Cody Williams implies he’s not worried about LeBron James: ‘He still has to guard me, too’

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Utah Jazz rookie Cody Williams — who was selected with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft — implied that he won’t be intimidated when he has to play against Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.

“I’m in the NBA for a reason,” Williams said to Fox News Digital. “He still has to guard me, too.”

However, Williams seemingly still holds the 39-year-old in high regard and respects all that James has accomplished during his time in the pros. Williams said that it will be “cool” to play against James, who the 19-year-old called a “legend.”

“But also, I’m in the NBA,” he said. “I was drafted at 10 for a reason. I’m not going to be starstruck at all; going to obviously respect him but going to go at him and let him know I’m supposed to be there, too.”

The youngster was drafted by a Jazz team that is fresh off an underwhelming 2023-24 regular season. Utah won just 31 of its 82 contests — six fewer games than the Jazz won during the 2022-23 regular season — and ended up as the No. 12 seed in the Western Conference.

The Jazz especially struggled to win games near the latter stages of the campaign, considering the team won just two of its final 10 games of the season and capped off the season with a loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Williams recently put together an impressive stint of play across four games in the Las Vegas Summer League. During that span, he averaged 15.0 points on 54.8 percent shooting from the field and 37.5 percent from 3-point range to go along with 3.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 block per contest.

Prior to being drafted by the Jazz with a lottery pick, Williams played one season of college basketball at the University of Colorado Boulder. In his lone season with the Buffaloes, he averaged 11.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

If Williams’ recent comments regarding James are any indication, he seemingly has the confidence necessary to carve out a successful NBA career. Fans of both the Jazz and Lakers should circle their calendars for when the two teams face off against each other for the first time in the upcoming 2024-25 regular season.

However, it’s worth noting that the schedule for the 2024-25 regular season has yet to be released to the public at this time.