A lot of weird things happened in 2020, and Lou Williams might be responsible for the weirdest thing to happen in the NBA that year.
When the NBA finished the 2019-20 campaign in a bubble at Disney World because of the pandemic, Williams, then with the Los Angeles Clippers, got an excused absence to leave the bubble to go to Atlanta following the death of his grandfather.
While there, Williams was spotted at Magic City, a renowned Atlanta strip club, thanks to an Instagram story from rapper Jack Harlow. The optics weren’t great, but Williams claimed he was there only for the lemon pepper chicken wings.
He ultimately had to serve a 10-day quarantine, and he recalled the whole incident – including the resulting phone call with commissioner Adam Silver – during an appearance on Draymond Green’s podcast.
“It was difficult for me because I felt like it was getting to a point where all of the s–t I’ve accomplished, how I’ve carried myself over my career, they were just trying to attach some goofy s--t to my name,” Williams said (1:05:00 in player above). “So, I was fighting the narrative, I was fighting the narrative because they were trying to make me out like a goofy, like I was out here tripping and it’s like come on man, that’s never been my M.O., so let’s not start that. I’m getting to the end of my career, I’m in Year 15, and y’all talking like I’ve been tripping this whole time.
“I think I said it on another platform, none of us were pandemic experts at the time. None of us. And so everything that I did that day, I thought I did it responsibly. The s–t just took a life of its own, it actually birthed businesses, it’s birthed nicknames. I get more Lemon Pepper s–t than Underground and all of that, Lemon Pepper is here to stay. I fought it for a minute because, like I said, the way people were trying to (portray) me, like I snuck out the bubble to go to Magic City. Come on, man.
“That was my only thing, just trying to navigate the narrative behind my decision. Was it a great decision? Looking back in hindsight, probably not, but at that time I didn’t think I was tripping, I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. But I can see it both ways.
“I took my 10 days in quarantine like a man,” Williams then quipped. “Adam called me straight up, he says ‘We’re going to give you 10 days quarantine because this s–t don’t look good.’ I said yes sir and we got off the phone.”
The story did end up taking on a life of its own, and two years later it remains one of the more bizarre stories from a bizarre season.
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