The Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday will hold a tryout during which Lance Stephenson, Mario Chalmers, Kirk Hinrich and Jordan Farmar will work out for the team.
Whether or not the tryout is the organization’s way of acquiescing to LeBron James’ expletive-ridden complaints last week concerning the depth of the team’s roster is unknown, but the superstar made note of a shared history with several of the players, most notably Stephenson.
And why does Stephenson’s name conjure up so much interest? Because of a bizarre incident during the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals between James’ Miami Heat and Stephenson’s Indiana Pacers.
During Game 5 of the series, Stephenson shared a moment with James by … blowing in his ear.
James downplayed any notion that he holds a years-long grudge against Stephenson for the bizarre affront, saying improving the team is what’s important.
“I just want to win, man,” James said, via Cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon. “That’s all that matters to me. I got no personal problems with nobody.”
Well, no personal problems with anyone except for Charles Barkley. Obviously.
James went on to point out a personal history with a few of the players who will try out Wednesday.
“I got a history with all those guys except Jordan,” James said. “I got a history with Lance too, obviously. I got a history versus Kirk, I played him in a lot of playoff series. And I got a history with Rio. So, hopefully at the end of the day, Rio is recovering from his Achilles tear. I hope he’s been doing everything he needs to do just to get back on the floor. He loves to play the game.”
Sure, James has played against a few of the guys and even played with one in Chalmers. But Stephenson is the only player appearing at the tryout who once blew in his ear, an act that inspired a memorable series of fantastic memes at the time. That’s something.
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