Lance Stephenson decided that one of the best basketball teams ever assembled needed some extra motivation:
So before last night’s game he said that LeBron’s trash-talking was a “sign of weakness.”
“I was just trying to get in his head” Stephenson would say afterward. There are certain guys who can make comments like that. Those guys are not role players with turnover problems. If Paul George says it, it’s a direct challenge to his counterpart on the floor. When it comes from Lance Stephenson, all it does is cause unnecessary distractions for his teammates, and it doesn’t get in LeBron’s head – at all. Imagine David Wingate of the ’96 Sonics saying that about Jordan. Imagine if Stephenson said something like that to a player who doesn’t care about his image like Rasheed Wallace. I wish he would have said that to Rasheed Wallace.
LeBron responded with his best game of the series: 32 points with 10 boards and 5 dimes. “I got a smirk out of it” James said “I don’t need any motivation.”
I’m not trying to suggest Stephenson’s comment is why James was unstoppable last night, James has been unstoppable for a decade. All that comment did was bother Stephenson’s teammates. “We try to stay away from giving teams bulletin board material” said David West. Paul George added “When you make comments…you got to bring it. I’m pretty sure a lot of people were going to be tuned in to see what Lance was going to do because of what he said.” What he did was score nine points, and make Norris Cole look like Gary Payton.
Pro-tip: Do not anger The King.
Article By: Anthony Schiano
