Zgoda's NBA Insider: Welcome to the shoe biz, Derrick Williams

Hang around Timberwolves forward Derrick Williams' Target Center locker and something will strike you: The guy likes shoes.

Not just the fashionable leopard-print ones he wears to work, but the many basketball sneakers that cascade from his locker as if they were multiplying.

He likes them so much — and has for so long — that last month he and a friend opened a shoe/apparel store in Tucson, Ariz., called Grand VII Premium Sneakers and Streetwear.

He spoke recently about why he has turned his passion for collecting shoes into a business.

Q Why Tucson?

A I have a big fan base out there, and being from California, there are a lot of those shops in L.A., and when I got to school in Arizona, there weren't any. I really felt it'd be a good investment and good for the kids out there. Instead of waiting for things in the mail, they can go to my shop right down the street.

Q Why a clothing/shoe store as one of your first big investments?

Q Remember the first pair you bought?

A With my money? Or should I say my mom's money? Probably the Tracy McGrady 2001 or 2002 All-Star Kicks, adidas. They're shiny blue. A lot of people who know shoes will know what I'm talking about. I think they were like $125.

Q Did you really save up your school lunch money to buy shoes?

A I saved my mom's money. She used to give me $5 a day to buy food, and sometimes I'd make my own food to save money so I eventually could buy me a few pairs of shoes.

Q Did she find out you were double-dipping?

Q How many pair do you own?

A Over 100, probably 150 or so.

Q Is there a prized pair in there?

A I have a few. I'd probably say my Olympic Jordan 6s that came out in 1996. I have those that are still in the box and I wore one time. I'd say a lot of shoe collectors would like to grab those off me.

Q How many still fit?

Q Have you worn most of them?

A Out of 100, I've probably worn 25 or 30. I just keep a lot of them in the box for myself or for hand-me-downs, whenever I have kids.

Q Do you wear the same shoes every night?

A I change every night, pretty much. I've done that since high school, college. I'm always wearing different shoes every game: Jordan, Nike, adidas. I wear pretty much anything. I'm not [signed] with anybody right now.

A Right now, about 30.

Q I read somewhere that you said you were "two feet in" with this enterprise. That's a good thing to be with a shoe store, isn't it?

A Did I? I wish I had thought of that intentionally. I'll have to use that in the future.

The Boston Celtics will arrive at Target Center on Monday for their annual visit without Kevin Garnett, who's expected to miss at least two weeks because of ankle inflammation.

"We're going to err on the right side," Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters last week. "At the end of the day, I want him right and I don't want him half-right."

Sacramento coach Keith Smart, after he watched Kings center DeMarcus Cousins scored 34 points in three quarters during Thursday's 117-103 victory at Phoenix: "We have a unique big man. He's a big who can play big but has the skills of a guard. He has the whole package. When everything comes along in his life, when he grows up and sells into how he plays every night in the NBA, he'll be a special talent."

The Miami Heat's 27-game winning streak, which ended Wednesday in Chicago, was not only the second longest in NBA history, but it was the second longest among all the four major sports: NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL:

TeamStreakDates

L.A. Lakers3311/5/71 to 1/7/72

Miami Heat272/3/13 to 3/25/13

Houston Rockets221/29/08 to 3/16/08

New England Patriots2112/17/06 to 9/14/08

Chicago Cubs219/4/35 to 9/27/35

wolves' week ahead

Monday: 7 p.m. vs. Boston (Ch. 29)

Friday: 7 p.m. vs. Toronto (No TV)

Saturday: 7 p.m. vs. Detroit (Ch. 29)

Player to watch: Paul Pierce, Boston

Ray Allen's gone to Miami, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo are injured, so Pierce by default is the only one of the Big Three (or Big Four) left. Unless you count Jeff Green, who is starting to play like it.

« I don't like to lose. I hate it. »