The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Draymond Green Show - Lou Williams

Episode Date: July 21, 2022

Draymond Green explains why LeBron James playing at The Drew League is so significant and should not be analyzed via the box score. Then he goes into DeAndre Ayton returning to the Phoenix Suns after his offer sheet was matched and the reports that the Utah Jazz are open to trading Donovan Mitchell. Then Lou Williams joins ‘The Draymond Green Show’ for a conversation about raising kids as NBA players, Lou’s draft and short-lived D-League journey, how Allen Iverson’s trade directly affected his playing time, the importance of veterans to young players, how he almost retired twice, sixth man comparisons to Jamal Crawford and Manu Ginobili, the bizarre Magic City chicken wings story, and much more. #Herd Produced by: Jackson SafonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. The Draymond Green Show is presented by Fanduil Sportsbook. There's no better place to bet the action than on Fandul Sportsbook during the football season. It's easy to use. It's safe and secure. You get payouts in as fast as two hours. There's so many bet types. My favorite same game parlay bets.

There's live betting, player props, futures. If you're new, just download the Fandual Sportsbook app. To get started now, sign up. Please use the promo code Colin. C-O-L-I-N. Fandul, Sportsbook, makes it easy. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Dreybond Green Show.

Excited to be back. I told you all guests would be back and we're opening it back up with a bang. We got the Underground King, the Sixth Man himself. Lou Will joining the show today. Been around for a long time, 17 years. this thing, that equals a lot of stories. So we're going to get into them, but before we do, I just want to catch you up on a little bit of stuff that I've had going on,

which is number one, and most importantly, the Drew League. So I had never been to the Drew League before, which is obviously I've never played, but I had never been at all. And King James himself was playing. My brother Debo was playing. So I'm like, you know what? I'm about to pop out. I'm going to go check out to Drew and see what's happening.

When I tell you, it was the most incredible environment I've been in in a long time, excluding NBA finals. The most incredible environment. I mean, the energy in there was insane. The roof was leaking. And no, it was not leaking because the roof actually had a leap. It was leaking because there were probably way too many people in there that was hot. air conditioning on to try to keep it cool.

Then you got the heat mixing with that. And you're just getting like these drips down from the roof. And they kept having to like wipe the floor. That's the little stuff. But let's talk about like, Brian going to play in the Drew League. Like that's monumental. Like, LeBron James does not have to go play in the Drew League.

That's insane. He's in year 20, by the way. still going to play in the Drew League, I thought that was absolutely incredible. And, you know, to watch the intensity level, like, you have to understand the dynamic in things like that happening. Okay, so it's LeBron James,

which everyone wants their opportunity to say, I did X to LeBron James. I scored on LeBron. I got to stop. I stripped him. I blocked his shot. And most importantly, I beat him. The game was actually pretty close.

It was really close. The opposing team was up, majority of the game. And, you know, people start texting me like, yo, I didn't realize. I didn't realize when I was at the game that the game was playing on the NBA app, which also shows you the power of LeBron James. But people start texting me like, yo, are they going to win this game? I'm like, absolutely. Why do you think they're going to win this game?

Because LeBron James and DeMarre Rosen is on that team. And at any moment, they're going to shut these guys water off. Like, yeah, they're hitting shots right now. And, like, you know, they get into the cup and everything look good right now. But my big brother, Matine Cleese, has a saying, a pro is a pro and the Joe is a Joe. And he always say that.

And the reality is, it's like, yeah, them guys are good. They're good basketball players. They're, you know, some of the guys play overseas. You know, guys were high-level college players. But a pro is a pro and a Joe is a Joe. And I knew, due to that, that at some point, they're going to shut their water off and they're not going to be able to score. And at some point, they're not going to be able to stop them from scoring.

And just as I thought, I mean, it may have been, 10 straight possessions where the opposing team didn't score. I think they were called BPE or something like that. It may have been 10 straight possessions that they didn't score a bucket. They had the tall kid, the tall white kid, he was playing well the whole game. Would not miss a free throw. Got down the stretch, couldn't buy a bucket. And I don't just mean any bucket.

He kept missing free throws down the stretch. Like the last six minutes of the game, once that pressure turned up, all of a sudden he couldn't make. make a free throw anymore. And I knew that that's what would happen. But less about the actual game itself, because at the end of the day, LeBron and DeMar,

and they had the kid Boogie, who went to USC, I think, then Memphis or whatever it was. They're going to win. Like, they're supposed to be better than them. Like, all right, so I get that. So let's stop discussing the actual game. But the atmosphere,

you got LeBron James who's leading the Los Angeles Lakers. And he's just LeBron James doesn't need anything else to be said. But leading the Los Angeles Lakers, going to the Drew League in Los Angeles and playing in that lead, just allowing the people to touch him. Like that's a big deal. Like, you think of those kids that were watching that, like, it's insane. You know, and then, you know, you get on Twitter and, like, Like, someone wants to discuss the game.

Like, and I told you all, y'all know who I'm talking about, but I'm done mentioning fools' names. But, you know, you want to get on Twitter and, like, talk about the game and, like, a shooting percentage. Like, no, let's talk about what LeBron James' appearance at the Drew League did for these young African-American kids that were there. That, and by the way, it's not just African-American kids. There were kids of all races there.

But when I speak of African-American kids, because for us, growing up in the neighborhood, like, you think LeBron James is a surreal thing because there's no way for you to touch LeBron James. Like, you just see him on a basketball court. You see him on your TV screen on an Instagram picture, video, whatever. There's no way for you to touch LeBron James. Like, there were so many kids there that could say, wow, I got that close to LeBron James. I was able to watch LeBron James and DeMarrozen play basketball.

There were kids there that would never have an opportunity to attend an NBA game. And yet you got idiots talking about a shooting percentage. Like, let's talk about what that did for the people that was in that gym and the magnitude of that moment. Let's talk about that instead of, again, trying to always derail the black man. At some point it's got to stop. And so we're not going to discuss how incredible it is for a guy in his 20th season, going into his 20th season, arguably the greatest player of all time, going to play basketball at the Drew League in front of people.

And by the way, for free. Now, the Drew League can cost $10. It could cost $20 to get in. I'm not sure if it costs that or if it's free. but he's playing for free. He's not going to the Smiley's and saying, I need a percentage of the door because I'm playing the lead. So he's doing that for free.

