"Born ready" - LeBron James hails former rival-turned-teammate on Lakers for dropping freestyle rap track
It's no secret that LA Lakers star LeBron James is a huge fan of rap music. He regularly posts Instagram stories of himself jamming along to hip-hop tracks and can even sometimes be heard singing along to them. Aside from listening to huge hit artists, LeBron also recognizes the work of rap artists who aren't mainstream.
The four-time MVP did just that when he lauded former rival and Lakers teammate Lance Stephenson for dropping a track. On the Radar Radio posted a clip of Stephenson dropping bars on Instagram and LeBron took the time to repost it on his IG Stories.
Aside from reposting the clip, LeBron also hyped up Stephenson.
"Go Crazy Born Ready!!!" LeBron said on his IG story.
"Born Ready" is Lance Stephenson's nickname. He first debuted his rap career in late August as he released a clip on TikTok.
Stephenson has played 10 NBA seasons with eight different teams. He spent seven seasons with the Indiana Pacers, including his last NBA stint in the 2021-22 season. He also teamed up with LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018-19.
Lance Stephenson's tricks never seemed to work on LeBron James
Before teaming up with LeBron, Stephenson was well-known for intentionally trying to get into James' head.
This started when LeBron was with the Miami Heat and they were being challenged by the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers were starting to become a threat to the Heat with Paul George and Roy Hibbert emerging as stars. However, they could not get past LeBron and Dwyane Wade's Heat squad.
In an effort to throw LeBron off his game, Stephenson tried several antics. One of the things Stephenson tried was to blow in LeBron's ear during a game. This particular moment has become viral and is probably the quintessential moment of their rivalry.
Lance Stephenson seemed like he went the extra mile to get in LeBron James' head during their matchups. While some of these efforts were deemed hilarious at times, they rarely seemed to work.
Since 2012, these two players have faced each other a total of 47 times (21 regular season games, 26 playoff games). Out of these 47 matchups, LeBron's team came out as the winner 29 times. This includes games where the Heat eliminated Stephenson and the Pacers from playoff contention.
In the 21 regular season games they played, LeBron James averaged 27.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists.