Williams ‘never’ demanded trade

Vivlamore reporting from New York.

Marvin Williams could not have been any clearer. The Hawks forward did not demand a trade nor has he complained about his offensive role on the team. Never.

On Wednesday, Williams disputed an ESPN report Tuesday that said as much.

Here it is in his words:

“For starters, I haven’t even been here,” said Williams who rejoined the team after missing Monday’s game in Chicago. “I buried my cousin on Monday and woke up Tuesday to three text messages and six phone calls saying that I requested a trade. This is news to me. I’m at home. I don’t know what is going on.

“I saw a lot about what was written but you can ask anybody, LD [Larry Drew] or anybody, I’ve never complained about anything since I’ve been here. You know that. Any reporter that has followed me since I’ve been in Atlanta since ’05 has never heard me complain about anything. I’ve never complained about starting, not starting, shots, no shots, minutes played. That is just no my nature to complain. I’ve always been thankful for everything I’ve ever gotten.

“You can ask my coach right now. You can ask [GM] Rick [Sund]. I’ve never asked those guys to trade me. Never. I understand that trades are part of this league and part of this business. If Rick and LD think there is something that can better suit the Atlanta Hawks and I’m involved in that package, I completely understand that. But I’ve never walked in there and asked those guys to trade me. I’ve never said that. To see what people wrote about me and said about me, man. The thing that hurts the most is no one even called and asked me. No one asked me ‘Did you say that?’ You are the first person to ask me.”