Lance Stephenson congratulates the Miami Heat on Instagram
Indiana Pacers’ guard Lance Stephenson has stolen headlines during the Eastern Conference Finals, but not for the right reason.
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Stephenson’s inconsistent play obviously wasn’t enough to help the Pacers defeat the Heat and they instead lost in six games, falling to the Heat for the third consecutive postseason, but his mouth got him into some trouble. Stephenson has been in a war of words with LeBron James, claiming that he got into James’ head. Stephenson was even seen blowing in James’ ear during game 5.
After the Pacers’ 117-92 game 6 loss to the Heat that sent them home for the summer, he took to Instagram to congratulate the Heat and share his respect for James. Stephenson wrote the following:
"I have much respect for LeBron and the heat. This was a great series they deserve it all love to Heat. Want to say that I’m so proud of my teammates we work so hard all year to get to point, Everything is a learning experience and getting better every year love u guys Pacer nation and thanks to all of our Pacer fans love y’all too"
The Pacers now have a big decision to make on Stephenson. He will become a restricted free agent in the summer and despite his recent problems, there is likely a team that will still give him a big money deal thanks to his flashes of being an excellent player and his youth (he is just 23 years old).
Stephenson averaged 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in the regular season and 13.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game in the postseason.