He's doing that because he wants to do that. But we're not going to talk about that in the magnitude that it had. We're going to try to find something about the game to try to lessen this man's impact. At some point, it's got to stop. at some point you can't be willing to listen to that because it's disgusting and it is that exact that very thing that's ruining our world it's just in basketball terms of right here but it's that attitude it's that mindset that continues to derail the world we live in so i am here to say

as someone who attended the game and didn't find the nearest stat sheet which by the way that's how these people do when they're when they're analyzing our games they find the nearest stat sheet they can find look at the stat sheet to say oh look at that oh such such such such such did this can't evaluate a game of basketball to save their lives but what they can do is look at a stat sheet and get it all wrong get at a look at a stat sheet and miss the entire point at some point you're not going to be able to build your career and continue to try to stay relevant off Dorell and the black man, it's just not going to work. So I want to put this out there. For those of you that didn't attend, that couldn't attend, it was one of the most incredible basketball games that I've

ever been to. And it was less about the actual game being played. So I've been to some incredible basketball games. In fact, I've been a part of some incredible basketball games. but the magnet like if you were in there you just felt it it was different it was big i mean they spent after halftime they spent five minutes telling people back up off the baseline so we are we not starting the game and then they realized well where are those people backing up to so unless you're going to clear this whole thing out they have nowhere to back and they just started the game and like i said it just the impact that it had and like you just knew when you walked in like that environment was different. So kudos to

Brian for going out there and letting the people touch you. I thought that was absolutely incredible and I hope everybody there and those that weren't there can appreciate what happened because it was absolutely amazing. DeAndre Aden

signs his extension. Finally, feel like we've been waiting on that for a while. A year, it seems. And you know, he signed an offer sheet with the Indiana Payser for those of you that don't understand what just happened with DeAndre Aden, let me explain to you. So DeAndre Aden was a restricted free agent.

You have restricted free agents and you have unrestricted free agents. For a first round pick in the NBA draft, you get two guarantee years. Now, that doesn't mean you're going to be on the roster spot for two years. That means you get two guaranteed years of salary, as if you're on the roster spot. you then have two team options. And what that is is by a certain date that team has to say, okay, we're picking up the option, and then that gives you one more year on the contract.

So for first round picks, you get two guaranteed years, and then you have two player options. After that fourth year, you are a restricted free agent. What that means is you can go out and if you don't get an extension done with your team, you can then, and you're now restricted free agent, you can then go out and you can get an offer sheet from any other team in the NBA. Now, what that means is that team says,

okay, we're offering DeAndre Aden four years $133 million. DeAndre Aden then goes and sign that offer sheet. Once he's done, sign that offer sheet, and it's submitted to the NBA, the Phoenix Sons now have 48 hours to be, match that offer sheet or else DeAndre Aden walks for nothing

to, and he walks for nothing to the Indiana Pacers. Why that sucks is and why you don't see it happen often is DeAndre Aiden was the number one draft pick. For a team to drive him with the number one pick

and then to let him walk for nothing, it's hard to recover from that. Because when are you going to get the number one pick again? Now you got to try to get free agents. And so it's very hard to recover from that. So all along I knew Phoenix is 100% bringing him back, whether he gets an offer sheet or whether he ends up not getting an offer sheet that he wants and just have to negotiate directly with Phoenix.

Phoenix is definitely bringing him back because you just can't let the number one pick walk for nothing after four years unless, of course, they're just not good. And even then you're trying to trade and see if you can at least get a second round pick for him. So DeAndre Aden signed his offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers. And where I thought it got very interesting was I think the Phoenix Suns may have matched that offer sheet in like two, three hours. Like they didn't wait around, they didn't mess around. And I thought that was very big of James Jones and the Phoenix Suns to sign that right away.

And here's why. DeAndre Aidan, who was the number one pick, who wasn't able to reach an extension, who then was not. able to get the deal that he wanted from Phoenix, had to go out and restrict the free agency, get an offer sheet, and then take it back to Phoenix. He could fill away. He could be upset. He could be pissed off. And that's never good for anyone if he's coming back to that situation, because now he feels away about this person, that person, and then does it really work. What I thought Phoenix matching that right away did was show DeAndre Aiden how important he was to them. Like, all right, you got your offer sheet, we're not about to mess around. We're not waiting two more days.

Done. You got it. Match. Over. And I thought that said a lot to him, and I thought that was a great move by James Jones, who I have a bunch of respect for as a general manager. I think he's done an incredible job and building that thing that they have going in Phoenix. And I thought that that was another splendid move by James Jones. So credit James Jones for how he handled that. Congratulations. DeAndre Aidan on getting his money. Like I've said before, I've said again, I always want to see guys get their money. And so it's absolutely incredible for him.

You're talking generational wealth, a kid from the Bahamas. You know, we are, as Americans, we see the Bahamas and we're like, oh, man, it's incredible. Like, we go there for vacation. But I got a younger brother from the Bahamas Tom Tom, and it ain't all peaches and cream. You know, they grow up rough in some parts of the Bahamas. And so you're talking to a guy who can go, who's making money, and he has been since the beginning, by the way, as a number one pick, but who is making generational money and can continue to change his life,

change his immediate family life, and also change family's lives back into Bahamas. So absolutely incredible for DeAndre Aden. And I take my hat off to him. Job, well done. Congratulations. Lastly, before we get into the interview with, the great Lou Will.

The Jazz are now saying that they are open to trade in Donovan Mitchell. Kind of boring news because you still want to see the trade go down before you get all excited about it. But exciting news because Donovan Mitchell is a young stud in this league and possibly on the move now. That can shake up some things because you think of the team that he may get added to, that can get somebody over the hump adding the Donovan Mitchell. So now obviously it depends on what team he goes to.

can also go to some teams that you can help get further under the hump because they just think already. Now, he'll obviously make him better because he's that good, but some of these teams' rosters just ain't that great. So that is exciting. We'll see what happens if he'll actually get traded or not, where he'll get traded. But I'm telling you, trade in the Donovan-Mitru, trade into Kevin Durant. That's not something you wake up tomorrow and you're like,

boop, that's done. Those things take a while when you're trading that level of talent. Because you want to hear everything. You want to make sure you get the absolute most you can get for a level of talent like those guys. And so we'll see what happens with that. Keep your eyes open for it. But I definitely think it's interesting that they went from,

we're not trading anybody to trade in Rudy Gober to, all right, we're staying put and we're going to build around Donovan to now being open to trade. in Donovan. I thought that was a very interesting thing that has happened over the course of the last few days in the NBA. So definitely got to keep an eye out on that, see what happens. As like I said, that can tilt the NBA one way or another. So we'll see. Be very interesting. And I'm also very interested in seeing how long it goes. And if it'll actually happen, we'll see. But with that said, definitely time to get into the interview. We are back with the interviews. It's

been two and a half months since you've heard someone else's voice on a Draymond Green show other than myself and a little bit of Jackson, you know, when Jackson hop in and was talking about them Celtics, which we all enjoy now and enjoy, yeah, but let's get straight into it. I'm honored to welcome, number one, just for starters. This is our first guest back on the Draymond Green show since before the playoffs, which was April. And as you know, you can't come back with a guest that's just anyone. You got to come back with somebody that's accomplished, that got the respect amongst their peers and amongst the world,

but also somebody who, you know, going to garner the attention that people want to hear from. And I think most importantly, because the fit has to work, that I want to hear from and that I want to chop it up with. And like I said, it's an honor to, welcome you to the show the great Lou Will. What's up, my brother? What's up, G?

Congrats again, my man. Another one. Thank you, Bob. Another one like I said. Another one. I appreciate it, man. It was exciting to watch, man. My daughter was glued to the television.

