After years as rivals, Lance Stephenson and LeBron James are teammates. Born Ready recently said "being friends with LeBron" is "going to be different." In a new interview with the Indy Star, he said LeBron was "very interested" in teaming up.
"Magic [Johnson] called me and he told me LeBron was interested, very interested in me," Stephenson recalled.
He asked Magic for a few hours to make the decision—and, of course, ultimately decided to team up with LBJ on the Lakers.
"I decided to go there and, hopefully, we will win a lot of games and have fun," Lance said.
Lance is known as one the league's best agitators—a reputation he built largely by attempting to get under LeBron's skin. Now, Stephenson expects LeBron will count on him to channel that unique aggression toward their opponents.
"Yeah, he's probably going to sic me on people," Lance added. "It'll be fun. It will be a very interesting year, just playing with him and winning games with him."
It's hard to believe—it seems like he's been around forever—but Lance is still only 27. Last season, back with the Indiana Pacers, he averaged 22.6 minutes, 9.2 points, and 5.2 rebounds per game.
In a somewhat surprising move, the Pacers this summer declined Lance's $4.3 million option. Later, Indiana team president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said Lance was "sometimes the best player on the other team."
"I felt hurt because they didn't explain to me what I didn't bring or what I did wrong," Lance said in a recent interview with theScore. "So when he said that, it hurt me. Now I see how you really feel about me. "
