Point guard Courtney Williams brings powerful voice to Lynx training camp

The Lynx’s first training camp practice had just ended Sunday. Courtney Williams had been in Minnesota a lot since signing as a free agent in January. She’d played in pick-up games, worked out. But this was her first official practice, the first time she led the team as its new point guard.

And she was asked about her role on the team.

“On this team I’m a talker, for sure,” Williams said. “I’m constantly talking. I like to show up every day and run my mouth so I can lead by example. I think I’m going to be a voice.”

You don’t say.

Lynx president of basketball operations and coach Cheryl Reeve has seen it since Williams got here. The sense of humor, the talking. How she can rib a teammate or frankly correct them. Offer encouragement when needed, hold others accountable when required.

And Reeve loves it.

“That’s exactly what we need,” she said. “Because it’s coming from a player on the court.”

The Lynx have had players who were like a pied piper before. Seimone Augustus’s ability to nurture young players with her humor was renowned. Rachel Banham was beloved. Sylvia Fowles was “Mama Syl,” who, as she grew into a veteran, could hold others accountable.

But Reeve went all the way back to Taj McWilliams-Franklin — the starting center on the Lynx’s first WNBA title team in 2011 — to find a comparison. As Reeve said, McWilliams was capable of telling off officials, coaches and teammates in a single bound, her voice often rising above the roar of the crowd.

And now Williams, who was part of Wednesday’s media day at Target Center.

The Lynx struggled the past two years at the guard position. Each of the last two seasons have started slowly because of either injury or indecision on who should play the lead guard spot.

This year is different. The Lynx are deeper all around. But with the addition of Natisha Hiedeman and Williams — who played together in two separate seasons in Connecticut — the Lynx enter the 2024 season with a solid rotation in the backcourt, along with veteran Kayla McBride.

The additions have made the Lynx stronger on the court, in part because of Williams’ ability to tell it like it is off of it. There was a drill in Tuesday’s practice that didn’t go well. Or, at least, not as well as it could have. And Williams wasn’t happy.

“She sat down, got her water,” Reeve said. “And then went off on everybody about what needs to happen.”

Of course, for this to work, a player who talks has to back it up.

And Williams has. About to turn 30, she has averaged 12.1 points, 3.5 assists and shot 43.7% overall over eight seasons, during which she built a reputation as one of the WNBA’s best mid-range shooters. Last year in Chicago — where she played with current Lynx posts Ruthy Heard, Alanna Smith and Taylor Soule — Williams made the transition to point from off-guard. The result: career highs in assists (6.3) and three-point shooting (44.3%).

“It felt like a whole new world opened up for me,” Williams said. “It’s like learning basketball all over again. You’re out there calling plays — I can call my own number if I want to — so yeah, I’m excited.”

Smith, who had a breakout year in Chicago last year, gives Williams a lot of credit for her success.

“She’d never played point guard before,” Smith said. “But she excelled beyond expectation. I think she found a new side to herself. It was cool to be a part of that.”

And maybe the point position is better for Williams’s brand of leadership.

During offseason workouts Reeve remembers walking in on Williams and Diamond Miller working out. They were running a drill and Williams felt Miller was taking the wrong lane. She said so. To her credit, Miller pushed back, asking why. Williams explained and they continued.

“You have to keep that balance,” Williams said. “You build relationship off the court so when you do go on the court? It’s serious, but it’s coming from a place of love. I’m on [Miller] constantly, but she loves it. She wants to be great.”

Said Miller: ‘It’s a fun dynamic. You want to hold your ground a little bit, but it’s a fun dynamic.”