Lou Williams unintentionally sabotaged the Clippers

NBA fans can be enthusiastic about this. In a couple of days, the 2019-2020 season will restart with eight classification games that will set the stage for playoffs. Two of the most favorites to win the title are the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. They will face each other on the first day of the NBA restart.

During the regular season, Clippers beat Lakers twice, but LeBron James and his teammates won the last match. Also, a mistake made by one of the Clippers’ players might cost them the win.

Last week, Lou Williams was allowed to leave the bubble to be with a friend who was going through some tough times. That’s fine, and we can all appreciate the dedication that ‘Sweet Lou’ has for his friends. However, Williams was seen at a Gentleman’s Club, staying on a couch with a friend. This event got into the NBA’s attention, so they decided to investigate it.

After careful considerations, the league has decided to quarantine Lou Williams for ten days, meaning that he will not be able to play in the first two classification games. Williams said that he dropped by at that place only to take some food. Meanwhile, he got a lot of criticism from analysts around the league.

I’m not going to debate if this penalty was fair or not. However, the point is that any mistake, big or small, can affect the team’s performance, especially in this artificial bubble.

As I said earlier, the Clippers will face Lakers in the first official game. If they win, they would have a chance to get close to the first seed. Even if they don’t manage to finish in the first place, the mental advantage before a possible conference final would be important.

Instead, Doc Rivers must think of a game plan that doesn’t include Lou Williams, who was one of the best players on the team in the last few seasons. Considering that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George didn’t play so good in the ‘friendly’ games, the leadership of Lou Williams would have been essential during this stage.

The players must know that the rules are there for a reason, and that is to protect them from the global pandemic. Therefore, they should pay a lot of attention to the way they behave because any mistake, any small gesture can put their team in a difficult position.

*photo: thesportsrush.com

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