The Los Angeles Lakers are a premier franchise in the league and many players aspire to play there at some point. Between the prestige that often comes with donning the purple and gold jerseys, the impeccable winning tradition and the sunny California weather, it's easy to see why many hoopers dream of one day playing for this organization.
However, as former Lakers guard Lou Williams recently revealed, not all players have had the best experiences with the organization. In a recent revelation on "The Underground Lounge," he opened up about his bad experience when he asked for tickets from the Lakers, which was a stark contrast from the rockstar treatment he received from another team he previously played for, the L.A. Clippers .
As the podcast crew talked to guest KevOnStage about the high cost of Lakers game tickets, Lou Will recalled the difference in his treatment by the Lakers and Clippers .
"I make a phone call, Clippers right now. Parking pass, escort to my seat, accommodated, big screen, the whole thing, all the way back to the seat," Williams bragged about his experience watching Clippers games at the state-of-the-art Intuit Dome.
However, with the Lakers, things were quite different.
"I called the Lakers. Them MFs sent me two tickets in my email," he recalled, sending everyone laughing.
That wasn't the end of it, though. As Williams remembered, he didn't even receive terrific courtside seats. Instead, he was plugged in the nosebleeds.
"That's it. No parking. Nothing else. And put me in the crowd," Lou continued. "I might have been in 118, row like 19, 20. Legitimate 20 rows up. I felt kind of crazy. I played for them. And I'm sitting there looking and everybody looking at me like, 'The f—k are you doing up here?'"
Granted, Williams' two-year tenure with the Purple and Gold was unremarkable. Although he averaged 16.8 points on 42.7 percent shooting in 125 games, those two seasons were marked by the final days of Kobe Bryant in a Lakers uniform and a high number of losses. In fact, the Lakers failed to reach the postseason during Williams' time there.
Still, Williams expected better treatment from an organization he had given his all to.
"Hey, you know you in the wrong seats when you're trying to find all the positives. That s—t ain't that bad. A bathroom right there. It's a bar right there," Williams added as the crew kept on laughing. "I'm trying to find all the positives. I'm trying to figure out why am I sitting up I'm telling my girl, 'I ain't really even seen it from this.' I'm trying to, I'm gassing it up, boy."
It stands to reason why the Clippers treated Lou Will with a lot more respect than the Lakers did. After all, Williams was one of the team's most explosive scorers in his four seasons there.
Despite coming off the bench, he still averaged 19.1 points and 5.1 assists, and won two of his three Sixth Man of the Year awards while he was with the Clippers. He was also a significant reason why the Clippers qualified for the postseason in 2019 and 2020, so that might be the reason for the different treatment.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 26, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
