Why is Celtics’ Robert Williams nicknamed ‘Time Lord’?
FOUR years on from his Boston Celtic debut, Robert Williams, AKA the Time Lord, is taking the NBA by storm.
But despite sharing a nickname commonly associated with Doctor Who, many are wondering how his unique name came to be.
Why is Celtics' Robert Williams nicknamed 'Time Lord'?
Williams earnt the nickname ‘Time Lord’ shortly after he was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 2018.
The Celtics center overslept and missed his introductory conference call with the media and subsequently missed his flight to Boston.
It was far from an ideal start to life in the NBA for the former Texas A&M player.
Recalling the incident, he told Sky Sports: "So when I got drafted, I missed a press conference over the phone.
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"So I missed the press conference over the phone or whatever. And they start calling me 'Time Lord', like being late.
“But I got on the court playing and it was saying like, 'Oh, he's stopping time to go over there and block shots', so, I can't hate on that it was decent. I liked it.
“I've been rocking with 'Time Lord' ever since."
Where did Robert Williams' nickname come from?
Despite the gaff, the rapid C’s fan base quickly embraced the unique nickname and it was integrated into the "Weird Celtics Twitter" brand.
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Ryan Hebert (@HebertofRiffs on Twitter), a prominent "Weird Celtics Twitter" personality, is said to be at least partly responsible for the Time Lord nickname popularity.
"I'm embracing it, man," Williams told NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg on the Celtics Talk podcast back in 2018.
He added: "I don't see a problem with it.
"You’ve got to be able to joke about your mistakes.
"I feel like once I learned from that and moved on from that I can joke about it. And if you can’t joke with yourself, there’s no getting better."
Since his debut in October 2018, the name has appeared to have worked wonders.
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In 2021-22, his first full season as first team starter, the 24-year-old averaged 10.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks through 61 games.
He also earnt seventh place in the Defensive Player of the Year vote and placed ninth in Most Improved Player.