Prior to Wednesday’s game, Mavericks guard Brandon Williams addressed the media with a statement apologizing for his arrest on a marijuana possession charge Saturday at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, relays Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
“I wanted to apologize, first and foremost,” Williams said. “Obviously, it’s an ongoing situation. I can’t really go further into detail about it, but I just want to apologize for being a distraction, especially at a time coming in 0-2. It wasn’t the ideal time at all, but I want to take full accountability. I want to take full responsibility and it’s time to move on now.”
In a full story for The Dallas Morning News (subscription required), Curtis, Kellen Bulger and Matt Kyle report that police were summoned by a TSA screener who said a black container with about 1.5 ounces of marijuana was found inside Williams’ suitcase.
Williams admitted it was his bag, but claimed his manager packed it and indicated he wasn’t aware of the contents. He was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana under two ounces. The Mavericks refused to comment on the situation.
The authors note that Williams missed the past two games for personal reasons, and an Instagram post reveals that he lost a close friend and former high school teammate to leukemia at the end of September.
Head coach Jason Kidd told reporters that Williams had been away from the team for a memorial service, Curtis adds (Twitter link).
“Going to a funeral for a friend’s passing and having that incident, that’s something that he has to deal with and we can only be here to support him,” Kidd said.
Now in his third year with Dallas, Williams is coming off a promising season where he saw extended minutes at point guard after Kyrie Irving was lost with a torn ACL. He averaged 8.3 points and 2.3 assists in 33 games to help the short-handed Mavs reach the play-in tournament and had his two-way contract converted to a standard deal in April.
Williams was kept on the roster for this season even though his $2.3MM contract only carried a $200K guarantee before opening night. It’s currently guaranteed at $850K until the league-wide guarantee date of January 10. He has made two brief appearances so far and has yet to score.