In the No. 6 Nets' away game against the Pacers, Irving returned to the NBA, triggering countless fans to watch. But it wasn't Irving who made the biggest splash at the start, not even any of the Nets' Big Three, but Stevenson, who returned to the Pacers.
In the last 8 seconds of the first quarter, the fans stared at Stephenson, who was holding the ball, and then Stephenson retreated from a three-point shot, and the entire bankers' life arena fell into a frenzy, because their home team actually led the Nets with the Big Three by 5 points in the first quarter, and their "mascot" Stephenson scored 20 points after only 5 minutes, overpowering any player on the court. Stevenson's shots and shots were cheered by the fans, and he even celebrated playing the guitar after a three-point shot. In the end, although the Pacers lost to the stronger Nets, Stephenson scored a luxurious stat of 30 points and 5 assists, just like announcing to the world that Stephenson can still play.
Stephenson was a member of the Hawks before returning to the Pacers, but it's clear that the Hawks didn't include him in their long-term plans, averaging just 1.8 points per game. But once back on the Pacers, Stephenson averaged 14 points per game, as if he had been remade. Maybe the Walkers are his home.
Speaking of Stephenson, the most impressive thing is his blowing action when he defended James. In the playoffs in 2014, the Heat played against the Pacers, James played an epic performance, and in desperation, the Pacers sent Stephenson to defend James, and Stephenson used a variety of strange moves to defend, including blowing air into James's ears, making James make mistakes. In fact, the blow itself does not make the player attack or defense down, he just wants to distract the opponent through strange movements, but it is certain that James did have a state decline under his defense, and the Pacers also pulled back a city in the series, so Stephenson was madly loved by Pacers fans.
Stephenson didn't stay with the Pacers, either, and his funny personality, combined with his nerve-knife performance on the court, made it difficult for the team to consider him a main player, but it was still appropriate as a temporary mercenary. He has wandered the Hornets, Clippers, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Lakers and Eagles, and even played in the CBA for a while. It wasn't until the recent January 3rd that the Pacers were back on the team. It is worth mentioning that Stephenson and James were teammates when they were on the Lakers, of course, the two did not have a grudge because of the "blowing incident", on the contrary, the two were still very harmonious on the court.
At present, the Pacers are temporarily in 13th place in the East with 15 wins and 25 losses, and the form is not optimistic, so the Pacers are in a desperate shortage of players with fighting ability to save the team's poor record. In today's Jazz vs Pacers game, Stephenson also played an important role in the team again, scoring 16 points, 14 assists plus 4 steals, and the Pacers also successfully defeated the Third Jazz in the West. Although the biggest contributor to the victory was Sabonis Jr., who scored a career-high 42 points, Stephenson undoubtedly helped the team tremendously. I believe that such a player with sufficient experience on the field can fully contribute to the team, and can also teach more court experience to the young people in the team and get the Pacers back on track.