The Weekside: Born Ready’s career needs life support to become Born Again

A player who breaks the all-time high-school scoring record in New York isn’t supposed to end up at the University of Cincinnati. But that’s where Brooklyn legend Lance Stephenson went.

His recruitment was complicated. He was facing a sexual-assault charge and some feared he would be investigated by the NCAA due to rumors about receiving money from one of several suspected sources. Lance’s luster, then and now, was marred by various factors that made decision-makers wonder if his undeniable talent was worth the associated baggage.

Stephenson never signed with a powerhouse school back then, and today Lance remains one of the few unsigned NBA free agents with name recognition who were unable to cash in during the biggest spending bonanza in league history. Nobody wants him. Including his ear-blowing, meme-generating final series with the Indiana Pacers, the one who was Born Ready to play this game has appeared on four teams in the past 27 months.

While the path certainly wasn’t Stephenson’s preferred outcome, it was — and remains — rooted in his own, too-often questionable choices.

Stephenson turned down more guaranteed cash to re-sign with the Pacers in the summer of 2014. The end-game, presumably, being to give himself a shot at more career earnings with the Charlotte Hornets, as well as a larger role off the bat.

In hindsight, it looks like maybe the worst decision in a career that has seen plenty of them, even if there was some financial logic to the move at the time.

Pacers president Larry Bird, who had faith in Stephenson when few did and became somewhat of a mentor to the young guard, reportedly offered him $44 million over five years to stay. That isn’t a king’s ransom — especially compared to the deals handed out this summer. But being offered $8.8 million per year for that length of time is quite the achievement for an up-jumped second-round pick.

It wasn’t only going to Cincinnati that was unbefitting of someone with Lance’s talent. He surprised everyone by not even thriving there. His lone year in Ohio was disappointing enough that the high-school All-American didn’t even warrant a first-round draft pick.

Only Bird was still enticed by the potential, drafting Stephenson with the 40th overall pick. Larry Legend even inked Lance to a four-year deal at a time when most second-round picks were lucky to even get a roster spot, essentially giving Stephenson a contract with the same structure reserved for first-rounders. Bird did believe.

It seemed silly at first.

Lance hardly played in years one and two of the deal, making news only when he flashed a choke sign at LeBron James — the first high-profile time he annoyed his own team — during the first of three straight postseason clashes between the two squads.

Well before that, Stephenson almost saw his career with Indiana blow up before it began. Weeks after he signed, he was arrested for allegedly pushing his girlfriend down the stairs. Those charges were later dropped, but this was a sensitive time for the Pacers’ franchise. The team was trying to earn back its reputation after The Malice at the Palace and a “Jail Pacers” era that saw players including Stephen Jackson, Marquis Daniels, Jamal Tinsley, and Shawne Williams all have run-ins with the law.

It would have been easy, from both a PR and financial perspective, for the Pacers to cut ties with their new second-round pick immediately. But Bird stood by, committing to let the legal process sort out the issue.

After it did, Lance was still a Pacer and would go on to capitalize on an injury to Danny Granger that gave him a shot at the rotation. He didn’t let that chance go to waste and quickly established himself as the starting two-guard on a team that went to back-to-back Eastern Conference finals.

Stephenson was a borderline All-Star in his second season as a starter, as Indiana entered the February break with the best record in the conference. And even as that team slipped — fading in quality down the stretch in the regular season and nearly losing to the eight-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the first round — Stephenson was the one who, on the court, didn’t falter. His stats stayed good as Paul George and, especially, Roy Hibbert turned into pumpkins. There were lots of games, even weeks, in which Lance was a better player than George.

His antics — blowing in LeBron’s ear, flopping gratuitously, and the often-forgotten left hand to Norris Cole’s face — had many wondering if he would return to Indiana. Larry Bird publicly said he was less than impressed with the extracurriculars Stephenson seemed almost compulsively committed to orchestrating.

So it wasn’t exactly shocking that Stephenson wound up not playing in Indiana the following year. To be sure, there was, from Lance’s perspective, plenty of logic in leaving — even beyond chasing a larger role on a team that didn’t have Paul George, or a locker room that saw him as little more than the annoying kid brother.

By signing a three-year deal for similar money to what Bird offered — rather than locking himself into that $9 million salary range for five seasons — Stephenson could stand to make way more long term. Had he played those three seasons and thrived (an easy assumption for a player who thought he was snubbed from the 2014 All-Star Game), he would be entering free agency in the summer of 2017, raring to cash in at a time when older, lesser players will be getting $70 million contracts.

The financial case was sound — as long as he played like he had in Indiana. The three-year, $27 million contract he signed with the  Charlotte Hornets would be a stepping stone towards a monster deal. All he had to do was prove himself capable of being a solid, productive starter. So confident was and his agent were in this path, in fact, that Stephenson went to the Hornets despite there being a team option in that third year.

And we all know how that worked out.

The Hornets never had use for Lance, who quickly found himself out of the rotation and dangled in trades soon thereafter. Charlotte moved him to the Los Angeles Clippers, who also couldn’t quite make the square peg fit, ultimately dealing the mercurial Stephenson to Memphis.

On a team decimated by injuries, Stephenson’s dynamic playmaking, ball-handling ability, and scoring were — finally — desperately needed. At times he was flat-out dominant. But Memphis wasn’t encouraged enough to pick up his option, declining to pay him $9 million for an additional year of service.

So here sits Lance Stephenson, the most talented player alive without an NBA team.

Reports are swirling that he might not sign with anyone. He is only 25 years old and should be entering his prime, but apparently can’t even find an offer in a summer when little-known reserves like Solomon Hill and Tyler Johnson are getting $50 million or more in guaranteed money.

Stephenson turned down $44 million guaranteed to re-sign with the Pacers in 2014, and has only made $18 million since. Is there another check coming? Is there another team calling? Will he have to play overseas?

Will Born Ready — who at one point attacked the opposition more like he was Bourne Ready — find a way to become Reborn?

Nobody knows.

History suggests there’s bound to be a team desperate or risky enough to take the flier — albeit for a small percentage of the near-$9 million Stephenson could be making in Indiana this year had he never left. But the odds are highly stacked against him ever making that All-Star team. Moreover, it’s clear that no NBA decision makers see Stephenson as a potential core piece to their roster.

Despite beating the odds by overcoming a his second-round status to reach some true on-court heights; despite starting in back-to-back conference finals; despite looking, at times, like one of the league’s greats, his was a professional career that nearly never got off the ground.

Lance Stephenson has the talent. What he doesn’t have, and what he always seemed to lack even when he wore a jersey, is a team that believes in him.