Travante Williams
From small schools to hitting the big time in Portugal, Anchorage’s Travante Williams hoops journey has covered the entire spectrum.
The former Mt. Edgecumbe all-star and All-GNAC swingman for the UAF Nanooks epitomizes the idea that it doesn’t matter where you start but how you finish because he’s now playing alongside a former Big East player and will face off against a former NBA first-round draft pick in next week’s Portuguese League Finals.
Williams punched his ticket back to the championship series with Sporting after his team swept the best-of-5 series with Porto in the semifinal round. Sporting will face defending champion Benifica in the Finals, with Game 1 tipping off Sunday.
The 6-foot-4 Alaskan sparkled in Sporting’s 94-66 win in Game 3 as the starting forward bagged 20 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and one steal in 31 minutes.
He averaged 15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the semifinal series. His numbers were virtually the same as his season averages in 33 games.
Anchorage’s Travante Williams is headed to the Portuguese League Finals for the fourth time in five years.
Williams has a rocky road to get back to the Finals after the playmaker endured a feast-or-famine type season, especially when it came to scoring in Portuguese League games.
He bagged seasons highs of 37 and 29 points in back-to-back appearances in late January, but then had only one game with 25 point or more in the other 31 games.
His 20 points against Porto in Game 3 snapped a streak of 14 games with fewer than 20. It was also his highest offensive output since Feb. 26 when he pumped in 26 points against Bulgaria in the European Championships.
Williams is headed back to the Portuguese League Finals for the fourth time since 2018 and he is 3-0 when playing for a title after winning championships with Oliveirense in 2018 and 2019 and Sporting in 2021.
Cant allow the motion to stop
— travante williams (@wellconnectedAk) May 30, 2023
Two years ago, he was named Finals MVP after activating ‘Takeover Travante’ mode.
In Game 1, he dished off a career-high 10 assists in a 2-point win. In Game 4, he pumped in 19 points and made 10-of-13 free throws in a 4-point win. And in Game 5 poured in a team-high 19 points in a 1-point win.
This year, Williams is playing alongside former St. John’s guard Marcus LoVett Jr., who poured in 31 points in the Game 3 win.
In the Finals, Sporting will face Benifica squad that features Toney Douglas, a 6-foot-10 forward who was the Lakers’ No. 1 pick in 2009 and played five seasons in the league.
Don’t bet against Williams. He owns a 181-69 career record in his six seasons in Portugal and has won defensive player-of-the-year honors four times.