Collector Nation - Grant Williams: What NBA Players Know That Collectors Don’t

Episode Date: June 23, 2026

Ryan Alford talks with Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams about the hobby from a perspective most collectors never get to hear: a real NBA player who is also a real collector. Grant shares how he moved from Pokémon into sports cards, what it was like to pull his own auto, and how he now thinks about collecting across basketball, soccer, football, and TCG. The conversation goes deeper than a typical athlete interview. Grant breaks down the structure of his collection into personal cards, long-term assets, and liquid cards, while also talking through the players he believes in, the cards he wishes he had bought earlier, and the ones he would never sell. They also get into redemption culture, the truth about sticker autos versus on-card autos, and why collecting with family creates the kinds of memories that make the hobby bigger than just value. It is a smart, relaxed episode that feels like two people who actually understand the hobby talking about why it still matters. Topics Covered Grant Williams’ return to collecting through Pokémon His shift into sports cards after Fanatics Fest Favorite pulls, forever cards, and long-term holds Why Victor Wembanyama became such a major chase The truth about redemption cards from a player’s perspective Why on-card autos are better than sticker autos How Grant separates his PC, asset, and liquid inventory Ryan Alford and Grant Williams on collecting, family, and hobby culture Collector Nation https://www.collectibles.show/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/collector-nation/id1832831782 https://open.spotify.com/show/7smmwVvlXIYBqdBm3oXdLV Ryan Alford https://www.ryanalford.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/ Grant Williams https://www.nba.com/player/1629684/grant-williams https://www.instagram.com/grantwill2/ https://www.instagram.com/grantwill2collects/

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gift code science 25 for a $25 credit towards your membership. I never pulled my own auto rookie because I don't have one. What's that like? Box of a mini one in one. And I hadn't ripped that product ever. Sure, it's my rookie year. I've never done this before. And I opened it. And I opened it. and it's a self-sex box and pulled over the length for it. I was like, cool, look down and it's me. Staring back at you. One of the eyes that the one box you've had in your closet for the fast four years, hoping that Zion was going to be amazing, had me in it.

Welcome to the Collector Nation podcast here on the Collector Nation Network. Whether you're chasing grails or calling bluffs, you take you inside a hobby. Here's your host. Ryan Alford. What's up, guys? I had a great conversation today with Grant Williams. Yeah, that Grant Williams.

He's the forward of the Charlotte Hornets, which are right at the road from us here in South Carolina. Grant was awesome. We talked all about his venture into collecting. He's still just a collector. It's not a business. He's collecting for him. Talked about what it's like being a player, collecting other players, and how many other NBA stars are collecting?

collecting cards. Lots of fun talking about rips, talking about the boys and how we got into the industry. Really fun conversation. Grant is a lovable, likable guy. I was a fan. I'm even bigger. You will be bigger after you listen to this. And let me tell you,

and a little insight about what happens when those signature cards end up on the superstars coffee table. That and more right now. What's up guys? We are here. And you know, we're going deep. We're going along. We're going right off the road to Charlotte from where we are. We got the forward from the Charlotte Hornets.

Grant Williams. What's up, Grant? How's it going, right? Dude, I am pumped. I get to talk a little basketball. I get to talk a little cards. I get to talk Charlotte Hornets. I grew up, you know, right down the road.

The Hornets were a, what is it, an expansion team or whatever you call it back in the day? I'm aging myself. That's how long it's been. They've had names, two different names now, Grant. You were alive since the 88, 88, 88 expansion? Oh, yeah. Yeah, dude. I was 11 years old.

You got the best of years and then you got the low of years. Now you're back to the best of years. I know, exactly. You guys are exciting, man. I mean, congrats on the season. I mean, I was rooting for you. You guys look good. I mean, it's been a long time coming.

I mean, just being real about it. But now it looks like it got a lot of good shit happen. Absolutely. Yeah, growing up here in Charlotte, I feel the same way. You know, I was here during the Bobcat years. I didn't get your, I didn't get the Outer, the Outer, the Hornets where you had the Dale Curry's and the rest of Chapman's. I was dealing with DJ Augustine, the Mecca Forres, you know, Gerald Wallace's, you know, I had that group. So, like you said, I've seen two teams. I've seen the Bobcats and now the Hornets, I'm going to bring back to Buzz campaign.

And, yeah, it feels good to be a part of the group that hopefully I can turn it around and make something special here. You know, super exciting and fun to watch for the generation. me. Yeah, man. How is it going? Like, it looks like if it's the first time I was watching the playoff game and the, you know, I know it didn't in exactly like you wanted, but at the same time, I was just like, this is the first time felt like a, like this team's together on, like, I don't know, something felt a little different. Yeah, there's a level of camaraderie with this group. The group is very connected, but also, I think we're establishing a foundation, a great culture, with a bunch of guys who now are focused on the right things and winning, but also, you know,

preparing, you know, having work, making sure that we're elevating one another every single day, not just on the floor, but off as well. So outside of just what the organization is building with the, from top to bottom front office to the coaching staff all the way down to the players, you also have the group of individuals who, you know, focus on just the day to day. You know, I feel like we don't look ahead to 20, 30 games away, or we don't look to the future of playoffs we kind of focusing on just making sure we can be the best us we can possibly be and how we show up is is critical i love it bro i'm rude for you i think uh you got something brewing and uh how many years are you in the league bro this is now my going into my eighth year in an NBA yeah

we're kind of getting old dating myself dude eight years that that's great though i mean that you've beaten the average by like what seven years yeah i was say average i think is normally around three so yeah like i said it's been five extra years and then hopefully you know go from here try and play as long as I possibly can. But honestly, it's a great place to be. Charlotte has been, you know, phenomenal in terms of, you know, starting, like, the organizational foundation. Started in Boston, my first four years, we'd accomplish some great things, you know,

went to finals, you know, went to a couple of conference finals. It was just a great experience and I was able to go now to Dallas and now see the development of this Orn's team. It's kind of, you see every part of the league. You saw the best of teams. You saw the middle, like the mid kind of like middle side. and then you've seen the worst now back up to the middle side's back past again. My son trains, he's 10, with Bryce McGowan's father, Bobby.

And so he's training. So I get to, we root for Bryce who's with the Pelicans. And he's got a brother that's pretty good too. Yeah, his brother's good. I play with Bryce when he was first on the Hornets. I got traded here and Bryce was doing the team before. And that following summer, I believe, that's when he left the Summer League and when it got signed to the Blazers. Yeah, man.

He's got, I think he's got another gear to unlock. He needed to put on a little weight. He did. He looked good this year. I mean, he played a lot. So I'm rude for him. But I figured you might know that name. His dad's awesome.

I mean, like, just Salt of the Earth guy and works with my wife and love that family. Good people.