Eight years ago when they were teammates in Brooklyn, if you’d ask Paul Pierce who on the Nets roster might some day be on the undercard for a huge Showtime Boxing Pay Per View, it is doubtful point guard Deron Williams would’ve been high on his list.

But as Williams gets set to make his in-ring debut on Saturday, December 18th against former NFL All-Pro running back Frank Gore, it was The Truth that Showtime sent to talk to D-Will about what got him to this point.

When Paul asked D-Will about his background in combat sports, the former NBA All-Star revealed that it was actually wrestling, not basketball, that was his first sport growing up, and Williams wrestled until his potential as a hoop star and clashing schedules forced him to choose the hardwood over the mat.

“I wrestled for about eight years, actually won state twice, as an eight-year-old and 12-year-old,” Williams said. “Had to stop in high school because it’s the same season as basketball, but I definitely loved it and it was a big part of my childhood, something I’m proud of.”

Asked by The Truth about his roots in MMA and boxing, Williams noted that his brother’s father was a golden gloves boxing champion in the Army and introduced him to the sport.

“Growing up, when I was younger, I wanted to be Jean Claude Van Damme,” he said.

Williams then spoke of his now long-standing partnership with Dallas-based Fortis MMA, which he first invested in during his time with the Dallas Mavericks, and where he began training in MMA more regularly after his NBA career concluded. Since then, Williams told his former teammate, he’s toyed with the idea of a an exhibition bout.

So naturally, Paul asked, how did this turn into a boxing match?

“I don’t think boxing was ever in my mind, because the celebrity boxing thing wasn’t really prevalent until the last year or two. Seeing Nate [Robinson] go out there, seeing OchoCinco go out there it looked like those guys had fun with the process.”

“So how did this fight with you and Frank Gore come about?” Paul asked.

“Honestly it came out of nowhere for me,” Williams said. “One of the promoters who was promoting the fight, who I think works with Jake [Paul] called me and was like ‘Frank is looking for a fight.’ and I was like ‘Shoot, I’ll do it.'”

Next Paul asked the tough question, is this just a one-and-done for D-Will or would he entertain making a second career out of this if he’s successful?

“Say you’re successful, you get the win, would you want to get out there again? What if one of the Paul [brothers] is like ‘Hey, I want to fight you D-Will,” you put the hands on Frank Gore and then one of the Pauls says “Hey, let’s match up.”

“I’d think about it,” Williams said. “But it’s a lot. This ain’t no joke.”

Watch the whole interview below, and tune into Showtime PPV on December 18th to watch Williams and Gore on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley II. The Truth will be in the house providing guest commentary.