It was a three-day whirlwind for Mark Williams.
At first, when the Hornets dealt him to the Lakers on Feb. 5 as their Anthony Davis replacement, he was shocked.
Then, he was excited — the third-year center instantly went from a rebuilding Charlotte team to a Los Angeles group that already featured LeBron James and just added Luka Doncic in a stunning blockbuster.
But on Feb. 8, when the Lakers rescinded the trade over Williams — who has dealt with injuries throughout his brief NBA career — failing a physical, he went “back to shocked.”
“My agent told me [that the trade was rescinded],” Williams told reporters, according to the Charlotte Observer. “I didn’t think I had failed my physical. That didn’t even cross my mind. The night I got traded I played hella minutes. I didn’t think in any world that was possible. Since I’ve been back since the start of the year, I’ve played games with a lot of minutes. I feel like every injury I’ve had has been well-documented and I’ve recovered and been 100 percent since. So, I don’t know what went into that decision. I think that’s up to them.”
Instead, when the NBA calendar resumes after the All-Star break on Wednesday night, Williams will continue playing for the Hornets and face the Lakers in Los Angeles — “can’t write it any other way right,” Williams told reporters.
But until the deal was quashed, Williams was pegged to fill a critical role for the Lakers after they parted with Davis.
Los Angeles sent Dalton Knecht, former Knick Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2030 picks swap back to Charlotte, according to ESPN, in exchange for Williams — who has averaged 15.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game across 23 appearances, including 20 starts, this season.
Injuries, though, have defined his career since the Hornets selected him No. 15 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft.
He only logged 19 games last season due to a back injury, according to the Observer, and missed the first 20 games of the 2024-25 campaign due to a strained tendon sustained in his left foot.
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me is showing I’m healthy,” Williams told reporters, according to the Observer. “Like I said, I didn’t think there was a world [where] I’d fail a physical. So, I’m just excited to play.”
