Lou Williams Denies Jay-Z Influenced His Decision to Enter 2005 NBA Draft in Trending Post

Former NBA player Lou Williams wants to set the record straight.

Rapper Jay-Z had "nothing to do" with his decision to declare for the 2005 NBA draft.

Williams took to social media Saturday and responded to a rumor that Jay-Z was why he declared for the draft and said, "I'm Lou Williams. Jay z ain't have nothing to do with me declaring for no draft lol."

It should be noted Jay-Z may have at least had an indirect influence on Williams' decision even if the rapper didn't tell the guard to enter the draft or skip college, at least based on the player's own previous words.

During a 2023 appearance on The Starting Five podcast (h/t Joe Price of Complex), Williams told the following story:

"I went straight from high school. My thing was, my senior year in high school I started experiencing things. I had this one night, LeBron and [Maverick Carter] introduced me to Jay-Z. I kicked it with Jay for a night and I went to school the next day. And I was looking around the class, like, 'I'm nothing like none of y'all.' I start experiencing different s--t, so I was like, I'm not going to sit in another classroom after this. I literally can't do it, I don't think that's going to be the path for me. So, I start preparing myself like I'm going to the NBA."

Go to the NBA he did, and the Philadelphia 76ers selected him in the second round in 2005.

He played his first seven seasons with the 76ers before eventually suiting up for the Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, L.A. Clippers and Atlanta Hawks as his career continued.

The three-time Sixth Man of the Year played through the 2021-22 campaign and consistently provided an offensive spark off the bench for a number of different teams even if Jay-Z's overall influence on the start of his career is up for debate.