Tag: Lou Williams

D’Angelo Russell was criticized for not joining Lakers’ huddle in another brutal Nuggets loss

Stephen A. Smith, Lou Williams, and others didn’t like what they saw from D’Lo.

During yet another loss against the Denver Nuggets in the postseason, Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell had arguably his worst game yet.

Russell finished with 0 points in 24 minutes, shooting 0-for-6 on 3-pointers in a seven-point loss. It was an embarrassing performance for the former No. 2 overall pick, who also struggled in the postseason against Denver last year as well.

What was perhaps most troubling, however was not his inability to score. Instead, it was arguably his lack of engagement down the stretch when his team needed him most.

As captured in a video by LakersAllDayEveryDay.com’s Aran Cohen, for whatever reason, Russell was not sitting with his team during an important huddle.

Instead, he was off to the side doing completely completely different.

This didn’t sit well with Stephen A. Smith, who criticized the decision:

“What a disgrace, an embarrassment … [He] showed up in a game as a starting point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers … and did a donut … LeBron James doesn’t deserve a teammate like that. Somebody like that, that [is] not that prioritized, not that focused, get rid of him.”

ESPN’s Jay Williams also went after Russell for this odd choice.

Here is what Williams said:

“I don’t know if he’s on his cell phone. I don’t know if he’s eating snacks. I don’t know what the [expletive] it is. But I’m sitting up here on national TV saying that I am a former that typically, 90 percent of the time, defends the players … For D’Angelo Russell to check out of a game that way and not be involved in a team huddle gives me major concern … That’s a sign of somebody that is checked out of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Russell has a player option in his contract that would allow him to opt-in to return to Los Angeles or become a free agent, potentially signing a long-term deal with the Lakers or elsewhere.

Would the Los Angeles front office feel comfortable letting him walk without getting an asset back in return? Or perhaps he could find himself involved in a sign-and-trade if the Lakers decide to reconstruct the roster.

Longtime NBA veteran guard Lou Williams, who was teammates with Russell from 2015 until 2017 on the Lakers, also wasn’t happy.

“This is a bad look. No way around it. It’s bad optics. Bad timing. Bad everything. Come on. You’ve had an amazing season. You’ve been championed. You’ve been revered. You’ve been celebrated … Don’t let this be the last thing the fans and the organization thinks and remembers from you. Stay professional. Keep your head right. Keep your name straight. We’ve had these conversations. I don’t like the optics of it, especially where a game where you’ve struggled.”

While this was not good, hopefully Russell takes the advice of folks like Smith and Williams.

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Lou Williams revealed how fan chatter led to the Clippers’ failure in the 2020 NBA bubble

Look away, Clippers fans. This isn’t pretty.

Despite his elite play and appearing confident on the court, Lou Williams revealed that off-the-court murmurs got to him and his Los Angeles Clippers teammates.

The ongoing pandemic of 2020 significantly impacted play across multiple professional sports leagues, including the NBA. The NBA suspended play in March of 2020 and resumed games in July with a new setup based in Walt Disney World.

Nicknamed “the bubble,” the makeshift format allowed play to continue, albeit without fans and several players who opted out. Since that season wasn’t under typical conditions, fan chatter started to build up that any team that might win the NBA Finals that year wasn’t really a champion.

According to Williams, who spoke about the 2020 season on a recent episode of Trae Young’s From The Point podcast, the talks among fans got back to the Clippers and affected the team. The Clippers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals despite having a 3-1 series lead.

Warning: NSFW language.

Around the 13:30 mark of the episode, Williams says the team “just wasn’t built for the bubble” and indicates that it was disappointing because they had championship aspirations, but they really didn’t want to be there.

That revelation is making the rounds on social media again, including where Williams says that pressure from fans and the perceived disrespect of a potential championship didn’t sit right with players.

Sending thoughts and condolences to Clippers fans everywhere.

‘We were crushed’: Former Clipper laments trading away Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Lou Williams said the Clippers were ‘heartbroken’ when they had to trade SGA.

One of the biggest league-changing trades in recent history received some new intel to put extra perspective on the megadeal.

Former sixth man Lou Williams recently spoke about the 2019 Paul George trade, in which the Oklahoma City Thunder received Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a treasure trove of draft picks from the LA Clippers.

Four years later, the deal continues to age tremendously well for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander has blossomed into one of the best players in the league and their seemingly endless number of draft picks gives them arguably the deepest trade ammunition in the entire league.

In fact, the Thunder are already benefiting from the Clippers’ draft picks. They used their 2022 first-round pick to select Jalen Williams, who finished second in Rookie of the Year voting last season.

In a recent media appearance, Williams spoke about how demoralizing it was to trade Gilgeous-Alexander following an impressive rookie campaign.

Williams played four seasons for the Clippers; he was teammates with Gilgeous-Alexander during his rookie season in 2018-19. The 20-year-old rookie was a key starter for a 48-34 Clippers squad that pushed the Golden State Warriors during the playoffs.

“Absolutely. We were heartbroken when he got traded. Absolutely. We were crushed,” Williams said. “Even though it was for PG. We knew who PG was, but we have spent so much time and energy and kinda been instrumental in his career and his development. Just making sure he’s getting extra shots. He was so open to information. So open to learning and wanting to be great, we knew he was gonna be one of those players.”

Former Clippers coach Doc Rivers also said something similar last season. It appears giving up Gilgeous-Alexander was a bitter pill to swallow for the Clippers, but it was the cost of doing business to acquire both Kawhi Leonard and George — who’ve yet to take them to their first NBA Finals appearance.

