Former 76er Lou Williams Retires From NBA

After spending 17 years in the NBA, former Philadelphia 76ers guard Lou Williams has decided to hang it up and call it a career.

On Sunday, Williams took to Instagram to make his announcement official. In a highlight video, voiced over by his daughter, who penned a letter to Williams for Father’s Day, Williams was praised for all of his accomplishments on and off the court over the years.

And after spending time on several different teams since going to the league straight out of high school in 2005, Williams is ready for the next phase of his life at 36 years old.

In high school, the Memphis-born guard was a standout in Atlanta, recognized as Georgia’s “Mr. Basketball” for two-straight seasons. At the time, Williams was regarded as a five-star recruit and was one of the top guards in the nation.

Although Williams considered taking his talents to the NCAA, he came up before the one-and-done era and instead went straight to the league.

Williams wasn’t a high-end pick when he entered the 2005 NBA Draft. Dropping to the 45th overall pick in the second round, Williams ended up joining the Philadelphia 76ers.

In year one, Williams averaged 4.8 minutes in 30 games. He put up just two points per game while shooting 44 percent from the field. After struggling to carve out a role for himself during his sophomore effort as well, averaging just four points in 11 minutes, it wasn’t until year three that Williams became a regular off the bench.

For five-straight seasons, Williams averaged 13 points, three assists, two rebounds, and one steal while hitting on 42 percent of his shots with the 76ers. During the 2011-2012 season, Williams finished the year as the runner-up for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award.

Although Williams could never win Sixth Man of the Year during his Sixers stint, the accolade would be added to his resume several times after he parted ways with the 76ers.

In 2012, Williams joined the Atlanta Hawks, where he played for two seasons before getting traded to the Toronto Raptors for a one-year run. After Toronto, Williams inked a multi-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Before wrapping up his three-year run with the Lakers, Williams was moved to the Houston Rockets. A few months later, Williams returned to LA, joining the Los Angeles Clippers. His run with the Clippers lasted four seasons, becoming his second-longest tenure with a team next to the Sixers. Two of Williams’ three Sixth Man of the Year awards came during his Clippers tenure.

After four seasons with the Clippers, Williams returned to Atlanta to play with the Hawks over the last two years of his career. Appearing in 56 games during the 2021-2022 run, that would be the last time Williams suited up and played in the league as he didn’t sign with anyone for the 2022-2023 season.

Williams leaves the NBA with over 15,000 points scored and over 3,000 assists. Although he never found a place on a championship-winning team, Williams’ personal accolades help him earn the title of one of the best reserves in the game, tying Jamal Crawford for the most Sixth Man of the Year wins in NBA history.