SPORT NEEDS CHARACTERS. And the NBA has got a 6’6″ bundle of borderline madness in Lance Stephenson.
You might remember Stephenson from his 2014 rivalry with LeBron James, which featured the lesser-spotted blow-sweetly-into-the-ear-of-your-opponent method of trying to psyche out James.
Stephenson was a Pacer then and – after stints with the Hornets, Clippers, Grizzlies, Pelicans and Timberwolves – he’s a Pacer now with the playoffs just around the corner.
With the Pacers securely booked in for the post-season for the past two weeks, beating the Charlotte Hornets wasn’t a major concern last night, and that certainly told in Stephenson’s first-quarter, half-measure of solid defence.
The 27-year-old pulled out a big stop to deny Dwight Howard a route to the rim. And so pleased was he with the effort, that he stopped to celebrate, ignoring that the ball was still live and sitting up for an easy follow-up dunk by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
Good hustle, bad hustle.
