, he ended signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.