Williams told Fox Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThere\u2019s no reason in my opinion or my eyes that he shouldn\u2019t be playing in the NBA right now. Hopefully, he keeps pushing, keeps working, and gets that opportunity. He deserves a real shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cheatham has averaged more than a double-double across NBL26, posting 11.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, excelling alongside the likes of Bryce Cotton and Isaac Humphries in an Adelaide team that looks bound for Finals.<\/p>\n
His numbers have lifted again in the past month as the 36ers begin to settle into their rhythm.<\/p>\n
Like Cheatham, Williams grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and described the 30-year-old as \u201cmy little brother\u201d, recalling his impact throughout high school.<\/p>\n
\u201c(He is) just a straight beast, and we stayed in contact all through college,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, we even have the same professional trainer. In the off-season, we are in the gym together two or three times a week. That is my guy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is an extremely cerebral player and a great teammate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat mic\u2019d up session the NBL did with him this season was a perfect example of who he is, not just as a competitor but as a person.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is supportive, vocal, and works his butt off. He has had different situations throughout his career, but I think being in Adelaide is the best thing for him. It is giving him and everyone else a real chance to see what he can do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Cheatham has previously played five NBA games between 2019-2022, lining up for the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz.<\/p>\n
The 36ers host Illawarra on Wednesday night at home, live on ESPN from 7.30pm AEDT.<\/p>\n
Read the full story here >>\u00a0\u2018Deserves a real shot\u2019: Former import\u2019s huge praise for 36ers star<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763524512_238_690bcc0056be21e70a98dcf8_Updated)
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former NBA and NBL big man Alan Williams has called for Adelaide star Zylan Cheatham to be given…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-294011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}