May 28, 2014 was a day meme history was made.
Why, you may ask? Well, it was game 5 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals and this beauty was born:
Yes, like “Crying Jordan,” “Lance Stephenson blowing in LeBron James’ ear” has become the stuff of internet legend, and when it was revealed that Stephenson would be teaming up with James on the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this summer, social media had a field day once again.
But regardless how relevant the meme remains, that was still four years ago, an eternity on the internet and plenty of time for Stephenson to reflect on some of his actions.
So, just what exactly was going through his mind when he inadvertently became a social media folktale?
“I was really trying to get him mad, really trying to win the game, trying to get him unfocused and I was trying anything,” Stephenson told theScore. “For you to do something to somebody and they don’t respond or they keep continuing and playing hard it’s like, ‘What? How do I get in this guy’s [head]?’ So I was just trying to find something.”
In the end, Stephenson’s antics worked – kind of. The Pacers would go on to win that Game 5, but ultimately lost the series the next game.
But now that Stephenson and James are teammates, looking back at it, surely Stephenson must feel a little remorse about his actions right?
“I don’t regret it, but sometimes I look at it and [think], ‘Why did I do that? What made me do that,’” said Stephenson.
Guess not.
Stephenson says he’s looking forward to playing with James, despite their contentious past relationship, mainly because James himself supposedly says he wanted to play with his old rival.
“I got the call from Magic and he was like, ‘Yo, we want you. He wants you.’ I was like, ‘What? After all the stuff we did he wants me?’
“I feel like we’ve got the same mentality and want to bring it every night.”
You can watch theScore’s entire special on Stephenson here where the 27-year-old opens up about his various stops around the NBA, how the Pacers organization hurt him and more.
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