After being chosen first by the New Orleans Pelicans, as expected, the former Duke star got emotional. Cause, well … Mom.
“My mom sacrificed a lot for me,” a tearful Williamson said in an ESPN interview, below. “I wouldn’t be here without my mom. She did everything for me. I just want to thank her. … She put her dreams aside for mine.”
Williamson’s mother, Sharonda, who coached him until he was a young teen, also cried as they tried to keep it together with Williamson’s little brother Noah in tow.
Dabbing away tears, she said, “To watch his hard work pay off, to watch this, we’re so happy for him.”
Williamson later said that his “emotions just took over.”