Lou Williams’ adaptability makes him a good fit with young Lakers

Most of the time Lou Williams feels young.

That excludes the times when he’s around the teammates who are five, six, seven, eight, 10 and even 11 years younger than him. Before practice Friday he watched his 24-year-old teammate Jordan Clarkson, bobbing to that day’s music, filled with the boundless energy of youth.

“You gotta get rest to hang out with these guys,” Williams said, smiling, then motioning toward Clarkson. “They’re just always excited about something.”

That young guy in the locker room once was Williams, who turned 30 in October. He entered the NBA straight out of high school in 2005 and that he has transitioned to the other side speaks to his adaptability and ability to carve his own niche.

Williams is a closer. He’s the energetic finisher who comes off the bench and pushes his team toward the finish line. At this early juncture in the Lakers season, he’s done just that.

“I just know that’s winning time,” Williams said. “In the NBA the fourth quarter’s when guys play the hardest, when guys play the smartest. If you don’t play a lot of minutes before that point, that’s when you’ve gotta be the sharpest. … Fourth quarter’s usually when you make a push to win the basketball game, so that’s when I’m always my sharpest.”

Williams ranks sixth in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring, averaging 7.9 points per game in that period. His fourth-quarter performances are why Williams leads the Lakers in scoring at 15.9 points per game. They’re a big part of why the Lakers have a winning record. And those big fourth quarters are also the product of years of understanding that this role would extend his career.

“He gets better as the game goes on,” Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. “He’s so crafty with the ball. When other teams get aggressive on us, I feel confident when he’s the one coming off those screen and rolls and playmaking and can knock down big shots. It’s nice to have on the team.”

This wasn’t the vision for his future with which Williams entered the NBA.

“We all come into the league thinking we’re going to be superstars and household names and over time you begin to see how your career’s starting to shape up,” Williams said. “Over time I became really good at a sixth-man role.”

As he emerged from high school, Williams was Mr. Georgia Basketball one year after Dwight Howard won the same honor. He was the Naismith prep player of the year and a McDonald’s All-American. Although he signed a letter of intent with Georgia, he felt his dream job was too close to delay.

The 76ers drafted Williams near the end of the tumultuous tenure of Hall of Famer Allen Iverson. Williams played behind Iverson for a year and a half, was sent down to the developmental league, then returned as Iverson was on his way out. In 2009, Williams was the 76ers’ second-leading scorer when he broke his jaw and missed eight weeks. Not long after, Iverson returned for his final hurrah with Philadelphia.

After seven seasons in Philadelphia, Williams signed with the Atlanta Hawks. In January 2013, in his first season with his hometown team, Williams tore his anterior cruciate ligament. The Hawks eventually traded Williams to the Toronto Raptors, where he blossomed coming off the bench.

In 2015, the NBA named Williams its sixth man of the year.

“I took a lot of pride in that just because of what I went through the year before,” Williams said.

When he looks on his career so far, what Williams sees is his own resilience. It has allowed him to return from injuries and work through situations when his career didn’t look exactly like he thought it would.

Now he’s a veteran presence on a Lakers roster filled with players around a decade younger than him. And he’s there because he learned how to make himself invaluable.

He showed that Thursday in Sacramento, when Williams’ 13 fourth-quarter points helped seal the Lakers’ comeback bid against the Kings in a game they once trailed by 19 points. That night, his teammates fed off his energy.

“I still feel so young,” Williams said. “That’s how the league is. The league evolves. Time flies when you’re having a good time. You look up, you’re 12 years in and you’re kind of in a mentoring role. It’s weird.”

UP NEXT FOR THE LAKERS

AT NEW ORLEANS

When: 4 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Smoothie King Center.

On the air: TV: Spectrum SportsNet, Spectrum Deportes; Radio: 690, 1330.

Records: Lakers 5-4; Pelicans 1-8

Record vs. Kings (2015-16): 2-1.

Update: Despite center Anthony Davis’s best efforts the Pelicans have struggled this season. Davis, though, has been spectacular. Davis scored 50 points with 15 rebounds, five steals, five assists and four blocks in New Orleans’ season opener. He’s averaging 31 points a game, but he has little support around him. Rookie guard Buddy Hield averages 9.3 points.

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Twitter: @taniaganguli