Lance Stephenson finished with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting in the Pacers’ Game 5 win over the Heat, and overall, those numbers didn’t have all that much of an impact on the game’s final result.
Stephenson, however, tried to put his stamp on this one in other ways, the most noticeable being an odd exchange where he was seen blowing in the ear ofLeBron James.
Pacers head coach Frank Vogel wasn’t exactly in support of this particular tactic, saying the following day that he wants his guys to be competitive without crossing the line. And the team’s president, Larry Bird, similarly wasn’t pleased with Stephenson’s odd behavior.
But if you thought the actual incident was funny and entertaining, there’s one important man who doesn’t.Asked via text message if he was bothered by Stephenson blowing in James’ ear, Pacers president Larry Bird replied, “Yes I am.”
The ear incident wasn’t the only trick Stephenson pulled to try to gain a psychological advantage. He attempted to eavesdrop on a Miami huddle at one point, and tried to flop to get the referees to disqualify James, for which he received a $10,000 fine the next day.
Bird’s opinion of Stephenson is the most important, because he’s the one who will ultimately decide how much to offer Stephenson to stay in Indiana when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. Given his string of questionable postseason decisions, along with some play deemed by his teammates to have been selfish, it’s worth wondering if Bird is still intent on retaining Stephenson’s services.http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/29/pacers-president-larry-bird-asked-if-he-was-bothered-by-lance-stephenson-blowing-in-lebrons-ear-yes-i-am/
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