Wanamaker and Williams hoping to embrace their opportunities with Celts

BOSTON — Tuesday morning was a study in contrasts at the Red Auerbach Center between a player who has spent a decade fighting to prove he deserves a shot at the NBA, and one who has had a hard time doing some of the simplest things to take advantage of the shot that has been given to him.

The case of the former is 28-year-old journeyman Brad Wanamaker — a North Philadelphia native who played four years at the University of Pittsburgh, a half season in [...]

BOSTON — Tuesday morning was a study in contrasts at the Red Auerbach Center between a player who has spent a decade fighting to prove he deserves a shot at the NBA, and one who has had a hard time doing some of the simplest things to take advantage of the shot that has been given to him.

The case of the former is 28-year-old journeyman Brad Wanamaker — a North Philadelphia native who played four years at the University of Pittsburgh, a half season in the G-League, then six years in Europe before officially signing with the Celtics on Monday. The case of the latter is 20-year-old, first-round pick Robert Williams — who is due a guaranteed multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract based on being picked No. 27 in the draft, then slept through his conference call with the media the next day and was absent from his first summer league practice on Sunday after missing a flight from Louisiana.

It was a story of making most of an opportunity finally arriving after years of perseverance, and a cautionary tale of making sure a golden opportunity doesn’t fall through your fingers.

“Just accountability,” said Williams, who arrived on Monday and participated in Tuesday’s workout. “They expressed that to me a lot when I first got here (for Friday’s press conference). Stressing that this is a job. Things are different in college. Knowing what you have, and the opportunities that come with them.”

Williams said he decided to fly home to “get a couple of things” over the weekend, but missed the return trip to Boston.

“It’s all on me,” he said. “I’m just looking to push forward and move past that.”

Williams seems well aware that getting two strikes this early in his rookie season is a regrettable optic for a player who slipped in the draft due, in part, to questions about his maturity and focus.

“People already have a bad image of me, I guess you could say,” he acknowledged, “so missing my flight didn’t help that at all.

“I talked with Coach (Brad) Stevens when I got back. He, obviously, explained to me about opportunities. There are not that many. Definitely a wake-up call. … They discipline you with words more than you may know.”

While Williams apparently still has a way to go to develop his dedication habits, it is those habits that have earned Wanamaker his elusive shot in the league.

“It was crazy,” Wanamaker said. “Over the years you get them calls from teams. You come out in the summer. You have a private workout for a team and they tell you to give them a few days, we’re going to send you a contract, or you are high on our radar. This time it was real. It was consistently real.

“Then on draft night (Celtics assistant general manager) Austin (Ainge) called me up and said: ‘We have a spot for you.’ ”

A two-year teammate of Celtics forward Daniel Theis in the German League, Wanamaker is coming off two years playing for Fenerbache Ulker of the Turkish League. He averaged 11.5 points and 3.5 assists — shooting 45.6 percent from the floor overall and 35.0 percent on 3-pointers — last season. He then averaged 16.2 points and shot 76.3 percent overall, 56.3 percent on 3-pointers, in the playoffs as his team won the Turkish League title and he was named Finals MVP.

The 6-foot-4 combo guard signed with the Celtics for the rookie minimum of $830,000 — up to $3 million less than he could have made staying in Turkey’s tenuous political climate.

“(I have) two young kids,” he said. “I try to keep them out of the way of certain things. In that country, there are some things going on. This past season I was OK. My first year, I really wasn’t. I’m here now. I’m going to leave that in the past.”

The future he traveled halfway around the world to play for has finally arrived.

“Over the past couple of years I thought I was ready for the jump,” he said. “The opportunity wasn’t there. Obviously, you leave a lot of money on the table coming here. But I’m back in America.

“It’s a dream come true to play in the NBA and with a team like Boston.”