Lance-LeBron: Blow by blow

Stephenson clears the air about his last-gasp ploy

MIAMI — So why did Lance Stephenson blow in the ear of LeBron James during the height of the playoff rivalry between the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat? Because desperate times . . .

Now James’ teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers, Stephenson acknowledged in an interview this week with The Score that he was, as many suspected at the time, at wit’s end when it came to lobbing a lobe exhale during Game 5 of the 2014 Eastern Conference finals. The Pacers won that game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse but would lose the series in Game 6 two days later at AmericanAirlines Arena.

For years, the reasoning of that blowback moment had remained murky — a common theme with many of Stephenson’s approaches — until this week, when Stephenson came clean in advance of teaming up with his long-time playoff rival.

“I was really trying to get him mad,” Stephenson said of a moment odd even by Stephenson

standards, “really trying to win the game, trying to get him unfocused. And I was trying anything.”

Stephenson was released by the Pacers this offseason, then signing on to play alongside James, who left the Cleveland Cavaliers in free agency following four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals.

“I don’t regret it,” Stephenson said of blowing into the playoff wind. “but sometimes I look at it like, ‘Why did I do that? What made me do that?’”

James just grinned at that moment of truth.

“And for you to do something to somebody and they don’t respond, they keep continuing playing hard,” Stephenson said this week, “it’s like: ‘Yo, how do I . . . ?’ I was just trying to find stuff.

“LeBron was such a good player, you know, I was trying to do anything to get him frustrated. It’s going to be different, being friends with LeBron, you know what I mean?”

The Heat went on to lose to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals that year, with James leaving the following month in free agency to return to the Cavaliers. That series against the Pacers stood as the final series victory in the Heat Big Three era with James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

MICHAEL LAUGHLIN/STAFF FILE PHOTO Miami Heat forward LeBron James snarls at Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson during the 2014 Eastern Conference finals.