Lance Stephenson: 'I don't regret' blowing in LeBron James' ear
Four years after his famous ear-blowing moment in the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals, Los Angeles Lakers guard Lance Stephenson doesn’t even quite understand it himself.
“I don’t regret it, but sometimes I look at it like, ‘Why did I do that? What made me do that?'” Stephenson told The Score on Monday.
While standing next to LeBron James in Game 5 of the series that year, Stephenson famously leaned over and blew in James’ ear. James, naturally, was extremely confused — yet unfazed, as he led the Miami Heat past the Indiana Pacers en route to the NBA Finals that season.
And why he may not understand why that was the move he came up with, the general reasoning behind it is actually pretty solid.
“I was really trying to get him mad. Really trying to win the game, trying to get him like unfocused. I was trying anything,” Stephenson said. “For you to do something to somebody and they don’t respond, they keep continuing and playing hard and it’s like, ‘Yo, how do I get in this (guy’s head.)’ I was just trying to find stuff.”
James and Stephenson haven’t had the best relationship on the court for years — stemming mainly from that Eastern Conference Finals series.
Stephenson, though, will have to put that beef aside. He signed a one-year, $4.4 million deal with the Lakers this offseason, pairing him up with James for the first time in their careers.
That challenge, Stephenson said, is definitely going to be interesting.
“LeBron was such a good player,” Stephenson said. “I was trying to do anything to get him frustrated. It’s going to be different just trying to be friends with LeBron.”
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