Всем спасибо! Получилось таки :)
use yii\data\SqlDataProvider;
$count = Yii::$app->db->createCommand('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM clients')->queryScalar();
$provider = new SqlDataProvider([
'sql' => 'SELECT * FROM clients',
'totalCount' => $count,
'pagination' => [
'pageSize' => 10,
],
'sort' => [
'attributes' => [
'id',
'name',
'phone',
],
],
]);
$models = $provider->getModels();
echo GridView::widget([
'dataProvider'=> $provider,
'responsive'=>true,
'hover'=>true
]);