The NBA Substance Report: #30 Out of 30 - Lou Williams

All statistics are updated via stats.nba.com as of March 13th, 2019.

To all of the loyal The Fro and The Flow podcast fans out there, I'm sure you're aware that Jack Martin and I have a nearly-weekly segment titled Watch The Throne (Yes, the segment is inspired by the greatest collaboration of all-time, Watch The Throne, by Jay-Z and Kanye West).

During this podcast segment, Jack Sparkin' and I break down the most talented basketball players in the world at that current moment by ranking them 1-15 (Think of it like this: If you were to start an NBA team today from scratch, zilch, nada, who would be the first player that you'd choose to help you win if they were all available?).

Because Jack and I are so dedicated to watching, observing, and sucking however much milk we can out of the NBA's utter, and are also two separate human beings, we have some disagreements every so often.

This daily column over the next 29 days will be relatively similar to that segment. The biggest, and most important difference is that this cluster fuck of a ranking will be an attempt towards breaking down the most valuable players in the NBA in accordance with how vital they are to their team's success (say, if you took Stephen Curry off of the Golden State Warriors, would they still be able to win a championship this season? And other things of that nature).

Without further adieu, let's tip this off and rank the first entry from one of the thirty greatest hoopers that the NBA has to offer. As we progress closer towards the playoffs each day, it is officially Certified Bucket Getter Season, and there is nobody who embodies that title more than the 30th ranked player.

---

30. Lou "Two Girls And They Get Along Like I'm Lou Will" Williams

"As Lou Williams continues to get Buckets in his 14th season, dont let that distract you from the fact he once had two girlfriends at the same time and one of them had a twin." - @WorldWideWob via Twitter

Although Lou Williams is recognized as the all-time leading scorer off of the bench, there is an infinite amount of people dedicated to the religion of Lou Will because of his abilities off the court as much as they are of him on the floor. The 6th Man of the Century once had two girlfriends who dated one another along with himself.

Lou is a revelation both on the court and off. He's been in Meek Mill's House Party video, Drake's made a song specifically dedicated to his season as a Raptor, remixed Rick Ross's "Ima Boss," and had a minor moment in the rap game (I have to touch on this later, I can't ignore this and neither can anyone else: Lou got bars, bruh).

Williams is a 14 year veteran, and has played for six teams during his career. He's idolized Allen Iverson since even before they played alongside one another, and credits him for his success a player who comes off of the bench.

Lou Williams, the all-time leading scorer off the bench, has been beyond vital to the Clippers unanticipated success this season. The 32 year old 6'1", 175 pound shooting guard has been torching defenses all season. The 6th man of the century is averaging a cool 20.3 PPG on 43/36/88 shooting splits. There is a general assurance amongst the NBA community that the Clippers wouldn't be in the playoff race this season if it weren't for the connoisseur of floaters and fadeaways.

There are few players in the game who're able to disrupt defenses and slice through gapped angles as quickly and effectively as Lou Williams. He's an absolute blast to watch, and if you haven't appreciated him yet, then you need to start before he's past his seemingly everlasting peak. Few moments arise when Williams isn't capable of hoisting up a shot that ends up dropping through the net.

The Legend of Lou Will's Rap Career

Lou is a revelation both on the court and off. He's been in Meek Mill's House Party video, Drake's made a song specifically dedicated to his season as a Raptor, remixed Rick Ross's "Ima Boss," and put down some very Lou Will bars on a song with Meek Mill back in 2011.

This video is without a doubt worth a watch strictly because you get to hear Lou Williams saying, "I was sleeping in class, missing these lessons. Millionaire dreaming, fuck passing these tests," but he pronounces tests like "testes". Lou Will is not a man who practices abstraction when illustrating his priorities.

The entire video is littered with Lou Will highlights. Clutch buzzer beaters, ignorant crossovers, and just general hype that showcases Lou's confidence as something that is clearly through the roof.

For all of the talk about NBA players practicing hip-hop music now (Lonzo Ball, Lance Stephenson, Damian Lillard, Javale McGee, etc.), there is not enough discussion about the pioneer of the rap-basketball convergence, Lou Willville. Kobe may have tried his hand at bouncing on an early 2000's beat, but Lou took the game to the next level with his hard-hitting bars like, "You mean to tell me you'd skip steak and lobster for school lunch?".