Longtime sixth man Williams retires from NBA
Lou Williams, who made his mark in the NBA coming off the bench over the course of a 17-year career, announced his retirement Sunday.
Williams revealed the decision in a YouTube video narrated by his daughter that covered his journey to the NBA and time in the league.
The 36-year-old Williams won three Sixth Man of the Year awards (2015, ’18, ’19) — tied with Jamal Crawford for the most in NBA history — while appearing in 1,123 career games with only 122 starts. He scored an NBA-record 13,396 points off the bench, which is 2,117 more than Crawford.
Williams averaged 13.9 points and 3.4 assists per game while playing for six teams: the Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets and LA Clippers. Williams’ final game came in April 2022 with the Hawks.
Williams was the 45th pick in the 2005 NBA draft. Out of the 60 players taken that year, only Chris Paul scored more points in the NBA than Williams, who went straight to the league out of high school.
He finishes his career with 15,593 points, 131st in NBA history.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