She's a big Draymond Green fan, my 11-year-old Jada. So shout out to Jada. I know she's going to watch this. She watched all your podcast. So her face lit up when I told I was doing this today, man. So congrats again. Hey, Jada, I got nothing but love for you. because I tell you what, I got booed at the Drew League the other day, Jada,

everywhere I go on public enemy number one. So to know that I have that love behind me. You got to take the love where it comes from. You got to take the love. And the reality is the real love come from the kids anyway. Like, you know, you get out in the world and people taint your image of this thing and that thing. The real love come from the kids.

So Jada, I appreciate you. I definitely appreciate you. She's going to love that. She's going to love. Does she hoop? Yeah, she hoop. I'm trying to get her to learn how to work. We at that stage.

She's 11. She love it. She's passionate about it, but she ain't trying to get in that gym right now. You know what I'm saying? So I'm trying to get her there and embrace the grind. And she got to just start getting around kids. And just get her ass with a little bit.

And then she's at that place where she hates losing more than she love winning. You know what I'm saying? So I'm trying to get her just to love winning. You know, just like. I'm just better than everybody. I want her to get that mindset. So that's what we're working on right now. That's incredible.

How long has she been into it? She only been in the hoop like a year, two years. It came out the blue. I wasn't sure whether she was going to want to do it. But out of the blue, she just, she signed herself up a basketball. She said that's where all her friends was hanging out. So she just wanted to be in the gym with the homies. You know what I'm saying?

And she caught the bug. She caught the bug. So I've been just trying to put it in the right positions. And you know how it is with parenting, man. You got to take, sometimes you got to ease off, especially when it's sports and everything. You got to ease off and kind of let them just enjoy it because, you know, we're super competitive.

And we obviously want our kids to be the best at everything. And so we got the information, we got the knowledge. We always trying to give it to them. And so I'm just picking my spots where I'm dad and I'm coach. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. So question, are you going to do the coaching thing? as in coaching her, or are you just going to get her ready on the side and let someone else coach?

I want her to have the experience without me being a part of it. I want her to pay for a way, have her own lane, be able to be comfortable around her friends, talk to her friends, how they want to talk, engage, how they want to engage, and just have their natural environment without your parents being around all the time. So I'm going to give her that space on that, but if it's something she requests for me to do and she want me to be around, I do it. Oh, that's incredible. I always, you know, I, I, I got some homies that kids are around that age now. And, you know, we always talk about, like, do you coach them or do you let somebody else coach them?

And I always say, like, I don't want to be that dad that's coaching my kids. I want to be the dad that go and sit back and watch the game. And if, yeah, and if I need to help somewhere I will, and they all say, you're not going to be able to do that. There's no chance. they say because you're going to see someone coaching them. You're not going to agree with what it is. Yeah, and then you're going to just go take it over. And so we're going to tap back in in a couple of years.

But it's important, like, you know, coming up in AAU, you're trying to get the furthest away from your parents that you can. You know what I'm saying? Like, you just want to hang with the homies. You want a hoop, you want to compete. And the only thing you want your parents for some snack, money in between games and for them to be in the stands for their support. So that's where I'm at. Like, soon as I open my mouth up about basketball, she's like rolling her eyes. I'm like,

like sweetheart, I'm the only experts you know. Well, I won't say that. I won't say that. I know. I don't want to hear that. Yeah, she don't want to hear a word. I got to say, but I respect it and I appreciate the space that she's trying to create. And so I just take my time and I pick my spots with that. No, super dope. As a former second round pick myself, you know, and just now, you know, getting into your career, you were the 45th pick coming out of high school, which we'll get into that a little later. But as a second round pick myself, I have a ton of respect for guys who come through the second round

and get it out the mud and is able to make, you know, real careers out of that. What was your journey like going from highly touted high school senior, then you go into the draft and don't quite go in a draft where everyone expected you to go? Number one, start me from the beginning. What was that draft night like and bypassing the first round knowing that you had just skipped college to reach your dream? Yeah, I knew from the beginning. I knew two things from the beginning.

I knew I was going to be a late first round pick, and I wasn't going to nobody college. so it really didn't matter where I was getting picked. I went to go to nobody school. I wasn't going to no class that was out. I started kind of experiencing some things in the lifestyle, and I just started looking around my class, like, man, I'm nothing like y'all. And I don't think my journey is going to be nothing like y'alls.

And so I begin to train my brain for that. And so, you know, once I finally got around the draft night, my agent was kind of, he was like, you know, we think we're going to go to Miami at 27. And so, you know, I was kind of excited about the opportunity to do that. And then, you know, things change. And it was a guy Wayne Simeon at the time. He was a college player at a year.

And he was still, yeah, he was still on the board at 27. And Miami took him. So at that point, I started to spend. Well, first of all, I was invited to the draft. But my agent was like, I'm going to be honest with you. You're going to look crazy in there because we're going to be late first round. So I decided to stay at the crib. We threw a party at ESPN zone.

So I watched the draft at ESPN zone. And I remember when that first round was over, I walked out of ESPN zone and I stood in the lobby and they still had the draft on and the TV in the lobby. And I watched the rest of it by myself because I just, I didn't know which direction my career. What was going to happen at that point? You know, I hadn't worked out for any teams in the second round.

Crazy enough, the Atlanta Hawks, they had the first pick of the second round. Oh, wow. And so we get on a lot. phone we call him they say they like we can't do it you know we're looking for it we looking for a shooting guard looking for a point guard but we can't do it we can't have two local kids on the bench at the same time they had drafted josh smith the year before that yeah and kevin and kevin willis was still getting those minutes and josh wasn't necessarily getting playing time and so he was a big time guy in the

city and then so to have him and me both of us on the bench being local kids being local superstar our kids, they just like, it was a bad look. So they ended up drafting Salim Stathamire with that pick. And so I didn't know which way, I didn't know what was what, you know what I'm saying? And that was my first wake up call to the business. Like, you know, trust words here and there and don't trust the words into the actions match what they're saying. You know what I'm saying? And so I caught a break. I caught a break with Philly because my agent represented Mo Cheeks at the time who was the head coach. And so they really did me a favor. You know what I'm saying?

They drafted me as a favor for the relationship that Mo and my agent had. And, you know, obviously I was talented. You know, so it was a low risk, high reward for them. They took a chance on me. And, you know, I spent the first eight years of my career in Philly. Which was incredible. I think that's a very interesting thing you just said is they drafted me as a favor because I think guys don't realize.

Like, so at that point. They got the 45th pick. They're not really valuing that pick at that point in the draft. And guys don't realize how much favor, how many favors are done in this league. Relationships, bro. Absolutely. And I have one of my young fellas,

I think he came out a couple years ago, didn't get drafted. And I was recent, I had a conversation with him a couple months ago, or not even a couple months ago, maybe like a month ago. And I was telling him, don't get caught. caught up in the whole, I'm better than that dude, I'm better than this dude, I'm better than that dude,

because it ain't about that. You know, when you get to the 14th and 15th man on the roster, which is what you was drafted as, which is what I was drafted as, that position is decided by a coach. And in your case,

would it, like, all right, so here's our 14th to 15th spot. Mocheeks is our coach. Let's do this favor for our coach because that's who decides that spot. And I was telling the young fellow,

like, yo, man, you got to get tight with one of these coaches so that when they get, your way into the league is going to be a 14th or 15th man. And when they get down to that 14th or 15th man, that coach has got to be like, that's my guy. And then there's your opportunity. Stop falling into this trap of, man, you see that guy and this guy and that guy, I'm better than all in them because it's less about that. It's not about that at all.

