Magic City dancer says she performed for Lou Williams, contradicting Clipper guard's 'in-and-out' claim
Not many people believed Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams when he said he was only picking up some chicken wings during his now-infamous trip to the Magic City strip club while outside the NBA bubble.
A recounting of the trip by one of the club’s dancers has poked another hole in Williams’ defense, as she told the Los Angeles Times that she was one of multiple dancers to perform for the reigning Sixth Man of the Year:
Working the day shift from 3 to 9 p.m., Aries said she danced last week for Williams, a regular at the club who has a dish named after him: the “Louwill Lemon Pepper BBQ wings.”
After placing an order with the Magic City kitchen, the high-scoring Clippers guard ambled around the club, Aries said, and she was one of a few dancers who performed for him, keeping a six-foot distance.
“He tipped very well,” she said.
Well, at least he tipped well.
Lou Williams insisted he was just there for the food
The Lou Williams saga began earlier this week when a photo emerged of the guard sitting with rapper Jack Harlow at Magic City, leading to an investigation by the NBA. Williams had left the bubble with an excused absence to deal with a personal matter, later revealed to be the death of his grandfather.
Williams reportedly told investigators that he had visited the club directly after his grandfather’s viewing, and was only there to pick up some apparently incredible chicken wings. He later doubled down on Twitter, saying he was in-and-out of the club, which literally named an item on its menu after him, and that nobody was partying.
Ask any of my teammates what’s my favorite restaurant in Atlanta is. Ain’t nobody partying. Chill out lol #Maskon #inandout
— Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) July 24, 2020
A few days later, he repeated he was only picking up wings while feuding with ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins.
15 years in this business and the most dirt you have on my name is stopping to get hot wings during a pandemic. Perk. Shut up. And stop laughing and saying it’s just tv when you run into me too. https://t.co/2xnCpG9I1J
— Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) July 27, 2020
That defense was bolstered by Williams’ past praise for the club’s food, but the dancer’s account appears to contradict that, as well as the fact that this whole thing started because of a photo of Williams sitting with a rapper in one of the club’s booths.
Magic City trip costly for LouWill, Clippers
The NBA wasn’t impressed with Williams’ explanation, opting to extend his mandatory quarantine from the standard four days for excused absences to 10 days.
That was a big blow for both the player and his team. The extra six days in quarantine meant Williams had to miss the Clippers’ first two games of the Disney World reboot, against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday and New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday.
The Clippers have since lost to the Lakers in a close game, something that Williams’ scoring off the bench might have changed. Before the NBA went into hiatus, Williams had been averaging 18.7 points and 5.5 assists while again forming one of basketball’s most devastating pick-and-roll combinations with center Montrezl Harrell.
As for Williams himself, in addition to public blowback, the veteran will forfeit up to $150,000 in salary for the missed games. Those are some costly wings. And legs and thighs.
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