Lou Williams Says He Cried After The Clippers Traded Him

CBS Sports

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A 3x Sixth Man of the Year winner, Lou Williams has helped many squads over the years with his amazing handles and elite scoring ability.

While he has played for six different teams over his NBA career, it was with the Clippers that he had his most success, averaging 19.1 points per game in a 4-year span. It was a situation he flourished in, and he developed quite a deep bond with the organization.

He had grown so attached to the team and the fans, in fact, that he apparently contemplated retirement after they traded him to Atlanta in 2021.

And in a recent interview with Taylor Rooks, Lou admitted that he cried after finding out he was no longer a Clipper.

“I had conversations with my family and friends. And I was like, you know, 'it's over. I think this has come to an end' and I kinda cried a little bit, I'll be open aabout that. I kind of cried and i took a nap and I woke up and I just had a conversation with my agent and he was like 'man, take a deep breath. We'll talk tomorrow.' I was on that wave.

I just felt like I had put so much time, energy, and effort into creating this special place in LA. I felt like I owed that to the Clipper fans. I wanted to do that for that fanbase.”

It might sound ludicrous to get so emotional about being traded, but it's not always an easy thing.

Sometimes, players invest a lot into their teams. They get attached to their teammates, the front office, the city itself. Being traded out of the blue means leaving everything behind and starting over somewhere else.

For Williams, that was with the Hawks, where he remains to this day.