Charles Curtis, USA TODAY
LeBron James vs. Lance Stephenson is heating up again, so let’s treat their epic playoff matchup like a boxing match and see who’s winning in a tale of the tape.
LeBron James
Age: 33
Height: 6-foot-8
Weight: 250 lbs.
Wingspan: 7 feet
Nickname: King James
Lance Stephenson
Age: 27
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 230 lbs
Wingspan: 6-foot-10
Nickname: Born Ready
From the ear blow to the choke sign to the signature flop-o-rama all the way to Sunday night’s shove-turned-technical, it’s clear that Stephenson is in James’s head. Not that it’s taking away from James doing amazing things on the court and winning games against the Indiana Pacers, but if you get James to laugh, react, foul in retaliation, or to complain to a ref, you’ve earned something for your team. If James ignored him, it’d be a different story.
WINNER: Stephenson
On-court performance
Do I really need to get into this? Fine. Stephenson has averaged 10.3 points per contest in the series against the Cavs. Last year, while the Pacers got swept, he threw up 16 a game. He averaged 14, 5.8 rebounds and 5 assists in a Conference Finals loss to James’ Heat in 2014.
While Stephenson is in James’ head, it hasn’t held him back from dominating: 32.5 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 8 apg, 1 bpg, 1 spg this year. In last year’s sweep: 32.8 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 9 apg, 2 bpg, 3 spg.
Stephenson might take a point or a foul here and there from James, it’s clear who emerges victorious.
WINNER: James
Money earned
Per Spotrac, James has totaled $233,893,001 in 15 seasons. Stephenson has $30,820,574 to his name, which isn’t too shabby, but …
WINNER: James
Rings
Last I checked, James has three championships. Stephenson has none.
WINNER: James
Overall winner
Obviously, it’s LeBron James. But the fact that we’re even talking about Lance Stephensonmakes him a winner in a different way, too.
Source: USA today
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