In 2005, Lou Williams was drafted straight out of high school. The second-rounder was thrust into a Philadelphia locker room that was littered with veterans making a lot more money than he was. As a result, Lou Will was game to try anything that would put some extra cash in his pocket.
During an episode of the All The Smoke podcast with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, Williams recalled a time when Barnes, Allen Iverson, and the other veteran Sixers coaxed the-then 19-year-old into drinking a six-pack of beer by himself.
"We made a bet that he had to drink a six-pack," Barnes said at the interview's 8:45-minute mark. "He didn't drink at the time. He was fresh out of high school... It was 15,000."
"They said I couldn't drink a six-pack of beer before we got on the plane for 15 grand," Williams added.
That money was enough motivation to get Williams to down the six-pack and win the bet. Yet because he wasn't used to drinking, the beer quickly took a toll on Williams. His veteran teams started to get worried that Williams wouldn't make it to the plane or that someone would notice they got the teenager drunk. But Barnes, Iverson, and Chris Webber had a plan.
"He kind of had his arm slumped on AI’s shoulder, and then me and C-Webb was kind of in front," Barnes said when describing the walk from the bus to the team jet. "He was still there, but he was—He handled himself well, but he was fucked up. You know what I mean? So, we had to kind of camouflage his ass up onto the plane."
