I
F YOU SAW Mikey Williams hooping under the
sun on a San Diego blacktop, you may not recognize
him. He’s tall for his age at 6-3, but his height isn’t
necessarily off the charts. Like most of the kids
in his neighborhood playing outside, he uses the
court as an oasis to kick back and enjoy the game
at its purest form. He laughs, talks trash and hollers at friends
passing through.
A year ago, Williams was just another SoCal hooper on the rise.
Things changed when he joined the North Coast Blue Chips
and played alongside Bronny James. Cameras flooded the
baseline for his first game at the Charlotte Convention Center
in North Carolina; seconds into warm-ups, Williams threw down
an East Bay dunk.
“Who’s this kid?” was the unanimous response from the sold-
out crowd.
Cell phones came out and Google searches began.
It took less than a day for Mikey Williams, who was three
weeks removed from his 14th birthday, to become a household
name. He received life and basketball advice from LeBron
James and had Quavo pull up to sit courtside at one of his
games the following week.
As the buckets poured in, so did Williams’ following—at press
time in April, he had 577,000 followers on Instagram and more
YouTube searches than half of the top-10 seniors in the country
over the past three months.
Williams, who has taken most of this season to train on his
own, only played in 10 organized games during that span.
For a 14-year-old who has spent most of his life homes-
chooled, the blast to prominence was relatively uncharted
territory.
“I don’t even go to the mall no more,” he says, noting that
picture requests are often overwhelming. “Sometimes I just
want to chill.”
When he is out, though, he never turns down fans who ask
for a photo opportunity—it was a vow he made two summers
ago after seeing an eventual NBA lottery pick turn away fans at
EYBL Peach Jam.
A mixture of nature and nurture pushed Williams to the point
he’s at today.
The competitive, dawg-like demeanor he carries on the court
is one his mother, Charisse, and life-long coach, Terry Tucker,
have seen in him since the beginning.“Mikey’s competitive. He doesn’t like to lose,” Tucker says. “He
was like that as a baby. If he didn’t have the ball, he’d go get it.”
As Williams grew into his elementary years, it was clear he
had a fearless fire.
“He was getting into fights almost every single day,” Charisse
says. “Usually, though, it was against the bigger, older kids—he’d
stick up for the kids getting bullied.”
Mikey confirms this.
“When I was in first grade, I was beating up fourth graders,”
he adds with a wide grin.
When he was pulled out of school, his parents, both athletes
themselves—Charisse won a California Interscholastic
Federation softball championship and his father, Mahlon, was a
hometown hero while hooping at Sweetwater High School—
pushed him to basketball to channel that energy.
Williams’ introduction to hoops was an outdoor court at the
apartment complex he grew up in. There, it was a necessity to
keep your head on a swivel: a “Beware of Rattlesnakes” sign
sits behind one of the backboards and Williams said he’s seen
bobcats from the court, too.
“I don’t know if playing outside made me a better player,” he
says, “but it definitely made me a tougher one.”
Over time, the raw athleticism and grit he developed playing
outside evolved. Nowadays, the gym at San Ysidro High School—
the school he’ll make his debut for in June during the new NCAA
live period—is where he’s seen his game move to an elite level.
Despite recovering from a minor knee injury, Williams has
been working out three times per day.
“Some people think the gym is punishment,” he says. “Being
in the gym is the best thing ever— it’s my version of having fun.
“This beautiful place is my home,” he adds while gesturing
to the banners hanging on the wall. “My house is my second
home.”
His work on the hardwood is serious business—his intensity
level is always on full tilt.
“I don’t go to ‘just get some shots up,’” he says. “That’s what
separates me.”
Williams doesn’t go to the gym because there’s nothing
else to do—his Instagram direct message inbox is never empty,
and there’s plenty of invites to go out with followers who want
a slice of the clout that comes with being associated with a
high-level hooper.
Williams’ priorities are just different. S+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Mikey Williams is not yet in high school but his social following is bigger than the
heavy majority of the country’s top juniors and seniors. And at just 14 years old,
the Cali native already has his sights set on the League. We spent a day with the
youngest in charge to learn all about his plans for what comes next.I’M READY
WORDS IAN PIERNO // PORTRAIT RYAN YOUNGTHE
FUTURE
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