Three-time NBA Sixth Man Of The Year Lou Williams officially retired from the league on Father’s Day. Williams’ announcement was made in the form of an Instagram video narrated by his daughter. “Finally, today, I’m happy you found peace with your decision,” she says. “You were a young dreamer out of South Gwinnett, one of the last to be drafted — straight to the league. You were eager to make a name for yourself.”
It turns out Jay-Z is responsible for Williams’ going 45th overall to the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 2005 NBA Draft out of South Gwinnett High School, rather than playing at the University Of Georgia first.
“I went straight from high school [to the league],” Williams said to start a recent episode of The Starting Five podcast presented by DraftKings. “My thing was, my senior year in high school, I started experiencing things. I had this one night — LeBron and Mav [Carter] introduced me to Jay-Z. I kicked it with Jay for a night, and I went to school the next day.”
Lou Will continued, “I was looking around the class, like, ‘I’m nothin’ like none of y’all.’ I started experiencing different sh*t, so I was like, ‘I’m not going to sit in another classroom after this.’ I literally can’t do it, you know what I’m saying? I don’t think that’s going to be the path for me.”
Williams spent the first seven seasons of his career in Philly (2005 to 2012) before signing in free agency with his hometown Atlanta Hawks, where he initially played from 2012 to 2014. Williams ultimately finished his career in Atlanta, most recently appearing in 56 games during the 2021-2022 season, but he enjoyed stops with the Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, and Los Angeles Clippers in between.
Watch the full The Starting Five episode above.