Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams will miss the first two games of the NBA restart after being caught at a gentlemen’s club in Atlanta. The NBA is putting Williams into a 10-day quarantine, which began Saturday when he reentered the NBA bubble in Orlando. The Clippers play the Lakers on Thursday, the first night of the restart.
Williams, 33, reportedly left the NBA bubble with an excused absence to attend a funeral, and made an additional stop in Magic City to pick up some dinner later in the evening. Rapper Jack Harlow captured Williams at the strip club Thursday night with a drink in hand while wearing the NBA mask on the Orlando campus.
“That was an old photo of Lou and me,” Harlow tweeted after quickly removing the post from the Instagram story. “I just remembered why I miss her.”
Williams reportedly admitted to the NBA that he stopped at Magic City.
During the NBA quarantine period, players must undergo daily COVID-19 testing, but if a player leaving for an excused absence continuously tests negative, he may return for a quarantine of just four days, according to NBA health and safety protocols Quarantine re-entry time could be extended up to 10 days if recommended by the league’s infectious disease specialists.
New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson was quarantined for four days after returning from an excused absence. If Williamson is allowed to play after his quarantine, he will be available to play on the opening night of the bubble restart on Thursday against the Utah Jazz.
While there are currently no rules on what players can do during their time off campus for an excused absence, ESPN member Bobby Marks believes the league should add more restrictions.
“The league should make an amendment to the exit / re-entry protocols to add,” Marks tweeted Saturday night. “A player who leaves campus for valid reason must limit his interactions with people and places that are directly related to the declared emergency.”
August 3 will be Williams’ last day of quarantine. After playing against the Lakers, the Clippers face Williamson and the Pelicans on August 1.
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