New Los Angeles Lakers recruit Lance Stephenson has recently tried to de-escalate the supposed magnitude, which involved LeBron James, of the circumstances of his arrival to L.A.
According to Dan Benbow of the Indy Star, earlier rumors pertaining to James personally reaching out to Stephenson in an attempt to recruit him may have been blown out of proportion. It was Stephenson himself who tried to shed some light on the matter.
“There has been a bit of a misunderstanding, Stephenson said, on how the whole Lakers request came about. James didn’t personally call him after signing his four-year, $154 million contract with the Lakers over the offseason, ” wrote Benbow.
The former Indiana Pacers standout went on to clarify that although it was not James himself, it was another prominent figure from the Lakers organization that actually served as the messenger. According to Stephenson, he received the call from team president Magic Johnson.
“'Magic (Johnson) called me and he told me LeBron was interested, very interested in me,' Stephenson said. As a teammate,” Benbow added.
Regardless of how the move actually came about, what's important is Stephenson is now a Laker and will do everything in his power to help James and his new team.
As it turns out, Stephenson's mind games with LeBron in recent years actually paid to fruition. Although it may not have had the effect Stephenson desired at that time, he was at least able to establish himself as a formidable potential teammate in the eyes of LeBron.
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