Something he recognized.
“Kenny!”
Yep, he used to be called that.
“Hustle!”
Definitely, he used to be called that.
“Kenny!” “Hustle!” “Kenny!” “Hustle!”
It’s what they used to call him in Fort Worth when he led TCU in rebounding three times and pumped out 34 double-doubles.
“Some dudes behind the bench in the Houston game just started calling me that,” Williams said.
So now the nickname had followed him to the NBA, where even the Pelicans social media team has picked it up. By Wednesday night, when Williams drained in five 3-pointers on the way to 21 points in 38 minutes — career highs again — the team Twitter account was putting out posts that said stuff like “KENNY HUSTLE” and three fire emojis.
Why not?
The name still fits.
The 6-foot-7, 205-pound shooting guard put together his two best games as a pro, with 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting (5-of-10 on 3-pointers), 24 rebounds (five offensive), four assists and three blocks combined against the Rockets and at home against the Nuggets.
What a 48 hours.
When the week began, Williams had played more than 10 minutes only three times, had scored 19 points total (with a high of five), grabbed 15 rebounds total (with a high of four) and made one of seven 3-pointers.
But the short-handed Pelicans pressed him into service, figuring they had seen enough in practices to be confident in the rookie. Heaven knows, he was.
“I prepared for this opportunity,” Williams said in an interview with PressboxDFW. “I go hard, I try to put in work every day. The energy comes back around. It’s bound to happen. Something good’s going to happen.”
For weeks — months — Williams toiled as an end-of-the-roster player. In October, he was the last player to make the team. He had spent four years in college and entered the league as a 23-year-old. Nothing was assured.
Except to him.
“I was just confident, trying to play my game every day,” the Waco University High School product said. “You’ve got to work your way up. If you’re a rookie, you’ve especially got to work and find a way to get in the rotation. The opportunity came. I’m just trying to take advantage of it.”
A quiet worker, Williams gained the respect of the veterans.
“They just encouraged me — Jrue, AD, all the other guys — they encourage me to keep going. They really like me,” he said. “I showed them a lot of respect, and they showed me a lot back.”
Williams is not on social media, so he didn’t realize the commotion his back-to-back games stirred at his alma mater. His 16 rebounds on Tuesday night were familiar to TCU fans, who saw him finish as the fourth-leading rebounder in team history despite playing only three seasons after transferring from New Mexico Junior College as a recruit of Trent Johnson.
The chatter only got louder with his 5-for-9 performance on 3-pointers on Wednesday night — another familiar sight. He made 101 at TCU.
“You know me,” Williams said with a laugh. “Sixteen rebounds is more my game. But I was just feeling good tonight. My teammates were finding me. And I felt good.”
Williams’ mind is never far from Fort Worth. He keeps in touch regularly with his Horned Frog roots.
“I still watch the guys’ games. I’m sending them messages, encouraging them,” he said.
What does he tell them?
What he tells himself.
“I say I’ve been down this road before” he said. “Just don’t get discouraged, keep going, keep playing hard, and good things will happen.”
See the last 48 hours.
