Lou Williams On ‘Podcast P With Paul George’

Lou Williams speaks on his career ties to Allen Iverson, making an impact as a sixth man, and doing enough for Hall Of Fame consideration on “Podcast P With Paul George”.

We share highlights from this week’s episode of “Podcast P With Paul George”, presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, featuring NBA veteran and 3-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Lou Williams.

In the episode, Lou-Will offers insight into life after retiring from the NBA, revolutionizing the 6th man role, his thoughts on the current generation of players, and getting the opportunity to play alongside some of the greatest scoring guards in Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant.

Later in the episode, PG and Lou break down their time together on the Clippers, playing under Doc Rivers, and life in the NBA bubble.

The guys also break down why the three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year should be considered for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• 05:50 – LOU WILLIAMS ON WHAT RETIREMENT LIFE HAS BEEN LIKE FOR HIM

“It’s been fun man, it’s been eye opening. Because I don’t miss it as much as I thought I would. I don’t think I miss it as much because I gave myself a two-year window where I knew I was gonna phase myself out and I knew I was coming to the end. So I had two seasons to really prepare what was next for me. I think that’s been one of the biggest surprises to me, just not tripping about not being around the game. So when I do pop out and go to a game, I can really enjoy it because I’m not emotionally invested in what’s going on…I can watch y’all as fans again.”

• 06:50 – ON PLAYING HIS FINAL SEASON FOR HIS HOMETOWN ATLANTA HAWKS AND WHETHER IT HELPED EASE HIS DECISION TO RETIRE

“Shit, I think that’s what buried me! They should have sent me somewhere else. It’s just complacency when you’re at the crib. I kept telling them y’all can count my days. I’m too comfortable at home. If I played for another market, another city it would give me that chip where I could keep grinding. When I’m at home, I’ve got too many comforts around me.”

• 23:20 – ON WHAT ALLEN IVERSON TAUGHT LOU WILLIAMS ON BEING A PRO

“Man, I watched the dude fight through so much adversity. He was a trailblazer. He’s the first one to do the tattoos, he’s the first person to do the cornrows, he’s the first person to be part of hip-hop culture, he’s the first person, you know, to do the big gaudy jewelry with the diamonds and all of that. He’s a pop culture icon and a basketball player. So I just watched him take a lot of criticism and go out and put up 30s and 40s and put a team on his back at six feet, 175 pounds dealing with broken bones and injuries. He gave everything he had, every night. That put that toughness in me. Like bro, if you can lace up, you’re going to play in the game. You’re going to go out there and give it your all. I think that was one of the most valuable lessons I learned from him. Going out there and giving the city of Philadelphia everything he had.”

• 25:30 – LOU ON ALLEN IVERSON BEING TRADED BACK; WHY THEY GAVE IVERSON LOU’S STARTING LINEUP SPOT

“I played with him twice and it’s kind of crazy how our relationships and our careers intertwined because by the time he got traded, I was coming into my own…and I broke my jaw. Antawn Jamison broke my jaw on a loose ball. They said I had to have my jaw wired shut for eight weeks. They called me early on in my recovery process, they was like hey we thinking about bringing AI back, you know to fill that void, what do you think about that? I was excited about it, I was like hell yeah. Like bring my man back, I was excited to do that. Then once I got healthy again, they called me into the office and was like yeah you’re going to come off the bench, AI’s going to start because we don’t think it would be healthy for him, mentally going forward, coming off the bench so he’s going to be the starter. Obviously that’s AI and I’m cool with him being the starter but it was like damn I was peaking up. Shit, I’ve been coming off the bench ever since that. So how my career ended up getting solidified in the underground and the sixth man and all of these other things, a lot of that part of my history is still tied to AI.”

• 27:40 – LOU WILLIAMS SAYS DOC RIVERS WAS THE ONLY COACH TO TAKE A CHANCE

“I never really had a coach that took a chance on me like that. The only coach that really took a chance like that was Doc in my first year with the Clippers when I won my second sixth man. You know, I started a lot of games that year and that was it. I think I started 100 and some games in my whole career which sounds crazy. But it got to that point where I had to find joy in the game.”

• 28:15 – LOU WILLIAMS ON HIS IMPACT AS A SIXTH MAN ON THE NBA

“I think Jamal [Crawford] and I have made an impact on the game where it’s not an embarrassing thing to be the sixth man on the team. It’s not frowned upon. These young guys are embracing it now.”

• 38:10 – LOU WILLIAMS SHARES EXPERIENCE GOING TO THE LAKERS, KOBE COMING BACK FROM INJURY, CHANGING THE DYNAMIC OF THE TEAM

“He [Kobe] had a shoulder injury at that time. He was having a shoulder issue. So when I first got there it was kinda weird because he wasn’t around. So I was playing with my peers and he got healthy and everything changed. Like the environment changed, I feel like the air changed, the lights changed. He just came in and it was like alright order in the court…playing with Bean for two and a half years was special to me, man. Just getting to know him as a person was a special experience to me.”

• 52:30 – PG ON KEEPING HIS CLIPPERS TRADE SECRET FROM LOU WILLIAMS AND PAT BEV WHILE SPENDING THE DAY TOGETHER

PG: “Funny enough, because I think you and Pat Bev was there. I ran into y’all. Whole time I know what’s going on but you know we gotta keep that shit under wraps. Deep down I want to be like, what’s up! It’s on! But I kept it like, you know what I mean I was trying to keep a poker face, no pun intended being out there. But I knew the whole time that shit was going to drop that night.”

TW: “Yeah, we probably didn’t know and we probably was almost in that trade, you know what I’m saying? So they weren’t telling us nothing at the time…we literally had no clue. We were playing roulette man…I was striking. There started being a buzz around me… The guys were like yo, PG just came whatever whatever. So we like what? Hold on. So I pulled my chips like what’s going on. By this time Pat Bev is coming down because he went to play blackjack so he’s like yeahhhhhhh. I’m like hold up, I ain’t get traded did I? Because I’m like what did we give up to get him?”

• 1:06:00 – LOU WILLIAMS SAYS HE THINKS HE’S DONE ENOUGH FOR HALL OF FAME CONSIDERATION

“I honestly feel like I did enough. I think when you think of the Hall of Fame, you think of the obvious guys, you know what I’m saying? You don’t think of the rest of the class. There’s a coach you’ve never heard of that’s going to go in the Hall of Fame that same year. There’s going to be some players, there’s going to be some person that’s a staff member that’s going to go in the Hall of Fame. The Basketball Hall of Fame is about making an impact on the game that nobody else has been able to do. And I feel like I especially have done that. I feel like Jamal has done that. He’s eligible two years before I am, he’s eligible next year. So how it goes for him will kind of give me an idea of how it’s going to go for me. Whether it’s first ballot or whatever I think I’ve done enough to get it. Talk about somebody who embraced a position that was handed to me…and I championed it and I made it cool. I made it transcendent where young kids are comfortable with doing it.”