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NBA’s all-time bench scorer, Lou Williams, announces retirement after 17 seasons

Long-time NBA guard Lou Williams, the all-time leading bench scorer in league history, announced his retirement Sunday after 17 seasons.

Williams, 36, made the announcement in a YouTube video. In the video, Williams’ daughter narrates a letter she is writing that details the highs and lows of his career.

“The time is now that you’ve chosen to announce your farewell, but still fulfilling your legacy within us,” his daughter says during the video. “You gave it all that you could give. You left nothing more to undo. And I’m truly proud of you, dad. On behalf of the game, the fans and all those you touched, we salute you. Well done.”

Williams played for six different teams but carved out a role as a reliable and consistently productive bench scorer. He started just 122 of his 1,123 career games and scored 13,396 of his 15,593 points (85.9%) as a reserve, which is the NBA all-time bench scoring mark. The next closest player is Jamal Crawford, who trails Williams by 2,117 points.

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Williams won three NBA Sixth Man of the Year awards in 2015, 2018 and 2019, which is tied with Crawford for most all-time.

LA Clippers guard Lou Williams reacts against the Golden State Warriors in the first half of Game 6 of the first round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center.

LA Clippers guard Lou Williams reacts against the Golden State Warriors in the first half of Game 6 of the first round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center.

Williams was a second-round selection for the Philadelphia 76ers, where he played for seven seasons, in the 2005 NBA draft. He then bounced around to the Atlanta Hawks (2012-14; 2021-22), Toronto Raptors (2014-15), Los Angeles Lakers (2015-17), Houston Rockets (2017) and Los Angeles Clippers (2017-21).

Williams did not play this last season and last appeared in a game in April 2022.

He finished his career averaging 13.9 points per game, 2.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA’s all-time bench scorer, Lou Williams, announces retirement