LeBron on Stephenson antics: 'I have no idea how I restrained'
Lance Stephenson should probably be thankful that cooler heads prevailed on Friday night after he cupped the face of Lebron James, yet another in the long line of antics - physical or verbal - Stephenson pulled in the Eastern Conference finals.
Stephenson is normally quite mercurial, anyway, but the goal here seemed to be to rattle James' cage, something head coach Frank Vogel believes was a pretty bad idea (see the post below).
What Stephenson may have forgot is that in his 11 seasons, including nine playoff runs, four MVPs and two NBA titles, James has had opponents try to get in his kitchen and break dishes in every way imaginable. Still, Friday's face-tap nearly caused tensions to boil over.
Not only did Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem respond in-game (physically and verbally, respectively), James admitted after the game that he very nearly did too.
From Pro Basketball Talk:
I don’t know. I have no idea how I restrained. I don’t know, I guess I just understand what the bigger picture is.
It was uncalled for, for sure. That was — I don’t know. I’m at a loss of words with that, but it was uncalled for, and I was able to move on from it. I let him know how I felt.
Well, we have an idea how James was able to restrain himself: the Heat were crushing the Pacers, James was dominating and had he responded, he would have been risking missing time in the NBA Finals. Stephenson probably just isn't worth it.
Still, good for him for keeping a cool head.