If there is one player who has proven to us that trash-talking is a bad idea against him, it’s LeBron James. Facing Cleveland this season, it was following a provocation from a member of the Cavs staff that the King hit his record in 2020-2021 (47 points). A former LBJ teammate told another similar story from when James was playing in Miami.
There are rules to follow when playing against a player like LeBron James : one of the first is not to try to play smart, under penalty of being punished and penalizing his team at the same time. When you tackle players of the King’s caliber, you have to be ready to take on the back. The Cavs learned it the hard way, it can hurt a lot!
He also proved it by defeating “Courtside Karen” more recently. We are never safe from a flashback. Channing Frye, who was his teammate in Cleveland, told a trash-talking story gone wrong for his then-team: the Suns. He tells in the show Road Trippin :
I played in Phoenix and Bron in Miami. LeBron was having a rather low-key game. Someone from our bench starts yelling at LeBron, “Ahh, we’re good! And the whole bench started telling him to shut it up. Bron looks at him and says: “Ok, no problem”. Then he cranked up the gas and started smoking PJ Tucker.
Note that in this game between Phoenix and Miami, LeBron finished at 35 points in a 107-92 victory. More impressive, the King did not miss a single shot in the 4th quarter time, notably scoring 12 points in 4 minutes. What to bite the fingers for the insolent replacement of the Suns.
In short, we cannot repeat it enough, but unless you lead by 30 points a few minutes from the end of the game, we should not annoy LeBron James. In any case, you have to be able to resist the King when it goes into “win” mode – which is easier said than done …
Another story of talkie killed in the bud by a basketball legend. Even if trash-talking level, LeBron is not at the level of Larry Bird, Michael Jordan or Reggie Miller, no doubt the Kid from Akron will have his share of crisp stories to tell once he hangs up the sneakers – especially since it does not seem to be the order of the day !
Channing Frye told us about the time the King punished a Suns replacement who provoked him by catching fire in the fourth quarter time. The former Suns has since taken advantage of LBJ’s talents, playing for a few years on the same team in Cleveland, where James offered the first title to the Ohio franchise in 2016.
