Former NBA guard Lou Williams shared a story from his time playing under Doc Rivers, revealing that he once admitted to his coach that he was too intoxicated to play but was still sent onto the court.
Williams explained that he approached Rivers and openly acknowledged his condition, even offering to accept a suspension or another form of punishment rather than participate in the game.
“I’m drunk. I don’t think I can play. I said, ‘I’m sorry, bro, but I’m drunk. So, you want to suspend me or whatever? I’mma take my lick.’”
Instead of removing Williams from the lineup, Rivers came up with a different approach. According to the three-time Sixth Man of the Year, the coach decided to play him throughout the second quarter in an attempt to get him ready for the closing stages of the game.
“Doc looked at me square in my eye. He said, ‘I’m going to play your ass this whole second quarter, ’cause I need you to sweat that sh*t out, and I’m going to need you in the fourth.’”
Williams said Rivers followed through with that plan, keeping him on the floor for the entire second quarter.
Despite his earlier concerns about being able to compete, Williams claimed he eventually delivered a remarkable fourth-quarter performance.
“He played me the whole second quarter. I had 24 in the fourth.”
However, Williams acknowledged that the experience also had a negative side. Rather than treating the incident as a warning, he initially viewed his ability to perform under those circumstances as evidence that he could continue making similar decisions without facing consequences.
“But that’s the type that make you think, ‘I’m cool. I can keep going,’ because you dodged the bullet and you had success with it. Now it’s like, I’m a rock star too. I can do this.”
