“Before I retire, I want an NBA champion ring”

While he has just been drafted in 13th position of the G-League draft, at Grand Rapid Gold the franchise affiliated with the Denver nuggets, Lance Stephenson, and his 9 NBA seasons on the clock, intends to give itself a chance to regain the prosecution of the big league. At 31, his last season in the NBA dates back to the 2018/2019 season, he who spent a year in China and was not playing last year. And his goal is very clear, to come back to the NBA and get a ring.

“My motivation is to be the best player I can be. To be in the best shape, to be a leader of the team. Definitely helping young players, having fun on the pitch, winning matches and winning a ring. Before I retire, I want an NBA champion ring. »Lance Stephenson.

A ring that he has never been so close to winning as in 2013 when his Pacers lost in 7 innings against the Heat of LeBron James before losing again at the same stage 4-2 the following year. And he remembers his good times in the playoffs that he would like to find.

“We had great coaching staff and we had a lot of players in the team who made a lot of sacrifices. Everyone knew their role. No one had an individual goal, it was a collective, team goal. The team’s goal was to win, and no matter who scored, we always played as a team. Everyone took responsibility, we took every game seriously and we just wanted to win. »Lance Stephenson

Especially since in this team, he had a role which corresponded perfectly to his capacities and his qualities.

“My role was to do the dirty work. To take as many rebounds as possible, come back and play hard on defense. Everything else was a bonus. »Lance Stephenson

And during these playoff series, he was also endowed with a very special mission that he successfully accomplished in certain sequences, to become LeBron James’ defensive nightmare. If completely stopping the “King” is surely impossible even today, we can clearly say that Stephenson had shone in his role. The reason for that, the team spirit according to him.

“It was a great challenge. My teammates told me: “Defend on him, put the pressure on him high on the pitch, don’t give him anything easy, we’ll be behind you. “. And I knew from the start that they just wouldn’t let me be one on one on him. That’s what helped me a lot, because I knew if I put the pressure on there would be four other guys who would be there for me and have my back all the time. »Lance Stephenson

While he will be a veteran in the G-League and he can help young players develop their basketball, Stephenson also seems to be in great shape if his statements are to be believed. And he will have to if he wants to prove that he deserves another chance in the league, where he will also have to show that he still has good leftovers in defense.

“I feel great. I’m just happy that I’m off my couch and able to play and sweat. I am very excited to play. My body feels amazingly good. I don’t feel like an old guy, I still feel like a young guy. So I think I still have a few years left. »Lance Stephenson