Hornets Sign Lance Stephenson 3y/27.5 mil (p67)

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Me too, but that team doesn't have much of a heart anymore. Paul George might have been their best player- even when he was shooting south of 40% toward the end of last season, he was by far their most impactful, most talented player, but Lance was the heart and soul of the team... just like Al was our best player and Kemba was the heart and soul last season.

Lance was the best playmaker on the team as well. George Hill and either CJ Miles or Rodney Stuckey are likely the starting guards on that team. Stuckey was probably a good pickup for them, but that's a craptastic guard lineup and if Hibbert doesn't put himself together, a 34-year-old David West has to carry a lot of that burden. I think that team will be in over its head unless Paul George takes another step towards superstardom.

Guys, Lance can't be the heart and soul of our team if no one liked him here...

[tweet]https://twitter.com/hoya2apacer/status/489403351617245184[/tweet]

Looks like not everyone hated him.

I just went to Paul Georges twitter for kicks. Scroll down about halfway (NSFW)

what a freakin dumbass. why does a guy whos already known for impregnating a stripper follow pornstars on his twitter account. pacers must be embarrassed[/quote]
PG is a pretty good guy overall, nice guy, lives in my neighborhood here. He impregnated a former stripper, alright cool, thats not mine or your buisness. Lance was just at a strip club after he signed with Charlotte. The point is, no the Pacers arent embarrassed, he made a mistake, i'm sure no NBA player has ever done that before, and if we really begin to care who NBA players follow on twitter, then we are taking these players personal lives way too far.

[HornetJail]

Guys, Lance can't be the heart and soul of our team if no one liked him here...

can you post some links that have the quotes from the players about them not liking lance? i am not saying its not true, but i'd just like to see it for myself.

Other than Evan Turner fighting with him (who really cares about Turner?), and Paul George saying he wasn't quite sure he wanted Lance back, then backtracking and saying that was taken out of context?

Other than those, I haven't heard of his teammates not liking him.

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Guys, Lance can't be the heart and soul of our team if no one liked him here...

can you post some links that have the quotes from the players about them not liking lance? i am not saying its not true, but i'd just like to see it for myself.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bas ... es-in-here
^^
This was later narrowed down to Lance

http://www.si.com/nba/point-forward/201 ... e-playoffs

^^
Fought Evan Turner in practice, and Woj later reported Lance has been in fights with nearly every Pacer throughout the season.



Let me rephrase, saying he was hated was the wrong choice of words, but by the end of the season, it was clear guys were just tired of Lance's antics on the court.

[olive_triangurl]

twitter isn't personal imho, its really public

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twitter isn't personal imho, its really public

Twitter may be public, but it is dealing with their personal lives, and when we start getting into caring about who they follow, then we are really going way too far with the whole twitter thing. Like I said, PG has done a lot of work around the community here and has been a good guy here, but hes a bad person because of who he follows on twitter, thats my point.

[BeesWax]

Guys, Lance can't be the heart and soul of our team if no one liked him here...

[tweet]https://twitter.com/hoya2apacer/status/489403351617245184[/tweet]

Looks like not everyone hated him.

Say what you want, but Roy called Lance a selfish player several times during the season, and Roy did not like playing with Lance, regardless of whether he tweeted a goodbye or not.

Well funny how he will miss him. Maybe there were issues but Roy said this and PG said they needed to bring him back. He can't have been as disliked as Pacers fans want to believe he was. I do understand the frustration leading to these comments though.

[SWedd523]

How was it later narrowed down to Lance? Or is that just conjecture on the part of fans?

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How was it later narrowed down to Lance? Or is that just conjecture on the part of fans?

George Hill can't be considered selfish in any way, D-West is the same way, Roy has said PG is our guy, and whenever the ball is in his hands he trusts him. So that eliminates the other 3 starters. I think that comment was also referring to Evan Turner as well, but yea after seeing how Roy talked about other teammates it only left Lance open as the only major player who it could be. Though on the flip side, Roy shouldn't go telling that stuff to the media either.

[SWedd523]

How was it later narrowed down to Lance? Or is that just conjecture on the part of fans?

George Hill can't be considered selfish in any way, D-West is the same way, Roy has said PG is our guy, and whenever the ball is in his hands he trusts him. So that eliminates the other 3 starters. I think that comment was also referring to Evan Turner as well, but yea after seeing how Roy talked about other teammates it only left Lance open as the only major player who it could be. Though on the flip side, Roy shouldn't go telling that stuff to the media either.

So yes, it's just conjecture on the part of fans

[PacerNation24]

Let me make a separate post here about this, saying Lance was hated is the wrong choice of words, but he just tired the guys out in the locker room, the constant antics against LeBron and then LeBron going off on him, and his selfish play the second half of the season just made it worse. Lance wasn't hated, and i'm sure a lot of guys like him on a personal level, but it was clear guys didn't like playing with him on the basketball court towards the end of the season.