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Former Laker Lou Williams wants Sixth Man of the Year award named after him

Former Lakers guard Lou Williams, who was instant offense off the bench, would like the Sixth Man of the Year award to be named after him.

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A number of the individual awards the NBA hands out each season are named after famous players and contributors from the past. For example, the NBA Finals MVP is named after Bill Russell and the Western Conference finals and Eastern Conference finals MVPs are named after Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, respectively.

The Sixth Man of the Year award isn’t named after anyone, and former Los Angeles Lakers guard Lou Williams feels his name should be in the name of the award. If he doesn’t receive the honor, he would love to see the award named after Jamal Crawford or Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili.

“That would be an honor. If not me, Jamal. If not Jamal, Manu. I think we’re three guys that championed that. We made it a lifestyle. We made it something that younger guys coming into the league, if they’re not going to be superstars, not going to be All-Stars, they still have a position to make their mark on the game. That would be a huge honor. So I’m not fighting. I’m not saying, ‘No, it shouldn’t be named after me,’ I would definitely love that. But if not me, definitely Jamal. If not Jamal, definitely Manu.”

For much of his 17-year career, Williams was instant offense personified off the bench. He was an expert at drawing fouls, as well as a pretty potent 3-point shooter.

Williams played one-and-a-half seasons with the Lakers, starting in the 2015-16 campaign until he was traded midway through the following season.

2005 NBA draft rewind: Sixers find second-round steal in Lou Williams

The Philadelphia 76ers found themselves a second-round steal in the form of Lou Williams in the 2005 NBA draft.

The Philadelphia 76ers are without a draft pick in 2023, so it’s a good time to look back at some past draft picks the franchise has made.

The Sixers, coming off a 2005 playoff performance, only had a second-round pick, and they selected Lou Williams out of South Gwinnett High School in Georgia. He was expected to learn from Allen Iverson and Chris Webber and eventually help them lead the Sixers to success.

After not playing much as a rookie, he gradually earned more playing time in his second season, especially after the trade of Iverson to the Denver Nuggets. He eventually evolved into one of the NBA’s best sixth men.

Williams averaged 11.5 points off the bench during the 2012 playoffs when the eighth-seeded Sixers stunned the Chicago Bulls in the first round. They pushed the heavily favored Boston Celtics to Game 7 in the conference semifinals.

He averaged 11.3 points and 3.0 assists in his seven seasons in Philadelphia before he joined the Atlanta Hawks in the 2012 offseason.

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5 Philadelphia 76ers named to most underpaid players in NBA history list

5 Philadelphia 76ers have been named to the most underpaid players in NBA history list.

How much money NBA players make is a debate that rages among fans on an everyday basis. The fan base of every team discusses how much money a certain player makes and whether he actually deserves the contract he has.

The Philadelphia 76ers are not immune to that debate.

The folks over at HoopsHype have put together a metric to measure such issues. The real value metric was developed by HoopsHype analyst Alberto De Roa. In a recent HoopsHype article, author Frank Urbina sorted the top 30 players who have not been given enough money in terms of their real value.

There are five players on the list who have Sixers ties and they are:

Andre Iguodala recalls growth with Sixers in final visit to Philadelphia

Former Philadelphia 76ers star Andre Iguodala recalls his growth with the franchise in his final visit to his original NBA home.

PHILADELPHIA–Andre Iguodala paid his final visit to the Wells Fargo Center on Friday as a member of the Golden State Warriors as he plays out the final season of a very successful 19-year NBA career. Iguodala has yet to make his season debut in 2022-23 due to a hip injury.

The 38-year-old out of Arizona was the 9th pick of the 2004 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and he spent the first eight seasons of his career with the franchise. It could be split up into two parts between his time with Allen Iverson and his time after Iverson was traded.

When Iverson was still with the franchise, Iguodala was a kid learning the ropes of the game, but once The Answer was traded, that was when he had to grow up and take steps forward.

Iguodala discussed his time and his growth with the Sixers on Friday:

All the players who could wear a No. 6 jersey in 2022-23 after the NBA’s plans to retire it to honor Bill Russell

The league recently announced plans to retire Russell’s No. 6 jersey across the league to honor the Celtics great, but some players are excepted.

The NBA and Boston Celtics plan to honor Hall of Fame big man Bill Russell for his unparalleled career in the league and his dedication to fighting for civil rights and social justice by retiring his No. 6 jersey league-wide.

The move — unprecedented in league history — honors the singular life Russell lived on and off the court. Russell was the NBA’s ultimate winner with a record 13 titles to his name as a player or player-coach. He also  achieved or was a part of many milestones, including being a part of the first all-Black starting five and the first Black head coach in league history. Through it all, he used his platform to fight for others in a time when that put his career at great risk.

The players in the league wearing No. 6 jerseys in 2021-22 will be allowed to continue to do so until they either switch to a new number or retire from the game. Let’s take a look at the players who could wear that jersey number next season.

“If you know Doc, he don’t hold no …

“If you know Doc, he don’t hold no punches,” Williams said. “He like, ‘I ain’t feeling [your energy]. You don’t wanna be here?’ I said, ‘I don’t. I got traded twice in six months. No, y’all weren’t on my radar.’ I wasn’t a big Clippers fan. … He like, ‘Look, we reset and we reenergizing. I don’t know what else I need to tell you but this is gonna be your home. I’m gonna allow you to be yourself. And we’re gonna do something special here.’ Doc told me that Day 1. For whatever reason, I believed him. For whatever reason, I bought in. And my Clippers run is by far the best I’ve felt playing basketball in my entire career.”