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Report: LeBron thinks Giannis, Jabari play harder against Cavs

Ken Blaze / USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James is a bear best left unpoked, as the Golden State Warriors found out the hard way after chiding him during last season's Finals and unwittingly helping unleash the most electrifying three-game run in NBA history.

James has always looked for motivation wherever he can find it, and though he's arguably the best player on the planet even when he isn't playing angry, he seems to have a special gear reserved for when he's holding a grudge.

The Milwaukee Bucks, and their dynamic young tandem of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker, apparently made their way onto James' hit list a few weeks back by ... playing really well against him?

After the Bucks whooped his Cavaliers late in November, James was privately "less than impressed with how Parker and Antetokounmpo clearly played at a higher level against the Cavs than they normally do," ESPN's Dave McMenamin reports.

James wondered why the two "don't make that level of play their standard and become true professionals."

For someone who's earned a reputation in recent years for saving his best performances for when the stakes are highest, that criticism may ring a bit hollow. (And if that's a worthy standard by which to judge a player's professionalism, the Warriors can reasonably argue James is a rank amateur.) In any event, after being forced to grudgingly take Milwaukee seriously, James came back and played 82 combined minutes in leading the Cavs to this week's home-and-home sweep of the Bucks, averaging 31.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists while shooting 9-of-16 from 3-point range.

The Bucks didn't make it easy though, sending the first game to overtime (where James had to play hero) and hanging tough in the second game before the Cavs gained some separation in the third quarter.

James was complimentary toward the budding team after he vanquished them, though those compliments came with a stinging backhand when the topic turned to potential competitiveness of a playoff series down the line.

"The next several years they could be really, really good," James said, according to McMenamin. "For me, I'm ready for whatever matchup. It doesn't matter if it's this year, or if it's several years - I'm going to be ready for it. If I'm even fortunate enough to be in the playoffs at that point in time."

Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving, who popped off for 31 points and 13 assists in Wednesday night's win, was similarly complimentary - and no less underhanded - when asked about a prospective playoff matchup with the Bucks.

"I hope, man. I hope. They're a great young team," Irving said. "It would be great to go four games against them."

Four games.

Irving, like James, appears to have internalized the fateful 118-101 defeat the Bucks handed the Cavs back on Nov. 29.

"I'm fired up to go against them every time now, for real," Irving said. "Ever since they kicked our ass in Milwaukee, it's been personal, and it's going to continue to be personal."

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