According to Lance Stephenson, if he had his way he'd still be in Indiana. However, the feeling, it seems, was not mutual. When Stephenson became a free agent, the Pacers apparently forced him to make a quick decision, and there wasn't a lot of meat on the table. So he left the temple of Larry Bird and enrolled instead in Michael Jordan's Charlotte Hornets squad. The Pacers may come to regret their decision not to fight for Lance, but they seemed to do alright without him last Thursday night in head to head preseason competition with the Hornets.
While Indiana topped Charlotte 88-79 last week in preseason action, Charlotte coach Steve Clifford seems to think that his guys didn't really come to play (via Charlotte Observer):
"We had guys just show up and get a workout in. That's not the approach you can have in this league... We don't have a ton of talent. If we don't have the intensity of last year, we'll have a hard time winning... That's an unacceptable effort by most of our guys."
Flamboyant guard Lance Stephenson didn't play due to a groin injury, but expect him to make a big splash in Charlotte. The highly gifted New York native struggled to fit in with the Pacers, but maybe Michael Jordan can tutor him and coax him into maturity.
Although if the Pacers had wanted to keep him in Indiana, Stephenson said he would have loved to stay. The message, it seems, was clear (via CBS Sports):
"They didn't have nothing else. They had no more money or anything. That was basically it right there. Soon as I said no to that offer, they went and signed CJ. I figured they thought I had no chance of coming back, they just went on and signed CJ... I felt like it was a wrap after that."
What do you think?
Tell us your thoughts in the comment field below.
