Retiring from the NBA after contributing for the growth of basketball for decades is never an abrupt decision. After much consideration, NBA veteran Lou Williams decided that he is ready to walk out of the league after spending 19 years. But just one moment that fueled his hope of winning once stopped him from retiring. In the recent episode of the Club 520 podcast, the 3x NBA Sixth Man of the Year discussed battling against Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s Milwaukee Bucks and the opportunity to come so close to victory. 

In the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2020-21 season, the Atlanta Hawks faced off against the Bucks. Without their star player, Trae Young, Williams and the Hawks gave tough competition to the Greek Freak’s team. As they came quite close to their dreams, Williams thought it was the right time to retire. However, one Bucks player ruined his plan to retire as the Hawks got defeated.

“That was a great run I wish it would have went differently I felt like um these s**t cameras rolling I felt like we could have did some things differently but we had an opportunity you know we went game seven Giannis got hurt,” Williams said. “We thought we was gonna make it happen after Giannis got hurt but Khris Middleton decided to turn into Kobe Bryant they had 20 in the fourth yeah and put us out of our misery but if we have won that one yeah I definitely would have retired.”

The twist came when the Greek Freak injured his left knee in Game 4. Despite the power performance; the Hawks lost as Khris Middleton leveled up to squash their hopes. 

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The Milwaukee Bucks made it to the Finals 2021

With the news of Antetokounmpo’s knee injury, fans almost lost hope for the team. That was until Middleton stepped up. The team got together to compensate for the star player’s absence. 

As described by Williams, Milwaukee Bucks player Middleton channeled his inner Kobe Bryant spirit and scored 32 points that saw a 118-107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6. Jrue Holiday dished out 27 points to back up. With this, the Bucks made it to the finals after half a century since 1974. 

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Even if that encouraged Williams to continue his journey, he ultimately retired in 2023. Nevertheless, his contributions as the sixth man have made an impact. What is your take on this? Let us know in the comments section below.

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