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Former NBA star Lou Williams had one of the more colorful basketball careers. In addition to being a very good player, he also led a very interesting life off the court during his 17 years in the league.
In addition to earning the nickname “Lemon Pepper Lou” after breaking the NBA’s quarantine protocols during the pandemic when he visited an Atlanta strip club, claiming that he went there for dinner, he also once made $15,000 by crushing a six-pack, talked a gunman out of robbing him then bought him some McDonald’s, and briefly dated two women at once.
Now, thanks to him having his own podcast, we can add another tale to the Legend of Lou. Recently, during an episode of The Underground Lounge, Lou Williams recalled a story to co-host Spank Horton and his show’s guests about the time Doc Rivers made him play a game while drunk.
As Williams recalled, this strange turn of events occurred while he was with the Los Angeles Clippers and the team was in New York to play the Knicks.
“One time we had a noon game in New York. My whole s— in New York, I go to a little lounge, little hookah lounge, have me a couple of drinks. I can go and get back to the room,” Williams shared. “This particular night, it’s like 10:30, I’m about to walk out the door. I don’t know what happened. A wave of women walked in, like a 40 piece just everywhere. I got a little carried away.
“I kept drinking, kept partying, f—— around, I look up, they’re turning the lights on and I’m still in that b—-. I’m like, damn. So now my f—— professionalism kicks in at this point. I’m like, I need some coconut water.
“I got to the arena and it’s about 10:00, 10:15. I’m like ‘F—, I’m drunk as hell. This ain’t gonna work out.’ So I go through my pre-game workout. I’m like, ‘f—,’ I’m still drunk, but I got my big boy face on. I’m trying to, you know, I’m faking through all the movements and s— and I’m faking through it, but mind y’all, I come off the bench, so I got about eight minutes to get my s— together.
“So I’m trying everything. I’m in the sauna. I’m trying to sweat that s— out. Everything.
“So, boom, Doc Rivers called my number,” Lou Williams continued. “I’m like, s—. I stumble up to the god d— desk. I’m in the game, I turn the ball over twice immediately. So I had to make a business decision. I’m like either I’mma look drunk out here or I’m going go tell somebody the truth and I’m going go sit the f— down and I’ll deal with my suspension later on, right?
“So I walk up to Doc Rivers, I say, ‘Doc I’mma tell you the truth.’ Me and Doc had this kind of relationship. I said, ‘Doc, I’mma tell you the truth I’m drunk as f—. I’m f—— up. I’m f—— up. I went too far. I’m sorry. I don’t think I can do this.’
“That n—- Doc looked me square in my eyes and said, ‘N—-, you’re playing the whole second quarter, because I need you to sweat that s— out. Because I’m going to need you in the fourth quarter’. I had 25 in the fourth quarter.”
Lou ain’t lying either. At least about the 25 points.