In his first game since the trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers was rescinded, the Charlotte Hornets’ center Mark Williams fittingly faced off against the very same team that almost acquired him. 

It was a “revenge game” of sorts and a climactic ending to the NBA’s latest trade drama.

The coincidence of these two teams playing against one another in the only game of the first playing date following the All-Star break is too good to be true and could not have been scripted any better if this was all part of a fictional drama.

The cellar-dweller Hornets managed to pull off a stunning 100-97 win to cap off this tumultuous three-week stretch that can finally be put to rest. 

LaMelo Ball, widely considered the biggest snub of this year’s NBA All-Star game, hit the go-ahead basket for Charlotte off a floater with 14.2 seconds left to play. He finished with 27 points, five three-pointers, five rebounds, six assists, and a steal.

All eyes were on Williams though who was unofficially a Laker for three days after it was announced that he was dealt by the Hornets to Los Angeles before the February 5 trade deadline. Williams put up a decent showing–10 points, nine rebounds, and two assists in 29 minutes–against what could have been his current team and outplayed his Laker counterpart, Jaxson Hayes, who tallied eight points and four rebounds. 

The 23-year-old Williams was supposed to be the Lakers’ center of the present and beyond, serving as a lob threat next to the newly-acquired Luka Doncic for the next decade. 

Los Angeles ultimately had the trade vetoed though a few days later as it was revealed that Williams failed his physical. Williams has indeed been injury prone over the course of his three-year NBA career, appearing in only 62 games across his first two seasons, which made this incident less surprising. 

While Williams’ future is no longer as bright as it would have been playing for the Lakers alongside Doncic, he still has a path to carve out a strong NBA career with Charlotte. He should get more than enough touches playing next to an elite playmaker such as Ball and if the Hornets do not renew his contract before it ends in the 2026 offseason, several other teams are likely to be interested in his services. 

After all, you can’t teach height [and wingspan], something that the 7’0 Williams [whose standing reach is 9’9] is not lacking for.