Lou Williams reveals LeBron James altering his life in one night: “I kicked it with Jay for a night”
By the time LeBron James was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, he had already earned a reputation as a young superstar. In high school, James essentially had the NBA world hanging on to his every move in anticipation of him taking the league by storm.
Although he's just two years older than Lou Williams, James had already established himself as a superstar before entering the league. As a result, by the time he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron he was already rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest stars in the world.
One night, he brought a young Lou Williams, who was still in high school and had yet to be drafted, out with the one and only Jay Z. To this day, Williams credits it with being a key reason he realized that he was destined for more. During a recent interview with DraftKings, he opened up on the night, and how it changed him.
"I had this one night, LeBron and (Maverick Carter) introduced me to Jay-Z," Williams said. "I kicked it with Jay for a night, and I went to school the next day. And I was looking around the class, like, 'I'm nothing like none of y'all.' I start experiencing different shit, so I was like, I'm not going to sit in another classroom after this.
"I literally can't do it. I don't think that's going to be the path for me. So, I start preparing myself like I'm going to the NBA."
After his senior year at South Gwinnett, Williams declared for the draft, being selected with the 45th pick by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Lou Williams' recent retirement from the NBA
After 17 NBA seasons, Lou Williams announced his retirement with a heartfelt video on Instagram on Wednesday. The announcement earned him plenty of praise from his peers, including Patrick Beverley, Thaddeus Young and Andre Iguodala to name just a few.
Williams retired as a three-time Sixth Man of the Year, winning the award in 2015, 2018 and 2019. Only he and Jamal Crawford have won the award three times. What makes Williams' stats stand out over Crawford's, however, is the fact that he has the record for most bench points in NBA history with 13,396.
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Although many still believe that Williams still has gas left in the tank, his 2021-22 stats, which was his final season in the league, show a dropoff. While that could be attributed to the fact that he played just 14.3 minutes per game during his final season, his efficiency dropped as well.
Fortunately for him, Williams has continued to stay close to the game, holding an annual summer camp at his high school for young kids.
And to think it all started because of a night out with LeBron James.
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