Can you believe Lance Stephenson is only 30 years old?
Can you also believe he’s been out of the NBA for two seasons?
Chris Haynes, who covers the NBA for Yahoo, reported late this morning that Born Ready might be on his way back to the league after a multi-year absence, the erstwhile Lincoln high school phenom hosting a private workout today that was attended by some NBA clubs, including the defending champion Bucks.
Whatever, whoever, wherever, bring this man and his guitar back to the league. Stephenson averaged 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists in nine NBA seasons from 2010-2019, where he logged 565 total appearances, including 57 playoff games. Stephenson only shot splits of 44 / 32 / 69 in the regular season, numbers that slightly improved to 45 / 33 / 67 while posting 11.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game during the postseason.
Most recently, he spent the 2019-20 season playing with the Liaoning Flying Leopards in the Chinese Basketball Association, one of the world’s best league’s outside of the United States. There, through 29 games / starts, he averaged 26.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists on 52 / 30 / 78 splits. The team lost to the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the CBA Finals, though Stephenson wasn’t playing by then. (though O.J. Mayo was!)
But fuck all that, he’s just fun as shit, and honestly, probably still good enough to play in the NBA. Let’s look at the four teams intrigued (Sixers, Nuggets, Bucks and Nets), according to Haynes, particularly as clubs are gathering training camp rosters of 20:
- The Philadelphia 76ers have a bunch of wings, but they’re not exactly all solidified.
- The Denver Nuggets are without Jamal Murray (ACL) and are otherwise ‘meh’ at guard.
- The Milwaukee Bucks were thin, even last season while winning the NBA title.
- The Brooklyn Nets could use another creator off the bench. Plus, it saves Kevin Durant from getting the guitar played against him.
Someone, anyone, do it. But we’ll especially look at you, Brooklyn. Stephenson is from Coney Island after all.
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