Lou Williams is a two-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year. He won the award in 2015 and 2018. Last year, Williams was one of three finalists for the Sixth Man award. He beat Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon and Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet to win the award. Williams is a contender for Sixth Man of the Year almost every season. He is arguably one of the best sixth men to fill that role. This week, Williams solidified his status by accomplishing an impressive achievement. Williams became the all-time leading scorer for reserves.
On Monday, Williams scored 34 points against the Boston Celtics, as the Clippers won by 25. Williams was the leading scorer for the Clippers in this game despite coming off the bench. Williams has come off the bench for most of his 13-year career. His scoring provides teams with an offensive spark off the bench. This season is no exception. Williams averages 20.3 points in 63 games this season. He has not started a single game this year. His 34 points against the Celtics helped Williams make history. He scored his 11,148th career point. With his 11,148th career point, Williams became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer as a reserve. He passed former NBA guard Dell Curry, who previously held the record.
Williams had great things to say about his accomplishment.
“Anytime you can say to have ‘of all time’ next to your name, no matter what it is, it’s special,” Williams said. “With being a sixth man and being a career bench player, to have an opportunity to be something that says ever at the end of it is special to me.”
Williams credited his accomplishment to former teammate Allen Iverson. He spoke with Marc Spears of The Undefeated to discuss Iverson’s role in Williams starting his sixth man journey.
“[Iverson] was the reason I ended up coming off the bench,” Williams said. “When he came back to Philly, I was in a really good run and I ended up getting hurt when he came in. He got the starting spot. That kind of solidified me as a role player. But for him, he’s a Hall of Fame guy, an MVP-caliber guy. I wouldn’t expect him to accept a bench role like that.”
Since then, Williams embraced his role. His perseverance has led to this accomplishment. Williams is the reigning Sixth Man of the Year and if he continues to play well, he’ll be on the verge of the award this season.
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images
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