Lance Stephenson is back with the Indiana Pacers. He’s also back stirring the pot.
With under eight seconds to go in Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors, Stephenson caught the ball near mid-court and the Pacers leading 105-90. Instead of allowing the clock to wind down, Stephenson took it all the way to the hoop for an easy, basic lay-up.
The Raptors did not take too kindly to that as DeMarre Carroll and PJ Tucker got into Lance’s face on his way back down the court. Corey Joseph then proceeded to throw the inbounds pass at Stephenson but missed. Stephenson simply put his head down and continued to walk back towards his end of the court. The Raptors players continued to yell and scream in Stephenson’s face and Paul George came to his rescue. The referees and coaches had to step in between the players to separate them. Carroll and Tucker also had to be restrained and assisted back to their own bench.
As the referees were reviewing the play the Indiana crowd was clearly cheering for Stephenson and loving every minute of it.
After the game, DeRozan told reporters it was “disrespectful to the game.”
Tucker called it “classless” and “tasteless.”
Lance Stephenson saw it differently. He said “I didn’t mean no harm. The crowd was chanting on me and I just wanted to do it for the fans.”
Paul George also chimed in about the incident, “Lance knows better. That’s, like, a cardinal rule to not lay the ball up when you’re up. But he did it. It’s the reason why Lance is Lance.”
