Lou Williams Claps Back at Reporter who Compares him to Alex Caruso

LA Clippers guard Lou Williams clapped back at a Lakers reporter after he said Alex Caruso is the better of the two.

There are a lot of similarities between the LA Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers. Aside from sharing a city and arena, both teams are led by a pair of superstars and are the only two squads in the league to rank among the top five in both offensive and defensive rating.

Neither side needs any more motivation than they already have to take down the other, but Lakers sideline reporter Mike Trudell added fuel to the Clippers' fire when he said Alex Caruso is a better player than Lou Williams on an episode of the Strictly Buckets Podcast last month.

"I think [Alex] Caruso is better than Lou Williams, just straight up. Most people are not going to accept that argument, but he is a ton better defensively, like where it's not even close, and Lou, for him to be effective offensively, he has to have the ball running screen roll the whole time, which means that Paul George and Kawhi [Leonard] don't have the ball... I genuinely think a lot of coaches might secretly recognize that."

Williams responded Friday morning on Twitter, saying, "@MikeTrudell thanx. I needed that."

Trudell has a point when it comes to Williams' defense, but if the post-All-Star break Clippers taught us anything, it's that Williams does not need the ball in his hands to be effective on offense.

When Reggie Jackson and Williams are on the floor together, Williams plays off the ball. And in the eight games that Williams played alongside Jackson this season, he was a more efficient scorer than he had been all year.

From February 22 to March 8, Williams averaged 13.1 points and 4.5 assists in 24.4 minutes per game while shooting a blistering 45.0% from the field and 48.3% from three-point range — both drastic improvements over his percentages earlier in the season. 

That said, Williams doesn't need to change his game or justify the fact that he typically needs the ball to be effective. Clearly, what he's been doing throughout his 15-year NBA career is working for him, as he's the league's all-time leader in points scored off the bench and is on track to win a record-breaking fourth Sixth Man of the Year Award later this year. The 33-year-old is averaging 18.7 points and 5.7 assists per game this season (22.9 points and 7.0 assists per 36), while Caruso is at 5.4 points and 1.8 assists (11.0 points and 3.6 assists per 36).

Ultimately, this is a discussion about one of the best scorers to play the game of basketball and a role player with a cult following. Caruso gets the edge on defense, but Williams does everything else better — and it's not close.

The Clippers and Lakers may not meet again this season, but if it happens, don't expect Williams to forget about Trudell's comment.