During the 2020 NBA bubble, Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams found himself in a bit of hot water with the league when he came to a crossroads with the rules. The then 33-year-old was given the green light to leave the NBA bubble in Orlando — a strict quarantine zone designed to keep players safe during the season — for what was cited as a family matter.
Williams, who left for Atlanta, was spotted at a strip club. He claimed he was just there to grab some food, but it prompted an investigation from the league and backlash from many, including Kendrick Perkins . The former NBA player turned analyst, called out the star guard. He pointed out that it wasn't just about a quick food run; it was breaking the rules that the NBA had put in place to protect everyone involved. Recently, Lou came out to say that Perk misconstrued the entire story.
"Now from Atlanta, our best restaurants is the strip clubs," Williams said on "The Underground Lounge". "It is what it is, that's our culture. [It] had nothing to do with wanting to party, go out, none of that, but he [Perkins] was speaking [from] a place of not understanding what our culture is and how we kick it in ATL...He put one of those words next to my name, and I wasn't feeling it".
Breaking the rules
Because of his unexpected stop, Williams had to be quarantined for ten days upon his return to the bubble, forcing him to sit for at least the first two Clippers games. The NBA had implemented strict protocols to keep everyone safe, especially with COVID-19 still wreaking havoc across the United States at the time. So, Lou's extra stop during what was supposed to be a quick, approved trip out of Florida to attend a family funeral didn't sit well with the league.
Perkins has a reputation for being blunt, often saying what others won't, and this situation was no exception. The ESPN analyst didn't hold back when he addressed the problem in a tweet, expressing that as a veteran with over a decade in the league, Williams should have known better than to be involved in some controversy during a global pandemic.
The Clippers guard didn't take the criticism lying down. He quote-tweeted Perkins a few hours later, firing back with a blunt "shut up" and telling him to "stop laughing."
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The bubble trouble
When the NBA season came to a halt in early March 2020, everyone was left hanging, wondering how the league would complete the rest of the season. After over three months, the league was set to resume and take place at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida — inside a highly controlled bubble.
It was unusual and unlike anything sports fans had seen before. Players, coaches, and staff from 22 teams, league officials, and even some media members packed up their lives to move into this isolated environment for months. The goal was to bring back the game with all the safety measures, but with physical distancing from the outside world, the bubble life also meant endless hours of solitude for the players. The mental strain was real.
"Did I make a mistake? Sure," Lou added. "But if I show y'all the pictures of the stuff that we was eating, everybody in that bubble, if they had the opportunity to leave, they would have done what I did."
While inside the bubble, players had to find ways to keep their sanity. When they weren't on the court, they played video games and cards, jammed out at DJ parties, or got competitive with table tennis—anything to pass the time and keep their minds off the isolation.
Related: Lou Williams thinks Clippers would've won 2020 title if it weren't for the bubble: "We just took our foot off the gas pedal"
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