It's really about what a team need and how a team feel about you. You know, if somebody draft you, it makes them look good for your success. Yes. So they're going to push you. But if a team not really married to you being a draft pick, they're going to move to the guys that they really care about. You know, and I was blessed to be, I was blessed to be 17 when I got drafted. They realized I was talented. They realized they had time to groom me.

You know, this wasn't going to be an overnight thing. You know, they still had Alan Iverson playing 45 minutes a game at that spot. And then Kevin Ali is backing him up. and Willie Green is backing him up. So there was no pressure on drafting me at that position. You know what I'm saying? So I was blessed to have that opportunity to watch them, to see what I can and what I can't do,

and have two years where I can really pretty much grow myself and just, I called it an internship, a paid internship. That's how I looked at it. You know, for my first two years, I knew I wasn't going to get on the floor, but it was a paid internship. And in that third year, I was looking around like, all right y'all got me fucked up

I'm ready you know what I'm saying but I appreciate it I appreciated the journey I'm glad that nothing was given to me because I can look back going in the year 18 if I continue to play to say man I really did this shit and I did something that I can be proud of you know what I'm saying and

it wasn't a lot of favors involved except the fact that the first one they got me in the door and that was that was important you know what I'm saying no for sure so you so you spin your rookie year and you spent majority of that or the good chunk of the beginning of the season at least in the D league at the time wasn't the G league.

No, you know what's crazy? That's the most misunderstood thing about me. I only played three games in the G league, bro. Really? I only played three games in my entire career. But they put me on like that alumina shit. Yeah, they do. That's interesting.

No, Billy King got GM. at the time, he felt like it was more important for me as a young kid. Like I said, I was 17 by the time I was drafted, I was 18 by the time training camp started. He thought it was more important for me to understand I'm working with grown men. I need to be around this environment. I need to be there. I need to feel it. I need to feel that energy. And that's how we carried it. And then my second year, I got to the point. I'm like, yeah, I got to play. And so they figured out a way where I went and played three. I think it was supposed to be three home games.

At that time, it was the Fort Worth Flyers. Oh, yeah. We was down in Fort Worth. And they had a game on a Monday, a game on Wednesday, a game on Friday, all in Fort Worth. We would have to travel to Little Rock, Arkansas, that Saturday play a game, and then I would fly back. Okay. I played the three games, average 39 points a game, for. that week. I got on a team bus. We drove

nine hours on a bus to Little Rock, Arkansas. I get to my room at Little Rock, Arkansas, within the hour. I got a phone call in my room. I said, we need you to go to the airport right now. We need you to go to Philly right now. And I'm like, what the fuck is going on? And I turn on ESPN and they traded AI. Wow. That's crazy. The week I went to the, the week out, well, it was D-Lague at the time, but the week I went to the G League,

my last game I was supposed to play. They called me right back to Philly because they traded AI. And I got the Philly at halftime. They was playing the Washington Wizards. That Saturday night, I got to the gym at halftime and never looked back. That's insane.

By the way, that's a very, like, monumental NBA moment, like to be involved in that moment. I can't forget it. I can never forget it. Yeah. And the fact that it was like, everybody know how I feel about AI. He's my idol.

You know, I got tattoos because of this dude. My whole thing is based around, you know, the image that he created. You know what I'm saying? Like, so I say that publicly, like, I've worshipped the ground. This dude walked on. So for me to have an opportunity to work with him, and then our paths constantly cross and, you know, it was caused and effect. And it was crazy.

But to have him in my corner and to be a part of his history, and for him to be a part of my history, part of each other stories is, is, I don't know, bro. No, that's, that's insane. So, so, so tell me this, though. Did that fuck with you mentally that, like, you find out, you know, AI just been traded?

Like, did, did that fuck with you? It, it fucked with me, but it was more like everything was 100 miles an hour at that time for me. Like, you got to understand, I'm so young, and I'm in the NBA. So every, every single day, is an experience for me. Every day,

whatever arena we go on to, I'm in the arena looking around with the big eyes. Whatever team we're playing, I'm looking at the superstars with the big eyes. You know, like every little experience is something to me.

So I was holding on to all of that shit. So once I got my opportunity, I was so locked in on not fucking my chance up. I couldn't really even think about the big homie. You know what I'm saying?

Absolutely. I was like, okay, this is it. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, this is my opportunity. That's interesting. My rookie year, I had, Mark Jackson was our head coach. And the day before our first game, first regular season game,

I, day before our regular season game, first regular season game, he pulled me to the side. And he's like, yo, you know, the NBA has a weird way of working itself out. And, you know, you may not get an opportunity right away, but everyone gets an opportunity and just make sure when your numbers call, you're ready for your opportunity. So I'm like, all, cool.

In a weird way, I think he telling me, like, tomorrow you're not going to play. So I'm like, let me mentally prepare myself for that. And so I don't play, first game, second game, we play. What are you dressing, though? I'm dressing. I am dressing.

So, and for those of y'all that don't know, what he's asking about dressing, is in the NBA, you got 15 roster spots, only 13 guys can dress. Other two guys are inactive. So I was dressing. It's 13 now. Then it was 12. Facts.

Facts, absolutely. And so I was dressing second game of my career. And at that time, I came in a league. They had me playing a three, which is a disaster and almost had me out of here. But the second game, Brandon rushed towards ACL. And so I'm sitting there. on the bench and I'm like, yo, this is what he was talking about. Like, everybody gets an opportunity.

In that game, I still only played three minutes. But that's three more minutes than I played the first game. And, like, I try to tell all the young guys now and to know that that was your mindset at 19, like, I wasn't ready for that. I was 22 years old. And you was 17. Well, second year. So 18 turning 19.

Right. I wasn't ready for that. And I was messed up because, you know, In my life, I had never not played before. Yours even more so than me, because you're going from high school, but I had never not played before. So mentally, I just wasn't ready to not play. And I'm like, yo, this is a different thing for me,

but then I saw that guy, I saw Brandon Rush get hurt. And I'm like, oh, okay, I see what he mean now. And then my chance came and it'll go and it'll come and it'll go and it'll come. But every time it did come, I was ready for it. And I think that's what the young guys don't understand these days. I think young guys these days sometimes they end up so entitled. And they don't understand like, yo, number one, you don't understand the NBA game coming into the NBA.

So although you may be more talented, although you may have more potential, and all of those things athletic and shoot better than this guy in front of you, that guy understands the NBA game. And I think we've done a poor job as guys growing older in this lead and relaying that to these guys. It's like, but you have to understand the NBA game.

They are eliminating us. You know what I'm saying? Like a lot of these teams with these young guys, they don't have no vets or OGs in the locker room and give them game. You know what I'm saying? That's why my run with the Hawks this past year and a half was a gift and a curse.