[fatlever]

i'm not a public figure and even i am smart enough to not follow porn stars on my twitter account. but whatever, its not like i have anything against pornstars, quite the opposite. but as a public figure, in the spotlight, with 1000s of youngsters following your every move, its not the best idea to put that part of your life out there for everyone to see. that being said, im sure there are lots of famous guys following porn stars, perhaps even some hornets players.

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How was it later narrowed down to Lance? Or is that just conjecture on the part of fans?

George Hill can't be considered selfish in any way, D-West is the same way, Roy has said PG is our guy, and whenever the ball is in his hands he trusts him. So that eliminates the other 3 starters. I think that comment was also referring to Evan Turner as well, but yea after seeing how Roy talked about other teammates it only left Lance open as the only major player who it could be. Though on the flip side, Roy shouldn't go telling that stuff to the media either.

So yes, it's just conjecture on the part of fans

Yes, at least to Pacers fans, its pretty much agreed Roy was talking to Lance.

[fatlever]

Let me make a separate post here about this, saying Lance was hated is the wrong choice of words, but he just tired the guys out in the locker room, the constant antics against LeBron and then LeBron going off on him, and his selfish play the second half of the season just made it worse. Lance wasn't hated, and i'm sure a lot of guys like him on a personal level, but it was clear guys didn't like playing with him on the basketball court towards the end of the season.

that sounds like a coaching problem and a lack of leadership problem more than anything.

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Let me make a separate post here about this, saying Lance was hated is the wrong choice of words, but he just tired the guys out in the locker room, the constant antics against LeBron and then LeBron going off on him, and his selfish play the second half of the season just made it worse. Lance wasn't hated, and i'm sure a lot of guys like him on a personal level, but it was clear guys didn't like playing with him on the basketball court towards the end of the season.

that sounds like a coaching problem and a lack of leadership problem more than anything.

Which is really shocking to me, David West has been a great leader since he's been here, and Vogel is well respected by the players. IDK, I just think it benefits both parties, Lance and the Pacers, for them to go their separate ways.

[fatlever]

How was it later narrowed down to Lance? Or is that just conjecture on the part of fans?

George Hill can't be considered selfish in any way, D-West is the same way, Roy has said PG is our guy, and whenever the ball is in his hands he trusts him. So that eliminates the other 3 starters. I think that comment was also referring to Evan Turner as well, but yea after seeing how Roy talked about other teammates it only left Lance open as the only major player who it could be. Though on the flip side, Roy shouldn't go telling that stuff to the media either.

hibbert shouldnt have been saying anything about anyone other than himself. he was miserable the last few months. having a star veteran player on the team, playing awful and then running to the media to complain about others on the team sounds like the bigger problem here.

[fatlever]

agreed, sounds like both sides are better off moving on. seems like a classic case of a young team that finds success then then everyone on the team begins to think they are better than they are. happens all the time in sports. bill simmons talks about this frequently. its rare to find a team that has success while all the young role players are content staying role players.

[PacerNation24]

agreed, sounds like both sides are better off moving on. seems like a classic case of a young team that finds success then then everyone on the team begins to think they are better than they are. happens all the time in sports. bill simmons talks about this frequently. its rare to find a team that has success while all the young role players are content staying role players.

Yep, exactly what happened imo, which is why I think its better if we just add an actual role player to our squad (CJ Miles) and give PG the offense, and Lance goes and finds a team where he can be the #1 wing (Here in Charlotte), I dont think Lance was content being 2nd fiddle to PG.

[chabber]

I'm pretty sure I read a blog during the season that was about NBA players following porn stars on their twitter. The list had a lot of big names on it, Durant being the biggest.

[Tarheel11981]

Guys, Lance can't be the heart and soul of our team if no one liked him here...

[tweet]https://twitter.com/hoya2apacer/status/489403351617245184[/tweet]

Looks like not everyone hated him.

I just went to Paul Georges twitter for kicks. Scroll down about halfway (NSFW)

what a freakin dumbass. why does a guy whos already known for impregnating a stripper follow pornstars on his twitter account. pacers must be embarrassed

PG is a pretty good guy overall, nice guy, lives in my neighborhood here. He impregnated a former stripper, alright cool, thats not mine or your buisness. Lance was just at a strip club after he signed with Charlotte. The point is, no the Pacers arent embarrassed, he made a mistake, i'm sure no NBA player has ever done that before, and if we really begin to care who NBA players follow on twitter, then we are taking these players personal lives way too far.[/quote]

Supposedly, Lance was at Vault, which is not a strip club. It is club, a DANCE club. It's well within the law as is a strip club!

[LofJ]

agreed, sounds like both sides are better off moving on. seems like a classic case of a young team that finds success then then everyone on the team begins to think they are better than they are. happens all the time in sports. bill simmons talks about this frequently. its rare to find a team that has success while all the young role players are content staying role players.

Agreed, I think this is a crucial point. Hibbert=Max Contract, PG=Max Contract, West=Multiple 10+ million/year contracts, and Hill=8 million/year. Lance=less than 4 million in total career earnings. It makes complete sense that Lance was fighting to prove he deserves to be paid in the same range of his teammates, because he does. Indiana just couldn't afford to pay him as much as he deserves.