The NBA has placed Lou Williams in 10-day quarantine after the LA Clippers guard was investigated by the league for what he did while on an excused absence from the Orlando, Florida, campus.
The league announced Williams’ quarantine on Sunday, three days after Williams was photographed by the rapper Jack Harlow at an Atlanta strip club. Harlow quickly deleted the post from his Instagram story and tweeted Friday, “That was an old pic of me and Lou. I was just reminiscing cuz I miss him.”
In the photograph, Williams is holding a drink and wearing an NBA mask given out on the Orlando campus.
Sources told ESPN that Williams, 33, has been interviewed by NBA security about his whereabouts while he was away from campus, and he told them that he went to the Magic City strip club in Atlanta for a short time on Thursday, but there were no entertainers present while he was there.
According to sources, Williams told NBA investigators that he attended a viewing for Paul G. Williams, which ended at around 6 p.m. Thursday, then went to Magic City for dinner. Sources said Paul Williams was the father of a close family friend. Williams tweeted a photo of Paul Williams on Friday, along with the caption, “Long Live Pops.”
On Friday, Lou Williams wrote in a tweet, “Ask any of my teammates what’s my favorite restaurant in Atlanta is. Ain’t nobody partying. Chill out lol. #Maskon #inandout.”
Per NBA policy, Williams was tested for the coronavirus each day that he was away from campus, a source told ESPN. Players are subject to a minimum four-day quarantine after they leave campus on an excused absence.
However, the re-quarantining time could be extended up to 10 days if recommended by the league’s infectious disease specialists.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently reported that for Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso, who was weighing whether to attend his sister’s 100-person wedding in Texas, the re-quarantining process would likely have been 10 or even 14 days because of the high-risk nature of the event.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers was asked about the photos of Williams and his journey after leaving Orlando.
“I can’t share much with his journey. I wasn’t on that journey with him,” Rivers said before the Clippers’ scrimmage Saturday. “But he’s back here, I can tell you that much. You know, obviously those pictures got out, and that’s something that we obviously didn’t enjoy seeing or like.”
Williams joined Montrezl Harrell and Patrick Beverley as Clippers who have been excused to leave the campus in Orlando to tend to family matters in the past week.
In addition to missing those three players, the Clippers have not had Ivica Zubac and Landry Shamet available in Orlando. Zubac shared a picture of what appeared to be a window view at the Walt Disney World Resort with the location of Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort on Saturday morning on Instagram, and Shamet posted pictures Saturday on Instagram of himself traveling in a private jet.
Rivers said he isn’t sure if he will have his full roster available for the Clippers’ first game of the NBA restart against the Lakers on Thursday.
“I don’t know that, honestly,” Rivers said. “My guess is I would doubt it, but I have no idea.”
Information from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Bobby Marks was used in this report.