You know, it wasn't the greatest fit for me to be on the floor and continue my career. But I had the best time with learning these guys and giving them information and being a big brother figure to them and giving them some game and they were soaking it up and I thought they was applying it

and it just made me feel like damn this shit is important. It's important because sometimes the young guys we might criticize them and they really don't know. They really don't have the information but we criticize them like you need to be doing this,

you need to be doing that. Niggas like, bro, I don't even know what you're talking about. That part. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. So I think it's important for the OGs and for the vets, you know,

older guys to be that middle ground and be that great area to kind of bridge that gap for guys to have the information and then for them to apply it as well. No, for sure. I agree with that 100%. I was actually explaining to someone the other day how vets are getting like if you're a vet,

it's very, very likely that they'll squeeze you in this league now and how the salaries work. See, I don't think people truly understand Like how the salary structure work now. Right. It's turned more into baseball than it used to be. You know, they, it's, you essentially cut the entire middle out,

where the NBA used to have minimums, used to have mid-levels, used to have maxes, and everything in between that. Now you got max, you got mid-level, taxpayer mid-level, if it's a tax team and minimums. Right. And because of that, and because of how high the salaries are for the top three players on team, every team is- Can't really squeeze none out of there. Exactly.

So every team is now ending up right at the tax or above the tax. And so, for instance, in our situation, I was actually explaining some contract situations of someone yesterday, and I was just telling him, like, because he was like, why did y'all let Gary Payton go? right like he was so big to to to what y'all did and i said i agree 100% i didn't want to see gp go but with the way these taxes are set up now i think and i could be i'm i'll be a little off on the numbers but like so gp signed a nine year nine million a year in order for us to pay that nine million per year in our tax situation i think it's like 45 million dollars a year or something like that yeah you got to let them roll and so it's

It's, you know, it's one of those things are like, you're looking at it like, oh, man, that's $9 million. But they're looking at it like, that's a $45 million dollar. And are they willing, and are they willing to go that high? And I think that's something that has to be figured out in this next CBA. Because like you said. They told us the last CBA don't sign that shit. They did.

And we signed it every time. They told us. They told us in plain English. Listen, the middle is getting wiped out. if y'all sign this deal and we was like hey we're all right and we did it and we did it and the middle getting wiped out and like you said where it's taking it where it's impacting is it's definitely impacting a rookies like you look at some of these teams they don't have a vet like I don't think I think one of I think one of Memphis's issues last year was they didn't have a vet

and so once it gets tough you get into that playoff series where it gets tough Who is that one guy that you turn to for experience that's calming everything down? Right. Because for me, yeah, because for me, that was huge in my career. You think of like, I mean, you think of the vets I have, bro. I had Jermaine O'Neill, Jared Jack, David Lee, Andre Goddala, David West, Leandro Barboast, like Carl Andrew. Those are the guys that were my vets.

Right. Andrew Bogot. That was everything for my career. You speaking, you had Andre Goda. You had real guys you can look up to it, and you respect that they were. I had AI. I had both AIs, but Dre was more,

Dre was more of my peer. We was figuring this shit out at the same time, but he still was a big brother to meet up. Man, Elton Brand, Chris Weber, fucking Kevin Ali. I owe so many flowers of Kevin Ali, you know, early in my career,

just as a kid. Like, he knew I was a kid, and he was just right for me. A young fella, after practice, man, I ain't going to hold you up. I know you're trying to. to get out there, man, just shoot with me 10, 15 minutes.

Like, he knew how to communicate with me. You know, like, he would speak to me, like, if I didn't do it, I was letting him down. He knew how to, you know what I'm saying? But that was so big for me because that taught me how to communicate with the next group of young guys when I was in a position. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. That's why I have so many special bonds with these young guys because Kevin Ali taught me

how to communicate. No, for sure. So in continuing with your career, you do your first. eight years with the Sixers, then you leave and you sign with the Hawks, going back to the crib. How was that experience going back for you after eight years as opposed to if you had gone there right out of high school? I'm glad it played out how it did.

I don't think I was mature enough. I don't think I would have been locked in. I don't think I ought to be focused, you know, just because when you're so young and You know how it is those first, you know, your first four or five years, everybody wants to be a part of it. Absolutely. Everybody wants to be a part of it. Everybody want to experience it.

And so for me to be so young and being at home and I got a big family, I got a big crew. I got a lot of people that depend on me. And if I'd have had that pressure on me at a young age, I would have been done, bro. Straight up, for sure. I'd have been done. So I'm glad it played out how it did because I had never been to Philadelphia before I got drafted there.

And, you know, by the time I left, I had two kids. I had two kids. I was a grown man. You know, I had tough skin because of the city that I played in. Like, I played in one of the roughest cities when they come to fans, when they come to media. And I was able to, you know, and when you leave Philadelphia and they love you, that's like, job well done, because everybody don't get out like that in Philly. You know, everybody don't get out where they say, yeah, we appreciate.

you. You know what I'm saying? So I'm just grateful that my route went the way that it did. And I wouldn't have been ready for Atlanta right off the back. But shit, by the time I got there, in year number nine, it was just my two stints with Atlanta, we just throw both of away, man. He just, you just, nah. But mentally, though, you, your first year there, you tore your ACL. The second year, second year, I told my ACL. Second year. Yeah. Okay. Did it help you be in? at home and having that support of the people at home, or do you think no matter where you was at,

it would have been the same? I think it would have been the same because I didn't spend no time in Atlanta. When I tore my ACA, they sent me straight to Florida. I was down in Florida to Andrews. I ended up up. Yep, I rented a crib down there and I was there full time. So it really didn't matter. And after that, you then get traded to the Toronto Raptors.

where, in my opinion, is where your career took off. Like, you became Lou Will in Philly, obviously. But I felt like when you got to Toronto, that's when you became, like, who you are today. I was playing with house money. Of course. I was playing with house money.

You know, I had success. Then I hit a bump in the road with the ACL tear. And shout out to Coach Bud. Buttonhoza pulled me in the office. He said, yeah, I don't think you're ever going to be the same. player again. You know, he told me to my face. And I respect him to this day because, you know, he didn't, he didn't play me. He didn't waste my time. He set me down right at the end of the season, said, I don't think it's going to work here. We're going to find a trade partner for you in the

summer. We'll be in touch. So, yeah, told me straight up. Yeah, told me straight up. And I had a lot going on in my life at that time. Like I said, I was at a crossroads in my career. You know, when you tear your ACL, you like, it's a lot of dark day. with the ACL, bro. You was around, you was around Clay, I'm sure you could tell you. Absolutely.

It's a lot of dark days. You like a lot of self-doubt. You know what I'm saying? And so once I got Toronto, shit, I thought my career was over anyway. So I told him. Yeah, so I told him.

I'm like, yo, I'm here for the year. I'm just going to hoop, have some fun. I'm going to try to help you as much as I can, and I'm done. So, like, let's do it.

And, you know, shout out to Kyle. Shout out to DeMar. Shout out to Chuck Hay. Shout out to Amir Johnson. Them four dudes, they rallied around me so much, bro. They had so much experience, so much knowledge about Toronto. And them four dudes just pour it into me.

