Former NBA guard Lou Williams has revealed having played a game while “drunk as f**k,” with his coach fully aware.
Williams spent 17 years in the league and was renowned for his scoring prowess, particularly as one of the most dependable bench players in recent history.
The guard had a storied career off the court, too. He once talked a gunman out of robbing him and then bought him McDonald’s, had an open relationship with two women at once, and earned the nickname “Lemon Pepper lou” after breaking COVID-19 quarantine protocols by going to a strip club in Atlanta and claiming to have visited the establishment for dinner.
Williams now has his own podcast, ‘The Underground Lounge,’ so we can expect plenty of wild stories we had no idea happened while he was in the NBA.
He relayed one such tale in a recent episode, claiming Doc Williams forced him to play drunk in a game against the New York Knicks during his stint with the Los Angeles Clippers.
“One time we had a noon game in New York. My whole s**t 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,” he recalled. “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**cking around, I look up, they’re turning the lights on and I’m still in that b***h. I’m like, damn. So now my f**king professionalism kicks in at this point. I’m like, I need some coconut water.
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“I got to the arena and it’s about 10:00, 10:15. I’m like ‘F**k, I’m drunk as hell. This ain’t gonna work out.’ So I go through my pre-game workout. I’m like, ‘f**k,’ 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**t 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**t together.
“So I’m trying everything. I’m in the sauna. I’m trying to sweat that s**t out. Everything.”
Lou Williams’ Efforts Were In Vain
Apparently, nothing worked for Lou, who would eventually have to fess up to his coach.
“So, boom, Doc Rivers called my number,” he continued. “I’m like, s**t. I stumble up to the goddamn 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**k 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**k. I’m f**ked up. I’m f**ked up. I went too far. I’m sorry. I don’t think I can do this.’
“Doc looked me square in my eyes and said, ‘You’re playing the whole second quarter, because I need you to sweat that s**t out. Because I’m going to need you in the fourth quarter.”
It turns out that Williams had an MVP-level fourth-quarter performance.
“I had 25 in the fourth quarter,” he added.
You can see his highlights from that game in the video below.
