Williams returned to Cavs for chance to repeat, back up Irving
The thought of retiring from the NBA after 13 seasons ran through veteran point guard Mo Williams' mind this summer after picking up his player option with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite having serious issues with his left knee, Williams ultimately decided to play out his final year with Cleveland before calling it a career, which he announced on his Twitter account Wednesday evening.
The 33-year-old simply didn't want to leave his team hanging without a quality backup behind their All-Star starter, especially considering the chance to repeat as champion.
"Just talking with my family, that was the most important thing," Williams told ESPN's Dave McMenamin in a phone interview on Thursday. "And also, just the fact that they didn't have anybody experienced enough behind Kyrie [Irving]. We have Jordan (McRae) and we have Kay (Felder), and those guys are going to develop and they're going to be really good, but they need some experience.
"I just thought about repeating, thought about another championship, and I didn't want to put the Cavs in a situation where (they didn't have a) guy (who) could come in and play 5-10 minutes that could help them win and be a difference. I didn't want to put the Cavs in that situation at the end of the day."
McRae (25) only has 21 games of NBA experience under his belt, and Felder (21) is a rookie coming out of Oakland University. Former backup Matthew Dellavedova is now with the Milwaukee Bucks on a four-year, $38.4-million contract.
"What I'll bring to the Cavs is what I do: I'll back up Kyrie, spell him some minutes and obviously do what I always do," Williams added. "But my thing is these young guys coming up, like a Jordan, like a Kay and even Ky - he's growing into that player that we always knew he was going to be - but at the end of the day, just being around those guys I'm able to bounce back 14 years that I've had to them guys with no hidden agendas. I can only enhance them and help their progression."