Where did the “Time Lord” nickname come from?
https://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2018/10/boston_celtics_robert_williams_5.html
That partially explains it, but it's also a little bit skewed by the twitter user's self promotion and the writer's willingness to keep some semblance of "Weird Celtic Twitter" quirky mystique to the whole thing.
Here's the real story behind the nickname...Robert (nicknamed Boo-Butt in College) slipped in the draft in large part, because he was seen as an immature headcase. Apparently at one point his school suspended him - which I've seen at least one writer claim was drug-related. There were also some medical concerns, but worries about his work ethic and maturity were a big part of why he was available that late.
The morning after being drafted he was scheduled to have a press call and he was missing in action. Fans reaction in the moment ranged from, "wow, didn't take long for this fool to live up to his billing"... to some fans pointing out the potential parallels to Len Bias and hoping things didn't get out of hand.
Eventually, it was explained that Robert merely overslept and missed his conference call. Immediately, folks on reddit and twitter started coming up with all sorts of whacky sleep-themed nicknames: "Big Sleep", "Captain Snooze", "Sleepy Williams", "Snorlax", etc to make fun of him for oversleeping. For my part, I stuck with the sleep theme and started calling him "Sandman" (mythical character that puts people to sleep), because it reminded me of Hakeem "the Dream" and we could claim Sandman put his opponent to sleep when he had a ferocious block.
More details trickled out that he had been out the night before celebrating at Buffalo Wild Wings and because he was in a Central Time Zone, he mixed up what time the call was and overslept...
https://nesn.com/2018/06/robert-williams-reveals-why-he-missed-celtics-morning-conference-call/ ...
Cue the time-themed nicknames on twitter/reddit... "McFly", "Clock Keeper", "Time Lord", etc.
"Time Lord" isn't an original name. It's a direct reference to Doctor Who (long running children's sci fi show that's been around since the 1960s). Doctor Who is a type of alien called a "Time Lord".
"The Time Lords are a fictional, ancient extraterrestrial species in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' protagonist, the Doctor, is a member. Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their non-linear perception of time."
... thus, it was funny to call Robert "Time Lord" and joke that he only missed his press call, because he experiences time differently.
It's stuck, because people think it sounds cool and many don't realize it has roots in nerd culture. Seems most fans assume it's just some random abstract nickname for the internet era. The media is picking up so they appear relevant - all the while, the people who initially came up with the nickname are quietly snickering that it's caught on.
Later, news broke that Robert lost his wallet twice in a 2-day span and missed his flight to Summer League. There were some wallet themed nicknames like "Willy Wallet", but they didn't stick like Time Lord.
FWIW, there's a guy on twitter who goes by Riff that some credit as the first fan to give him the Doctor Who "Time Lord" nickname. He claims he predicted Boston was going to draft Robert a couple years ago - and is trying to fit it with the time travel theme.
More entertaining is that there's actually a tweet from 2013 from someone who says:
https://twitter.com/aaron_shimmer/status/377105124327690240 September 9, 2013: "I think robert williams is a timelord he never aged i watched ms doubtfire the other day and i was amazed lol"
He immediately corrected himself by saying he meant to say Robin Williams... but the fact there's a person calling Robert Williams "timelord" 5 years ago sticks with the time travel theme.
It's gained a bit of a life of it's own, but ultimately Ainge is probably right - it's a borderline mean-spirited nickname created to make fun of Robert. The team is aware of his problems and had to bring in a dedicated handler to work with him directly and make sure he meets professional expectations. My guess is that either Ainge thinks the name sounds random for the sake of being random, or he's aware it's poking fun at Robert and would prefer we don't hold his youthful mistakes over his head his entire career. The best NBA nicknames have some reference to the guy's game... Magic was Magic. Air Jordan hung in the air. The Mailman always delivered. The only other nickname similar to "Time Lord" I can think of is "Big Baby"... it's a nickname focused on the player's failures as a person as opposed to their talents on the court.