Water has flowed under the bridges but the frustration of Lou Williams after his departure from the Clippers does not seem to have completely dissipated. Last March, the triple winner of the title of 6th man of the year was transferred to Atlanta against Rajon Rondo. A moment particularly badly experienced by the person concerned who had squarely thought of retiring in the days that followed.
” I don’t want to look back and tell myself that I retired prematurely, wondering what I could have done or what could have happened “, he had dropped at the time. Long interviewed by Clutchpoints, the back obviously still has in mind “what could have happened” with the Clippers.
” I wish we were a little more patient with the process of trying to build something special. But you know, in the NBA today, it’s instant results or nothing. That was the only disappointing part, but I have no regrets. I appreciate everyone (at the Clippers), with no grudge against anyone “, assures the 35-year-old player today, back in his old room a few days ago. He did not play this meeting, but he has everything even got his tribute video.
Transferred at the last minute
At the time of the transfer, Lou Williams had a worse year than in previous years, with an offensive contribution down (from 18 to 12 points on average). The Californians preferred to do without it, while the young Terance Mann in particular was emerging, and bet on a more creative profile with Rajon Rondo. A very inconclusive experience…
” It caught me a bit off guard”, remembers the veteran on this transfer. “We heard a few noises from the hallway, but nothing really concrete. I felt that something was going to happen, but we did not know with whom. I believe the deadline was set at three o’clock. I got traded at 2:45 or something. I was getting ready for the game and I got a call from my agent, he said, ‘We think something’s going on, stay close to your phone’. And I got this call. The pill was hard to swallow, but that’s business.“
Along with Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Harrell, Lou Williams was indeed one of the faces of the franchise in recent years. He had participated in the beautiful epic of the Clippers version 2018-2019, after “Lob City”, and before the arrivals of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. But the scorer never got past the 2020 half-conference, memorably lost to the Nuggets.
Another possible return?
Despite this frustration of not having made it to the end, Sweet Lou enjoyed visiting his former team who, according to him, “ keep moving in the right direction “, highlighting the internal progress of Terance Mann or Amir Coffey.
Of his time with the neighbors of the Lakers, from 2017 to 2021 therefore, the rear says he cannot stop on a particular memorable memory as there were so many of them. But he hopes at least that the local public appreciated the efforts made in this team which knew how to shine in the regular season with, but also without All-Star in the workforce.
“ We put a lot of effort into trying to make this place a place where it was difficult for our opponents to play and at the same time, to make it an attractive place. There was blood, sweat and tears put into it, and looking back, almost everyone has moved on. Of course, there is always the hard core, but looking back, we were happy. I have no regrets about my time here. I’m really grateful and appreciate everything we’ve done.“
But if the opportunity to go back and finish the job presents itself…” Absoutely. If that makes sense, absolutely. I still have a great relationship here, so if it makes sense for both parties, it will happen.“
| Lou Williams | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Minimum | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2005-06 | PHL | 30 | 5 | 44.2 | 22.2 | 61.5 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| 2006-07 | PHL | 61 | 11 | 44.1 | 32.4 | 69.6 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 4.3 |
| 2007-08 | PHL | 80 | 23 | 42.4 | 35.9 | 78.3 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 11.5 |
| 2008-09 | PHL | 81 | 24 | 39.8 | 28.6 | 79.0 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 12.8 |
| 2009-10 | PHL | 64 | 30 | 47.0 | 34.0 | 82.4 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 14.0 |
| 2010-11 | PHL | 75 | 23 | 40.6 | 34.8 | 82.3 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 13.7 |
| 2011-12 | PHL | 64 | 26 | 40.7 | 36.2 | 81.2 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 14.9 |
| 2012-13 | ATL | 39 | 29 | 42.2 | 36.7 | 86.8 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 14.1 |
| 2013-14 | ATL | 60 | 24 | 40.0 | 34.2 | 84.9 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 10.4 |
| 2014-15 | TOR | 80 | 25 | 40.4 | 34.0 | 86.1 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 15.5 |
| 2015-16 | LAL | 67 | 29 | 40.8 | 34.4 | 83.0 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 15.3 |
| 2016-17* | All Teams | 81 | 25 | 42.9 | 36.5 | 88.0 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 17.5 |
| 2016-17* | LAL | 58 | 24 | 44.4 | 38.5 | 88.4 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 18.6 |
| 2016-17* | HOU | 23 | 26 | 38.6 | 31.8 | 86.7 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 14.9 |
| 2017-18 | LAKE | 79 | 33 | 43.5 | 35.9 | 88.0 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 5.3 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 0.2 | 22.6 |
| 2018-19 | LAKE | 75 | 27 | 42.5 | 36.1 | 87.6 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 5.4 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 20.0 |
| 2019-20 | LAKE | 65 | 29 | 41.8 | 35.2 | 86.1 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 5.6 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 0.2 | 18.2 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 66 | 22 | 41.0 | 39.9 | 86.7 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 11.4 |
| 2020-21 * | LAKE | 42 | 22 | 42.1 | 37.8 | 86.6 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 12.1 |
| 2020-21 * | ATL | 24 | 21 | 38.9 | 44.4 | 87.0 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 10.0 |
| 2021-22 | ATL | 27 | 14 | 36.6 | 30.4 | 84.6 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 6.5 |
| Total | 1094 | 24 | 41.9 | 35.0 | 84.1 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 14.1 | |
