Inside The Heat

Ex-NBA Player Has Regrets Over Infamous LeBron James Incident

Jun 15, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) shoots against San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) in game five of the 2014 NBA Finals at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images
Jun 15, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) shoots against San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) in game five of the 2014 NBA Finals at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images | Soobum Im-Imagn Images

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Former Indiana Pacers star Lance Stephenson did everything possible to get in the head of LeBron James. When James played for the Miami Heat, it was Stephenson's job to get James off his game. No moment displayed that more than Game 5 of the 2014 Eastern Conference finals.

Stephenson infamously blew in James' ear during the game.

"I regret it sometimes," Stephenson said on the Carmelo Anthony podcast. "I was at the club. I came in the club late. I didn't want to get no section. So I go to the bar. Some drunk dude comes up to me and [blows in my ear]. I was like, `Are you crazy?"'

Stephenson said the fan wanted him to experience what James felt. Stephenson managed to keep his cool despite the awkward encounter.

"That's how LeBron felt," Stephenson said the fan told him. "How you like that? I was about to ham on bro. I was about to go crazy on him."

The Heat-Pacers rivalry was arguably the greatest during the early part of the decade. They met three straight times in the playoffs, twice in the conference finals. The Heat won all three meetings but the 2014 was supposedly the Pacers' year. They beat out the Heat for the No. 1 seed in the East but lost Game 6 in Miami.

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here