Pour it into me. Like, Demar, to this day, Debo will tell you to this day, that's my six-man. But he always was saying that to me. Before I even won the Six-Man Award up there, he was like, hey, bro, hey, you're my six-man. Like, turn up. And so they gave me that confidence. Like, you're part of us. now. You know what I'm saying? And I was, that was something that reset my career. I was able to

win my first six men of the year, then go to LA right after that. And they re-energized me. I fell in love with the game again. I fell in love with being in the gym again. My body started feeling right. And I just, after that, man, I just start taking off again. Yeah, facts. I think, you know, then, so you go there, you reestablish your career, you get traded to the Clippers. influential was doc to you then going on the windows next too. So I felt like,

and this, you know, I felt like in 2016, Steph and I were the deadliest combination in the NBA. And it was based on Steph coming off a pick and roll.

And if you step up, if you blow, he hitting a shot, as we all know, if I roll and I get into that pocket, At that time, it was lights out for everybody. He's talking about at that time, like, you ain't just win the chip again. But we had to do it a little differently now. They guard us differently now.

But at that time, if I got it in the pocket. At this point, y'all has mastered it, though. Yeah, it's clockworked. The one thing that, yeah, the one thing I appreciate about y'all, when I watch y'all play, I watch y'all go option A, option B, option C, option D. All right, fuck it. Let's figure it out. Like, it's protocol with y'all, man.

I respect that about y'all. protocol. I appreciate that. But on the flip side of that, I thought you and Montrez-Herald became like one of the most deadly combinations in the NBA. And I thought for, for y'all to build that chemistry, for Doc to find those two pieces, I thought that was huge. How do you feel about Doc and what he brought to your career once you then went to the Clippers? So let me tell you that time in my career. So the first time I thought I was going to retire was going into Toronto. The second time I thought I was going to retire.

It was when I got traded to the Clippers because a lot of people don't realize that was the third team in six months for me. Wow. It was Houston too, right? Yeah, see, I was with the Lakers. But the Lakers told me they was going to trade me. They was like, we wasted your time. We're going to get you out of here.

So they traded me to Houston over the All-Star break. I finished the season with Houston, and Houston trade me in the off season. So I'm looking like I don't, I'm not holding value anywhere. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. These teams not looking at me as a valuable piece. So it might be, I think this is year 13, 14, like going into my 14th year.

So I'm like, you know, this is good run. You know what I'm saying? Like tilt your hat off. You had a good run. And if you ever look back at the press conference, I'm there. I'm frowning. I don't want to be there. I'm holding the jersey.

And literally, it's a video out there. As soon as they're done, taking pictures, I'll put the jersey down, walk off the stage and leave. So Doc called me. He's like, yo, you left yet? I said, I'm on my way to airport. He's like, turn around, I need to talk to you. So I turn around, go back to the gym.

He's like, what's up with you? I'm like, what you mean? He like, your energy, like, I ain't really feeling it. If you know, Doc, he don't hold no punches. He's like, yo, I ain't feeling it. Like, you don't want to be here? I said, I don't. I said, bro, this, I don't got traded twice in six months.

I was like, no, y'all wasn't on my radar. I wasn't a big Clippers fan. Like, oh, no. They having all this turmoil in the media with Doc and DJ and Blake and all of that. Chris, like, bro, I don't want to be a part of this. You know what I'm saying? So he, like, look, we resetting, we re-energizing. I don't know what else I need to tell you, but.

This is going to be your home and I'm going to allow you to be yourself and we're going to do something special here. And that was, Doc told me that day one. And for whatever reason, I believed them. For whatever reason, I bought in. I bought in and my Clippers run is by far the best I felt playing basketball in my entire career. For sure. I think it was a special run, especially with us being in Golden State. same division and all that.

We played y'all a lot. Sure. And there were times, there were times during that run where you were number one on the Sky Report. No, it was a good run. And to go from, number one, it was unprecedented

because it's like you're 14, 15, 16, it's like you were getting better. Yeah, it was Benjamin Butt. He was called me Benjamin Button. And it was a very weird thing because you kept getting in that space of like, all right, they got a little will, but he got to be slowing down now.

Like, they got a little will, he got to be slowing down now. And it's like you kept getting better. And it got to a point to where I know when you have 50 on us, you were the guy on the team. And that then led you to a different stratosphere of NBA players. And I always say,

people can think what they want, media can think what they want, but how your counterparts feel about you, how the guys that's in the league feel about you, that's the shit that really matters. And it got to the point to where then it's like guys looking at you like, oh, that's lose team. Like, you leading the charge of that offense. What was that like for you going from 14 years

of just being one of the guys to like now? Like, this is actually my team. Yeah, like I said, It was one of the greatest runs of my career because we had the idea that we knew everybody's position. We knew everybody's job. So I wasn't shy about saying I got it because my teammates, they were comfortable with me saying it. And they was giving me the tools to go do it. Like Pat Biv, you know, our bond began in that Clippers because, you know, he just, he saw how I was carrying myself.

You know, once we trade it, I think once we. We traded Blake. Everybody was down. We weren't sure how I was going to go. And I said everybody down. I said, look, man, they traded Blake. We love Blake. So we don't have to feel responsible for that. The only thing we can do is play as hard as we can, give ourselves an opportunity to win and live with the results. And whatever happened, it happened. Don't put the pressure on us to have to fix that. And that was the mindset that we took. And we went out and we just played fun. We played free. We played happy every night. And we put this, we, we created our own chip on our shoulder like everybody was against us. When nobody was, we weren't on nobody's radar, but we

tricked ourselves into thinking like, oh, oh, y'all don't think we could still compete. And that's why our mentality was so strong. I think that's why those years were so strong, while we gave a lot of people problems. I, you know, I wish we to, I wish we to kept that team together and tried to get some things done, but you know how the business go. But like I said, that was just, that's just a special time in my career, bro. No, I think super dope, man. Like I said, going up against you guys and playing against y'all is a very special thing. And leading the charge were three guys that got it out of the mud, which was you, Pat Beah, and Tras. And so I thought, like, just watching that, like, I think that inspired more people than y'all knew.

For sure. Because it just showed people that, like, nah, you don't need this or that to get this done. Like, there's still other ways to get it done. And so I thought, I thought that inspired a lot of people. Continuing on along with your career, you, Jamar Crawford, Manu Janubli, are viewed as, like, the guys coming off the bench, a six-man. Like, y'all have viewed us, in my opinion.

the best three guys. Now, the one guy that I will put in that conversation and no one does because he wasn't scoring a lot was Andre Godala when he was with us or I mean, he's with us now, but when he first moved to six men and the impact that he had on our team, I'm like, oh, he should be in that conversation as well. You know, what, but obviously you guys have the six man of the year awards to back that up. But how would you compare, your game to Jamar Crawford and Manu Genoobli game and their path as well. I think we all three had three different unique paths and all three of us got it done. You know, I think you can find a lot of spots in Manu's career where you can say he's the greatest

six men. You can find a lot of spots in Jamal's career where you can say that and you can say it about mine. I think all three of us had such different routes and so different unique games. Like, I can't do half the shit that Jamal do with the basketball. You know what I mean? Crazy. I can't do half of it.

