Raptors’ Williams captures 6th Man
Toronto’s unsung hero named best reserve player
TORONTO — They called him damaged goods. They said his best basketball was behind him. Lou Williams used it to drive him. The Toronto Raptors sharpshooter — whose exploits inspired a Drake song — won the NBA’s Sixth Man Award on Monday as the league’s best reserve player. The honour comes less than two years after a torn anterior cruciate ligament left his career in doubt.
“It fuelled me just to work,” Williams said. “When you experience a certain level of success and you know you can play at a high level, and then your legs get swiped from under you with an ACL tear, anything you can use as fuel to get back on the court, to get back to playing at a high level, we all use anything that we can.
“So I appreciate all the people that said I was damaged. But today is a special day to commemorate what I’ve been through.”
Williams averaged a career-high 15.5 points in his 10th NBA season, helping Toronto win a franchise-record 49 games. He’s thrilled fans with his clutch three-point shooting, which prompted a team official to run the length of the court trailing a giant “Lou!” flag with each made basket.
Toronto rapper Drake, who’s also the Raptors’ global ambassador referenced Williams in his song “6 Man,” which goes: “Boomin’ out in South Gwinnett like Lou Will, 6 man like Lou Will . . .”
“The song is cool, I have a soundtrack to go with the award now, so it’s pretty cool,” Williams said.
On whether he received a memento from Drake, he said, laughing: “Yeah, I got like 100,000 Instagram followers.”
“Drake got it right,” said Raptors reserve Patrick Patterson. “He made the song for a reason. He predicted the future. It’s a huge accomplishment for Lou. We’re extremely proud of him and we’re happy for him.”
Williams is the first player in Raptors history to win the award, after earning 78 firstplace votes and 502 total points from a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.
GM Masai Ujiri acquired Williams in a trade last summer with Atlanta. Williams was coming off one of the worst seasons of his career as he adjusted to his new reality.
“(I was) scared. Once I tore my ACL, that was the closest I felt to retirement,” said Williams. “Just because you don’t know what’s ahead, the fear of not knowing. Once I finally got back on the court, I realized I couldn’t jump as high, I wasn’t as fast, it takes me a little while to get my legs going. It’s a frightening thing, but to be here today is very gratifying.”
Ujiri summed up Williams’ contribution, saying: “He’s done far and beyond what we expected.”
Fan favourite James Johnson says he’s OK with limited role on Raptors
TORONTO — Firmly planted at the end of the Raptors bench on Saturday, and with Toronto falling further behind, James Johnson heard the fans calling his name.
They pleaded with coach Dwane Casey to play the red-haired fan favourite.
“I did. I did. I did (hear them),” Johnson said. “I love our fans. It gave me a warm spot in my heart. I got the chills a little bit.”
Johnson never got into Game 1, a 93-86 loss to the Washington Wizards that saw veteran Paul Pierce have his way with the Raptors, scoring a game-high 20 points.
Johnson played in 70 games for Toronto in the regular season, averaging 7.9 points and 3.7 rebounds. His greatest strengths are on the defensive end.
When the game looked bleak and Johnson remained on the bench, fans took to social media to voice their displeasure. Some mused about a beef between the coach and player.
“(I actually have the best relationship with Casey) of any of my coaches thus far in my career,” Johnson said Monday, on the eve of Game 2. “It’s his decision, wanting to win. And he’s going to stick to it. He always has. He always will.”
Game 2 goes tonight before the first-round playoff series shifts to Washington.