A viral sprint video from Memphis basketball practice has followed Katt Williams around for more than a year, and now the comedian has finally weighed in.
The clip, which surfaced in 2024, shows a shirtless Williams running from baseline to baseline inside the Memphis basketball facility before a phone screen flashes a 4.47-second time. It has racked up more than 16 million views on X alone, and the big questions have lingered ever since: was that really Williams, and was the clock legit?
Williams, who turns 55 in September, is back in Memphis this week for the Danny Thomas Celebrity-Am golf tournament at Chickasaw Country Club on Aug. 13.
He also has become a familiar face in the city in recent years, especially as a guest commentator for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, which is being played at TPC Southwind Aug.
13-16.
When asked about the video, Williams seemed to confirm it was him.
"I’m great, and I’m an athlete. So I know a lot of great athletes," Williams told The Commercial Appeal, referencing Tigers basketball coach and former NBA great Penny Hardaway.
"A great athlete is just a special type of person. Somebody who is supremely in charge of their focus and their dedication.
They probably work harder when you’re not looking at them than they do when you are. That embodies Penny and all my athletic friends."
He also said the time was real, even if he believes the run didn’t show him at his best.
"Slow time. Slow time," he said.
"I am 5-5, and 55. But that was somebody else’s shoes.
It was a whole debacle. And, remember, I was running on the court, it was really slippery.
It was not a good representation.
"But I needed to put the time out there so people understand that I’m not to be trifled with."
Hardaway, who was also at Chickasaw Country Club for the annual event benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, remembered the video when asked about it. He smiled and nodded before offering his take on Williams’ burst of speed.
"You know, I think he’s just an amazing person," Hardaway said. "When you know him and you’re around him, there’s nothing he can’t do.
So when he did the video, I was like, ‘OK, he’s challenging himself in another area.’ But I thought it was pretty cool he was in our facility to show that he could run a sprint in a certain amount of seconds."
And if Hardaway had to line up and try to beat Williams?
"No, I can’t. Those days are over with for me."