Clippers guard Lou Williams has cleared quarantine and will be available to play on Tuesday against the Suns, agent Wallace Prather tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Williams, who left the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus last month to attend a funeral, was photographed at popular Atlanta strip club Magic City during his absence. Although Williams said he was only there for the food – Magic City’s lemon pepper BBQ wings are named after him – he had to undergo a 10-day quarantine upon returning to Orlando.
Players who leave the NBA’s campus with permission can quarantine for as few as four days when they return, but any potential violations of the league’s protocols can instead result in a 10-to-14-day quarantine period, as was the case for Williams.
The extended quarantine period sidelined Williams for the Clippers’ first two seeding games, but it sounds like he’ll be ready to resume his sixth-man role on Tuesday vs. Phoenix. His return figures to result in a reduction in minutes for the likes of Reggie Jackson and Landry Shamet.
With Williams back, the Clippers are nearing full strength. However, L.A. is still missing Montrezl Harrell, who is taking some time away from the team to deal with his grief following the death of his grandmother.