I couldn't even try. I don't know if I could have accomplished the things that Manu accomplished in that system the way that he did. You know, and I don't think those guys could have put teams on their back the way that I did. You know, so all of our past were completely different, but you got to respect all three. You know what I mean? Yeah. No, facts. For sure.

And they did. just start renaming all of these awards. If they were, I got to have it. I got to have it. I got to have it. I can, I can respect that. I don't shy away from that because out of the guys that we compare, you know, when we start having a six-man conversation, I think I'm the only one that embraced it that said, I'm the, like, this is a lifestyle.

You know what I'm saying? I think Jamal always strive to be like a, uh, uh, a mega star, you know, and he, and he was, don't, don't get me, don't get me confused, you know how this shit go, but he, he always was looking for that. And I was like, if this is my job, I'm going to make it embarrassing for me to come off the bench. And so I, so that's the only reason I say, I give it to myself because I just embraced the lifestyle of it. I made it okay for kids to, to want to even accept that position. And I made this shit look cool. You know what I'm saying?

And so I give it to myself. I actually agree with that. Because and it kind of goes back to what we were just speaking about was if they if no one ever thought you was a starter before, you got to a point to where the team was yours and you still kept coming off the bench. It's like, what are we doing? You know what I'm saying? It was like, what are we doing?

It got to a point where Doc was like, you're still coming off the bench. He's like, I'm not going to throw you off of your rhythm. Like, I know what I get out of that. So I'm not even, yeah, I'm not even going to play around with it because I know exactly what I'm going to get out of you. When you come into the game at the five-minute mark, I know his own.

So we're going to lead that in place. You know what I'm saying? I think, you know, with the other guys, like they were just a great unit with Manu. They were a great unit like, shit, you look at games. He was coming in the game at the 10-minute mark. Yeah. Like, he, like, he wasn't a,

six man for real. You know, Jamal was always striving to be a superstar, be a all-star, be a highlighted player in this league. He was always striving for that. And I think I was just the one guy that was not saying that I was, I was complacent and I was cool with my position. I just embraced it. And I gave it a name, gave it a likeness, gave it a vibe, gave it a feel. You know what I'm saying?

For sure. I think for those of y'all that don't know, if you pull up to signature the private airport at LAX. This man still has his own park spot. That's dope. Six men of the year. Well, but,

but before it said Lou Will, just to keep it, keep it all the way at 1,000, it said Jamal Crawford. It said, ah, see, I didn't see that.

Yeah, see that. Yeah, so it said Jamal Crawford, and once I won that first Clifford won, we came to the airport and it was changed. So it was him first. Ah, yeah.

It was big dogs by first. I respect that. I respect that. And by the way, much love and respect to Jamar Crawford, one of the OG's guy who did it the right way, continue, probably can still play. I just seen somewhere, I've just seen he had 40 this weekend, the pro.

Yeah, he's different. He different. Benjamin Button for real. For sure. He different. But I think the fact that it's still to this day says that. that, like, that, that carries some weight. Like, this is Los Angeles.

This ain't, it's not Oklahoma City. Yeah. This is Los Angeles, man. Everybody go to that airport. Yeah, I know that. I know LeBron's look like, what the fuck is going on around here? Facts.

But I'm going to ask a couple more questions. I want to get you out of here. I don't want to take up too much of your time. these couple questions is a little all over the place but it's something that I want to ask for my own personal self number one

the chicken wing store the bubble going on you leave and when you said it I knew because when I go there if I don't go to the strip club I'm going to get me some chicken wings

so when you said I knew what it was, but how was that for you navigating that? Because, I mean, motherfuckers was on your neck when I happened. It was difficult for me because I felt like it was getting to a point where, you know, all of the shit that I accomplished, I have carried myself over my career. Like, they was just trying to attach some goofy shit to my name. And so I was fighting the narrative. I was fighting, I was fighting the narrative because they was trying to make me out.

to be a goofy. Like, I was out here tripping and I was like, come on, man, that never been my, that never been my MO. So let's not even, let's not start that. Like, I'm getting to the end of my career. I'm in a year 15. And y'all talking like, I've been tripping this whole time. You know what I'm saying? You know, I think I said it on another platform. Like, nobody was fucking, uh, none of us was pandemic experts at the time. Facts. Like none of us. You know what I'm saying? Nobody. Not even the experts. Yeah, nobody. And so everything that I did that day, I thought I did it responsibly. You know what I'm saying?

And the shit just, it just, it took a life of its own. You know, it's actually birthed businesses. It's birth nicknames. I get more, more lemon pepper shit than underground and all of that. It's like lemon pepper is here to stay. You know what I'm saying? It's here to stay. And I fought it for a minute because of, like I said, the way people were trying to perceive me,

like, oh, I snuck out the bubble to go to Magic City. I'm like, come on, man. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? That's what they did. That was my only thing, just trying to navigate the narrative behind, you know, my decision. Was it a great decision? Looking back in hindsight, probably not.

But at that time, I didn't think I was tripping. I ain't think I was doing anything wrong, you know, but I can see it both ways. No, definitely. I think that takes an incredible person, an incredible man, to say, like, yeah, it probably wasn't the best. decision for me to make. But in that moment, that's what I was doing and stand on that. I respect that. And I took my 10 days in quarantine like a man. You ain't trying to battle it? Like, all right, I'm going to take my 10. Hey, fight it. Hey, listen, Adam called me straight up. He says, we're going to give you 10 days quarantine because this shit don't look good. I said, yes, sir,

got off the fall. No problem. You got it. I respect Adam. I like Adam. Adam. Adam does it the right way. He does it the right way. And he direct, he's straight up with the shit. Yeah. So I respect it. You respect it. Yeah. I just, I just had a situation with them about stuff I say on a podcast and I spoke with him. And he's like, like, and I explained to him what I meant and all of that. And we had a long conversation. We talked about a lot of stuff. But I respected how he handled it. He's like, all right, well, if that's how you feel about this and that's what you're saying, then I'm going to allow you to go handle it. Like, I don't need to put out this statement from the league or from me or this.

If you're saying that you're going to go handle this situation, then I'm just going to let you go handle it. And I can respect that because, you know, we always speak about being viewed as partners. Like, we're partners in this league. We're not just an employee. Like, we make this league go. And I feel like Adam views us as partners. Right.

And I can appreciate that. And you need that. because if you don't know no better, you can feel like you just an employee. You know what I'm saying? You don't realize your bargaining value. You don't realize you negotiating value until somebody tell you or until your partner tell you,

you know, this shit, together. You know what I'm saying? Facts. Speaking of negotiating value, a couple years ago, you had spoke out about the contracts that you had in the production that you've had over the course of your career. Do you think there was something

that could have been done differently for you to get the value that I think you deserve this whole time that you've been in this league? I think on my end, I probably could have been more patient. You know, like looking back at probably my last deal that I got, I probably could have been more patient

and I probably could have got the money, but the mindset that I'm in at that time, again, I don't have stability at that time in my career. Mm-hmm. You understand what I'm saying? Absolutely. Yeah, so when I don't have that stability, be like, I'm about to, in the summer I'm getting, I'm fucking, I'm about to get fucking paid.

