Nets top LeBron & Cavaliers with help from Mr. Whammy
IN A BATTLE between LeBron James and Mr. Whammy, the 79-year-old Nets super fan who wears a hearing aid and likes to heckle opposing players as they’re shooting free throws, the King may have won the battle.
But Mr. Whammy and the Nets won the war on Friday as Brooklyn hung on to upset Cleveland, 106-98, in a rare victory at Barclays Center for the team’s sixth win in eight games.
The Nets (31-40) remained a half-game behind Boston for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference while snapping the Cavs’ four-game winning streak.
Mr. Whammy — Canarsie lawyer Bruce Reznick, who stands behind the basket and waves his hands and shouts to distract players as they’re shooting from the line — claims that James had him banned from his usual spot for Friday’s contest.
Asked after the game if he instructed security to remove Mr. Whammy, James — who had 24 points and nine assists — stared blankly at a reporter as he iced both feet in a small container before a Cavs official fired off, “Next question.”
But the diminutive superfan said that James and the Cavs had security move him from his perch a couple feet behind the basket stanchion after James missed a free throw with 10:06 left in the first quarter as he tried to complete a three-point play.
At first Reznick said he was told by NBA security to move. Then he was told by Barclays’ security to move. Finally, Mr. Whammy was asked by Nets CEO Brett Yormark to move away midway through the second quarter, he said.
“He said, ‘Do me a favor, please move back so that NBA security doesn’t throw you out,’ ” Reznick said at the half. “LeBron is a crybaby. I know it was him that asked the security to make me move. He doesn’t like that I make him miss. He thinks he’s more powerful than anyone in the NBA.”
An official from NBA security at the game confirmed that the Cavaliers complained about Mr. Whammy’s presence so close to the court and asked that he go back to his seat.
A Cavs official declined to comment on the whole thing.
For the remainder of the half, Reznick — a Nets season-ticket holder for the past 18 seasons — stood behind the press seating a few feet from the court and yelled his trademark, “You gotta miss, whatever your name is” at the Cavs players when they were at the line.
He also called James a “bum” whenever he touched the ball.
Brook Lopez, who had 20 points on Friday, said he wasn’t aware that Mr. Whammy had been barred from his normal position.
“That’s news to me,” he said. “You hear so many fans during the game. He’s kind of hard to miss but I didn’t know that happened.”
The Nets were locked in as Joe Johnson also scored 20 points, including seven in the decisive fourth quarter.
The Nets bench, led by Bojan Bogdanovic (18 points), outscored the Cavaliers reserves 54-20. Johnson also dished out nine assists and had five rebounds.
“I think they were in attack mode,” James said of the Nets. “I just sense a team that has been playing for each other for a while now and they just know how to play.”
Of the Cavs’ own energy level, he said, “at times we were kind of in a trance.”
Kyrie Irving had 26 points for the Cavs (4727), who shot just 37.5% in the second half and were outscored 27-19 in the fourth quarter with Johnson pouring in seven, including a three from nearly 30 feet.
“We just came out here focused, not worried about who the opponent is,” said Jarrett Jack, who had 16 points off the bench, and played the entire fourth quarter while Deron Williams sat. “We know what is at stake for us and that is more important than anybody that we are playing against.”
Perhaps Reznick summed it up best: “You don’t mess with Whammy,” he said before the final buzzer.