MIKEY Williams doesn’t mind being told that he looks like former NBA player Nick Young.
Like the 35-year-old Young who’s nicknamed ‘Swaggy P,’ Williams said he also goes by the same moniker back in Los Angeles.
“I got the same nickname. They call me Swaggy Pinoy (Swaggy P) out here,” said Williams on Saturday.
Needless to say, he personally knows Young, the 6-foot-7 gunner out of University of Southern California, who previously played for Washington, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State, and Denver.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play with Nick a lot. I played with him every summer in the Drew League,” disclosed the No. 4 overall pick in last week’s PBA draft for the TnT Tropang Giga about the pro-am basketball league being held every summer in Los Angeles since 1973.
“He’s been kind of a mentor to me as well.”
Young, a known NBA deadshot who won a championship with the Warriors in 2018, previously said the nickname was a pseudo-biblical reference to the ‘Prophet of Swag.’
Williams doesn’t want to brag, but the 6-foot-2 guard definitely knows what he can bring to the table for TnT.
“I’m gonna let my game do the talking. I promise everybody will see what they’ve been waiting to see,” said the former stalwart of Cal State Fullerton, a US NCAA Division 1 school.
“I’m a playmaker, I’m a scorer. I’m just looking to come in and do the things that I’ve done my entire life, and that’s to play the game the right way.”
If it means helping the Tropang Giga to finally get over the hump after being title-less the past six seasons, then so be it.
“I would love to. That’s definitely first on my list, its winning a championship,” said Williams, who had stints with Sioux Falls Skyforce and Canton Charge in the NBA G League.
“I feel like that’s what they brought me and to do as well. I already know that they have a wonderful team and a wonderful group of guys that had already set foot on that floor in championship games,” he added. “I just want to come in and do what I have to do so I can get there as well.”
Williams is still in the US because of strict travel restrictions, but is already working on his papers and plane ticket as he looks forward to finally joining his PBA team any time within the week.
And the first order of the day once he arrives in the country is to hook up with the entire TnT team, including returning coach Chot Reyes.
“I know as soon as I get to the Philippines I’ll be able to sit down and have a conversation with him (Reyes). Definitely, I’ll pick his brain, where he sees me on the floor, where he wants me if may be. So I’m looking forward to the conversation with him as soon as I get to the Philippines,” said Williams, whose late mother is from Naga City.
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