Like, I'm shaking in my boots because I don't know which way is up. I'm dealing with so much, you know, so much, I want to say turmoil because I'm blessed to be in my 15th year and still had this issue. But it was just, I didn't have that stability where I could wait it out. I knew where I wanted, I knew where I wanted to be. I knew where I wanted to continue to hoot. clippers threw me a number, I took it. You know, it was some more money out there.

I thought I'd have been miserable if I went and got it. Yeah, and I think that's a big deal. You know what I'm saying? Like, them extra three, four million ain't worth me fucking ready to pull my hair out every day for seven months. That part. You know, for me, you know, I live a very cool, middle-class lifestyle.

If you ever come around Atlanta, you will see, like, I'm going to be okay. You know what I'm saying? I don't over-exam. extend myself, but, and that's what I could have did on my last deal. I probably could have been more patient. If I had waited it out, I think I ought to get one of those deals that I wanted. Before that, it just didn't work my way. I just, you know, just be real. Game, you know, the business side didn't go my way. No, and I think, I think it's important for people to understand the business side.

It's not always your production. It's the team you own. What are they willing to pay? Because if that team goes away, you lose your negotiating power and all of these things that go into play, it's not just the final number like, oh man, he's that good. He gets this number. It's totally different than that. I think a lot of people don't understand that. Yeah. And that's, you know, a lot of people, man, Lou should have got this, Luke should have got that. I agree with y'all 100%.

But y'all just got to understand where I was in. You know, I'm looking for stability. I'm looking for somebody to tell me, I've been traded three times. I've been on three teams in six months. I need somebody to tell me I got three, four years where I can chill out and I can be myself and know that this is going to be home. That's what I was looking for. So the first time I heard that, and it was where I wanted to be, I'm in.

You know what I'm saying? I respect that. I respect that. And I'll tell you another thing I respect is you saying I could have been more patient. You know, in most situations like that, people blame the agent right away. They say, oh, man, it's the agent fault because the outside people say it's the agent fault, right? Like, oh, he should have got this amount of money. And then the outside people's, you and the agent could have had a million conversations.

The outside people start blaming the agent The whole world blame the agent You know, and I don't know What your situation was with your agent I'm not saying it was or wasn't their fault But the fact that you could sit here and say I need I could have been more patient I respect that

Because it gets thrown on the agent so much Yeah, no, it wasn't this We had a lot of conversations And I had a lot of opportunities A lot of options on the table And I was steadfast in what I wanted I knew what I wanted I knew where I wanted to be

And like I said I live in Grace in Georgia I live in the country, I don't need much. You know what I'm saying? And I'm one of those people. You know when guys say, I'll play basketball for free and they're full of shit? Like, I think I would be one of those people for real. I really love hooping.

You know what I'm saying? And so I sometimes, I didn't think as a businessman as much as I did as a hooper. I should have been thinking as a businessman. I was thinking more as a hooper. You know, if I got enough to keep me going, I'm good. Like, let's lace up when sometimes I should have stopped and look at things more as a businessman. And shout out to you because I see you very vocal about it and you give a lot of these young guys the information. But I think that's a great thing where the game is now.

Everybody is starting to figure out that they're their own individual businesses. And they're running shit like individual businesses and not just hoopers. You know what I'm saying? So kudos to you for continuing that conversation. I appreciate it, bro. A couple more questions. I'll let you go. And we were just talking about Adam Silver.

He recently spoke about how he wants to see the rule changed back from, the age rule changed back from 19 to 18. As someone who, as someone, if I'm not mistaken, you might have been the last draft that was allowed to go out of high school, right? Yeah, as someone who went out of high school, do you see a benefit in it being 19 or do you think it should go back to being 18? Talent is talent, bro. Like, Luke had been a pro since he was 14, 15.

Like, the guys that have been pillars of this game, Kevin Garnett, Kobe, LeBron, these are all high school guys. These are all guys coming in at 18. They put this shit on their backs, and they've turned this shit into a Fortune 500 company. So what difference does 18 and 19 make besides you wasting a year of the time? Because if you send me to college, I'm only going because I have to. Yeah, that's a fact.

I'm only going because I have to because that's the route that that y'all have given me. You know, so, you know, we have prep schools and we got the G-League now and all of these things, but nothing gets you ready for the real thing, like the real thing, bro. So I don't think that changes anything.

Let these guys come in when they're talented enough to compete for themselves and do they think. I respect that. You heard it from the man himself who's done it, been through it. Last question before we get out of here, bro, what's next for you? you want to keep playing, what is, what, and if you do want to keep playing, what is, what does

it take for a team to say, all right, because, all right, or for you to say, yep, I'm going to go to this situation. Because like you said, the last year with the Hawks, it was cool from a vet standpoint for you watching Trey grow and, like, all of them younger guys grow. But as a competitor like yourself, the guy who I was playing against, I know you're not cool with that. You know what I'm saying? So like, what does it got to be for you?

It got to make sense for me. You know, like we touched on about family early on. My kids are 11, my 8-year-old, she's in the acting. I picked her up from acting. She in an acting summer camp. My son, two years old, I'm trying to mold him into being a man. Like, I got a lot of shit going on around the house that can use my time and my energy. So if it don't make sense, I'm not interested in it.

But I definitely would still like to play. I still enjoy it. I still have their desire to play. I still have their desire to play. to be on the road with the guys and try to create memories, you know. So if the phone ring, it ring, you see. But if not, you at peace? I ain't tripping.

I respect that. I ain't tripping at all. I respect that, bro. Like I said, man, I want to thank you for coming on to the show. I know we have been trying to do this for a while. But as a guy who I respect in this league, and I think we've always had that respect since I came into the league. For sure.

But as a guy who I respect, just the way you've gone about your business, It's the way you carry yourself, you know, and most importantly, your career and how you've gone about that. Much love, bro. I appreciate you. You always welcome back on the Draymond Green Show. I appreciate you stopping by, homie. Love, my G.

Always. Man, that was an incredible interview. I have a deep appreciation for Lou Will, man. He's just one of them guys who, and he kind of said it on the pot. Like, he just. knows his lane, he's found his lane, and he just stayed there. Like, and that's in life and basketball. I'm not just talking basketball.

I'm talking about the way he carry himself, the way he just go about being Lou Will. I got a lot of respect for that. You see so many people drift this way, and that way, guy doesn't drift at all. He stayed right there, and he's had an absolutely incredible NBA career. I hope to see it continue to go on, never really hate to see guys lead a game. But in saying that, like he said, he had peace with if this is it, this is it. If the right situation happens, then, you know, he move on to that situation. But like I said, as a fan of Lou Will and somebody who appreciates his game,

what he brings to the floor, I definitely hope he'd go at least one more. But if not, it's been an incredible run for him on and off to court. I think he's done it. like not many guys have. And I got a lot of love and respect for that. So thanks to our guest, Lou Will. I hope you all enjoyed the interview as much as I enjoyed conducting the interview

and listening as well. Until next week, that's the wrap from the Draymond Green Show. Peace.