As the first quarter of Game 2 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks Eastern Conference Finals matchup wound down, LeBron James called for the ball as he backed down Kent Bazemore near the left elbow. A foul was called on Bazemore for being a bit too aggressive on defense, and as LeBron turned to walk away, Bazemore shoved him. A few words were exchanged, and the game continued. It didn't seem like much, just a heat of the moment type of reaction that tend to happen on the hardwood when the pressure is ramped up. But, according to his Twitter page, Bazemore has had beef with LeBron James going back almost five years.
The good people of the Interwebs have unearthed a handful of tweets from Bazemore, beginning in 2010, which span a myriad of topics about LeBron, ranging from asking if he "was gay," to making fun of his perceived non-clutchness in the playoffs.
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Here's one of the first from Bazemore directed at James, before Bazemore even came in to the league, asking, for some reason, "what if LeBron was gay."
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Here he is calling James a "pussy" after leaving for the Miami Heat in free agency in 2010.
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Then, later that same year, he takes a jab at LeBron being ringless. Bazemore would have much more to say about that two years later, during LeBron's first Finals victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, in 2012. Bazemore, after going undrafted, would sign with the Golden State Warriors a month later.
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Bazemore was a younger man then, but he seemingly had no issue going in on LeBron even as he was about to enter the NBA. These things read like a LeBron James "Mean Tweets" segment on Jimmy Kimmel.
Three years later, the two men are meeting on the court in the playoffs, and it's getting ugly for Bazemore. LeBron turned him and anyone else who attempted to guard him into Swiss cheese last night as the Cavs took both games in Atlanta to go up 2-0 in their series. Bazemore has remained mum on Twitter throughout the matchup, which is probably a smart move. And he did tweet that he no longer had beef with LeBron after Bron took home his first ring, so they're totally cool now. (LOL)
But despite his advancement in age since those initial string of tweets, Bazemore is still saying things that leave you scratching your head, like stating that the Hawks are still the better team after getting blown out at home to go down 2-0. You keep doing you, Kent.
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