"Timelord," the moniker given to Boston Celtics rookie Robert Williams, might be the NBA's best or worst new nickname, depending on who you ask. If you ask most people, it's the best. If you ask Danny Ainge, however, he'll let you know he's not a fan. 

That was confirmed Thursday morning when the Celtics GM and President of Basketball Ops made an appearance on the Toucher & Rich morning show. Ainge said he thinks "Timelord" is a "bad name" and that Celtics fans "can do better."

Ainge's distaste for the name probably has something to do with the fact that it was born from Williams' rocky start to his career with the team. The Celtics' rookie, who slipped to Boston at the 27th pick in the 2018 draft largely due to concerns about his effort level, was late for a post-draft conference call and absent from the team's first Summer League practice because he missed a flight. 

But the "Timelord" nickname isn't meant to carry a negative connotation, at least not according to one of the people who helped come up with the name. Instead, Ryan Hebert -- aka @HebertOfRiffs, one of the pillars of the bizarre and hilarious subsection of online basketball fandom known as "Weird Celtics Twitter" -- says the name was crafted largely to poke fun at how the uptight local media overreacted to the 21-year-old big man's tardiness. And also as a credit to his own prediction that Williams would end up in Boston.

Hebert explained to MassLive earlier this year:

"So (we) started joking that he wasn't late, he was operating on a different timeline concurrent to the one we are in, as evidenced by the fact that I knew he was a Celtic two years before he was a Celtic. And we would do it with people taking themselves really seriously and they'd get very mad at us for thinking they were too uptight. So from there he became a T I M E L O R D, like the characters in Doctor Who whose time travel can tie together terrible holes in the plot of a shoddy script.

"Basically, Timelord boiled down to the prediction of drafting him in 2017 and also defending him against uptight people who were earnestly acting like they've never been late to work in their lives," Hebert said. "Weird Celtics Twitter is a bizarre place, but we genuinely love the characters and personalities and people on the team, and we are online so much that we have to do absurd things to show people how stupid it is to say a mega-athlete with a savant-like feel for timing, blocks and passing is a bust because they missed a flight. We all love Robert and are pulling for him as a pro and as a person and this is our bizarre way of going about it."

So not only does "Timelord" serve as an excellent spin on Williams' early issues with being on time, but it also serves as a subtle way to poke fun at the Boston media, which has a well-earned reputation of being overly critical and taking things way too seriously. As such, "Timelord" might be the most well-intentioned nickname of all time. 

Williams has played in six games for the Celtics so far this year, splitting time between Boston and the G League's Maine Red Claws. He was recently recalled to help fill in for an injury-ridden Boston squad. In his first game back, he was tasked with a matchup against Anthony Davis and did well to hold his own, even delivering a couple rejections against The Brow.

While Ainge may not love Weird Celtics Twitter's contribution, the Celtics boss has liked what he's seen from Williams on the court.

"He's showed what his potential is, but you can see his youth and inexperience as well," said Ainge on Toucher & Rich. "He's athletic, he plays with a lot of energy, there's a lot to be excited about. I'm excited that he's getting a chance to play. I think it's healthy for guys to get some reward for their hard work, and he's doing all the right things. I'm excited for his future."

Williams would be excited for his future too, if he didn't already know it.