Lemon Pepper Lou

17 years. 

What a journey it’s been for Lou Williams who announced his retirement on June 17th. Going straight to the league outta high school definitely isn’t easy yet Lou Will rose above and exceeded all expectations at the highest level. 

The 45th pick in the 2005 NBA draft would go on to win sixth man of the year not once, not twice, but THREE times. Lou Will made that award his own as he’s undoubtedly the best sixth man in NBA history (I know Jamal Crawford also won it three times but Lemon Pepper Lou has way more lore). 

Lou Will averaged 14 points per game and just shy of four assists during his career with the 76ers, Hawks, Clippers, Raptors, Lakers and Rockets. He also finishes his career with 15,593 points with 13,396 of those coming from off the bench.

I mostly remember him for his time with Philly and the Hawks since that’s around the time I was starting to follow the league but his Clipper days were also nothing short of epic. 

Besides being cold af in general, his game was so fluid. He was a walking bucket and could literally pop off at any given time. I loved watching him play because he played with a certain badass demeanor. He knew he was cold and he was gonna let you have it while remaining swagged out. 

Not too many players out there played the game like he did and approached it like he did either.

He really separated himself from the crowd back in the bubble days when the infamous, goated, fire nickname ‘Lemon Pepper Lou’ came to fruition. 

I’m sure NBA fans will remember the bubble since it was one of the more interesting eras of the league that was full of some good basketball, but even better off-court lore. Lou Will was thrown into the mix of the bubble lore when he decided to leave the bubble, hit Magic City strip club in ATL and get some of those famous Lemon Pepper wings that supposedly are the best wings ever (according to any public figure on twitter who has had em).

He was then forced to quarantine but the memes that came from that were hilarious. While he obviously isn’t defined by this moment in his career, he trademarked the nickname in 2020 and went on Draymond Green’s podcast in 2022 and opened up about it. 

“Lemon Pepper is here to stay and I fought it for a minute because of the way people were trying to perceive me, like ‘I snuck out the bubble to go to Magic City. I was like, ‘Come on man,’” Williams said on The Draymond Green show. “That was my only thing just trying to navigate the narrative behind my decision. Was it a great decision? Looking back in hindsight probably not. But at that time, I didn’t think I was trippin’ I didn’t think I was doing nothing wrong. I could see it both ways.”

The reason he left the bubble in the first place was to go to his grandfather’s funeral which is valid and he just wanted to get wings after. Once a picture of him and KFC spokesperson Jack Harlow leaked online of them at Magic City though, the story blew up. 

Lou Will didn’t necessarily embrace the name at first though as he said he felt people were trying to attach “goofy shit” to his name. For the record he’s definitely not a goofy. 

“It was difficult for me, because I felt like it was getting to a point where all the shit I accomplished, how I’ve carried myself over my career, they were just trying to attach some goofy shit to my name,” said Williams. “So, I was fighting a narrative. I was fighting a narrative, because they were trying to make me out to be a goofy. Like I was out here trippin,’ And I was like, ‘C’mon, that has never been my M.O. Let’s not start that.’ I’m getting to the end of my career. I’m in year 15, and y’all talkin’ like I’ve been trippin’ this whole time.”

I’m glad Lou Will embraced the name because I don’t think it was a bad thing at least from fans’ perspectives. Analysts had a field day with it and criticized him but the real fans never turned their back on him and just saw it as a funny moment in his career. 

Lemon Pepper Lou will go down in NBA history as the goat sixth man and a goat in general for the people. If you like NBA basketball it’s hard not to like a player like Lou Will. 

I want to say thank you to Lou Williams and congratulations on a fantastic career. Go ahead and place one more lemon pepper order my friend, you deserve it. 

Photo Credit: Courtesy of @bsotv