Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James says that he meant no disrespect by spinning the ball in the palm of his hand before draining a three-pointer over Toronto Raptors big man Serge Ibaka. It was a mental play, LeBron tells ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
LeBron James says spinning the ball in his hands before drilling a 3-pointer over Toronto Raptors forward Serge Ibaka in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 2 win Wednesday was merely a basketball play, not a sign of disrespect.
“It’s bait,” James told ESPN at Cavs shootaround ahead of Friday’s Game 3. “If [Ibaka] would have reached in, I would have put it on the floor.
“It was a mental thing. Everything I do is mental.”
…
“I was just basically in my zone, in my comfort zone, and after I spun the ball and I jabbed him, I seen what I needed to see from the defender to be able to get that shot off,” James told reporters. “If I didn’t see it, I would have drove it, and if I didn’t have the drive, I would have gave it up and let one of my teammates attack.”
James told ESPN the amount of attention the play has received comes with the territory for a player of his stature, but he scoffed at any added significance attached to the moment.
“What if I missed the shot? What if he stole the ball? We wouldn’t be talking about it,” James said.
Here is the play in which LeBron spun the ball:
LeBron James just spins the ball right in front of Serge Ibaka and splashes the 3 in his eye ? pic.twitter.com/EfVqyFNJao
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 3, 2017
Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry had no qualms with what James did, but with the fact that the Raptors allowed him to feel comfortable enough to do something as showy as spinning the ball:
“I was pretty upset, [but] not that he did it,” Lowry said. “He should spin the ball. He’s comfortable. We can’t let him be comfortable. We have to make him uncomfortable. He’s in a situation right now where he’s playing very comfortably and the things he’s doing is comfortable. If I was comfortable, I would do the same thing.”
