On Wednesday, Lakers reporter Mike Trudell sat down with shooting guard Lou Williams for an insightful “Lakers Voices” interview. From Nick Young‘s comedy to Larry Nance Jr.‘s dunks, they discussed it all.
Lou Williams was the Los Angeles Lakers biggest signing of the offseason. Coming off of a year where he won Sixth Man of the Year honors, expectations were high for Sweet Lou.
The season has gotten off to a rocky start but here’s some interesting takeaways from his sit down with Mike Trudell.
If you don’t have time to watch the whole interview the biggest takeaway is that Lou Williams is a scholar of the game. Williams is eloquent and supports his opinions with sound information. If he says something, he means it.
For example, when discussing rookie dunking sensation Larry Nance Jr, Williams outspokenly said,
"I think he’s a better dunker than Blake Griffin. I mean Blake dunks on people and is nasty but if you give him head up Larry Nance will.. I mean, they got to do their history, do their homework, look up Larry’s dad and then you tell me..Just dunking, take everybody off the court… take Larry Nance every time. He’s a better dunker than Blake…. He dunks on somebody every day in practice… That Ezeli dunk, he’s probably done that once a week"
Additionally, he revealed that Nance Jr. was taught to set a pick and pop, but needs to start rolling to the rim for easy layups and dunks. If what Williams said is true about an Ezeli-a-week, Nance Jr. would do best to heed this advice.
When talking about D’Angelo Russell, Williams had an interesting perspective on his situation.
"95% of the the 19 year olds in this country, their hardest decision is if they’re going to go to class or not. This kid has to run an NBA program with a future Hall of Famer on the court, Sixth Man of the Year, Roy Hibbert being an All-Star. We’ve basically given them this team and said, ‘You guys have to balance all of this out..’ and it’s a tough job to do. For a 19 year old, he’s done a solid job."
When you look at it this way, Russell has done a “solid job.” It’s all a matter of perspective.
Fans expected greatness right away, though that’s not what the front office promised.
Williams also voiced that, “He’s hungry for being taught. He’ll catch you on the plane and pick your brain,” on the contrary to recent reports questioning his work ethic.
Lou "Give me freethrows or give me death" Williams
— Lake Show Life (@TheLakeShowLife) November 17, 2015
For those of you who are intrigued by Williams uncanny abilities to draw shooting fouls, he talked about that too. “If you put your hand on me or near me, I’m gonna find it.. If you touch me, I’m going to throw the ball towards the rim and get shots.”
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In regards to teammate Kobe Bryant, Williams expressed, “Kobe’s earned the right to shoot anything that he wants to shoot. You don’t really question Kobe when he takes shots, some guys have just earned the right to shoot shots, and he’s one of them.”
This sentiment seems to be one that pervades the entire organization, to the detriment of the team. No matter how you slice it, 44-for-136 on the season, for a whopping 34 percent, is awful but hopefully, Kobe’s turning over a new leaf.
The most ironic thing Williams said all interview was in regards to coach Byron Scott. “Coach Scott has always said, if you want different results, try to do something different than you’ve done in the past.”
The best thing for the Lakers now would be for Byron to heed his own advice and switch up his current rotations.
Next: Larry Nance Jr. on Entering Dunk Contest 'It'd Be Cool'
If you want to watch the full interview, you can do so here.