Indiana Pacers guard Lance Stephenson (1) stands beside Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) in the third quarter in game one of the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena.
We're here for petty. Always.
And no professional sports league, arguably, thrives on petty the way the NBA does these days. From subbing guys on social media to making definitive statements with your signature kicks in the World's Most Famous Arena there are a ton of examples of basketball superstars acting pettier than modern day "Mean Girls."
But we boiled down our list to highlight (in our humble opinion) the 10 pettiest moments from the 2017-18 NBA season. There's a healthy does of LeBron—and let's not forget that petty LeBron remains our favorite LeBron—mixed in with some Lance Stephenson with a sprinkling of Joel Embiid, Russell Westbrook, and the other usual suspects. Embrace the pettiness.
LeBron Sports "I'm King" kicks at MSG.
James had Nike make him PE’s saying “I’m King” on the back of them because Knicks center Enes Kanter said: “I don’t care who you are, what you call yourself, King, Queen, Princess, whatever you are. You know what, we’re going to fight. Ain’t nobody out there gonna punk us,” after he got into it with LeBron during a 104-101 loss at the Garden in November. Kanter wasn’t able to back up his shit-talking when LeBron returned April 9 because of injury. So he watched from the bench as James gave the Knicks 26 and 11 in a 123-109 win. Everybody loves playing in the World’s Most Famous Arena, but MSG is the only arena where LeBron’s scored 50-plus twice. So you know he loved trolling Kanter and Knicks fans. Now Kanter has to call LeBron King Petty. — A.D.
The Rockets invade the Clippers locker room.
The incident that set NBA Twitter ablaze.
Things got real chippy on the court when these two met in Los Angeles back in January, with former Clippers forward Blake Griffin brushing against Mike D'Antoni that nearly caused the squads to come to blows. The number of technicals and "mother fuckers" dropped in the final minutes of the fourth quarter were astronomical. But this game was elevated to instant classic level thanks to what happened after the final whistle.
That's when James Harden, Chris Paul, Gerald Green, and Trevor Ariza reportedly decided they wanted to chat some more by walking through a door that connects the visitor's locker room with the Clippers locker room at Staples Center.
"Their entire team was not in their locker room," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said cryptically after the game.
Whoever designed that feature is an idiot, but I guess we owe them a thank you for allowing one of the most absurd postgame episodes in NBA regular season history to go down. But seriously, what good did the Rockets quartet think was going to come of them marching into the Clippers' locker room? The Rockets took an L that night, and yes, there were some disrespectful things said and done on the court—mostly by Griffin—but trying to square up after the game, in the home team's sanctuary? The Rockets set the bar at an all-time high on how not to handle a little pushing, shoving, and trash talking.
But NBA Twitter is forever grateful toward both squads because it has never popped off like that before. — A.C.
JR Smith hurls soup at a Cavs assistant coach.
JR Smith is an undisputed legend, NBA Champion, and leader of men. The stories we've heard about him, on and off the court over the years, are almost too wild to believe. From “You trying to get this Pipe” DMs to escapades with Rihanna at Greenhouse in NYC to the time Complex played 18 holes with the golf fanatic, Smith is never boring. While JR is much calmer in Cleveland with LeBron James watching him, we still get those classic JR moments. None was more epic than when the story broke in March that Smith was suspended a game for throwing soup at Cavs assistant coach Damon Jones. Like, how is that even a thing that could happen? Applaud JR for even thinking of doing this. He threw soup. At. A. Coach. Pipe Gawd forever. — Z.F.
The dunk was savage. Posting the below pic to Instagram, with that specific location, was disrespectfully genius.
The NBA's best troll/prankster/instigator/rabble rouser/shit stirrer may have outdone himself with this beautiful burn of Russell Westbrook. The Sixers couldn't pull out the win that night in Oklahoma City, but Joel "The Process" Embiid was the real winner because he ingeniously tagged the location "Crime Scene Investigation."
We're happy to report it's Embiid's second most popular post because that kind of pettiness should be appropriately rewarded. — A.C.
Justise Winslow steps on Embiid's mask.
Things got chippy between the Heat and Sixers during their first round series. But when Justise Winslow intentionally stepped on Joel Embiid's mask during Game 3—and incurred a hefty $15,000 fine for his actions—he took it to a new level.
Embiid needs to wear the mask to protect is broken orbital bone so Winslow looking to casually damage and ideally throw Embiid off his game was one hell of a petty play on his part. Of course, Embiid got the last laugh with the Sixers advancing in five games, and in the immediate aftermath clowned Winslow.
"Justise stepped on it and tried to break it with his hands, but little do they know is I have about 50 of them, so it's going to take much more than that to get me out of this series," Embiid told reporters after the game.
When are guys going to learn that you can't troll the NBA's best troll? — A.C.
#PettyWarz pic.twitter.com/tR0fcbdnFI
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) March 22, 2018
NBA players do a lot of weird shit on the court. I already wrote about JR Smith, who used to untie other players’ shoelaces. Nobody really knows why, but on the court NBA guys are odd sometimes. Case in point is this hilarious moment from March when Jason Terry refused to move out of DeAndre Jordan’s way at the free throw line. You have to wonder if Terry actually thought he could get away with it before Jordan pushed him out of the way. But why even do this? Just veteran level of petty on display from the JET. — Z.F.
Paul Pierce vs. Isaiah Thomas.
Paul Pierce might’ve been on the right side of history regarding Isaiah Thomas’ tribute video situation had it not been for him putting up 53 points during a playoff game against the Wizards on what would’ve been his late sister’s birthday last year. She died unexpectedly in a car crash a week prior. That didn’t matter to Pierce, though. He felt that his jersey retirement ceremony deserved no distractions, even if it meant saying Thomas’ tribute video shouldn’t be played during his day. No, Thomas didn’t bring a championship to Boson like The Truth, but how petty do you have to be to deny another man a quick video tribute? They were going to play the video before the game! As a Knick fan, I am here to tell you that Paul Pierce ain’t shit! — A.D.
Lance Stephenson vs. LeBron James in the playoffs.
Instead of picking something out during the season, I’m going to highlight Born Ready’s antics in this year’s first round series against the Cavs. Lance continues to be the John Starks to LeBron’s Michael Jordan, as he tries to get in his head by being a nuisance. During the series against Cleveland, Lance has gotten James to smirk at bullshit, he flops when James touches him, and acted like he defeated Goliath when he wrestled the ball from him. He’s just carrying on tradition. Stephenson is delusional but he’s entertaining. — A.D.
Too many Russell Westbrook moments to list.
Russell Westbrook could have an entire list of petty to himself. He’s that good at it. Whether it’s the trolly outfits or his on court antics, Russ is must-see TV every single night. Take this video for instance:
#PETTYWARZ pic.twitter.com/9mlKJypGpa
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) November 23, 2017
What is he even doing to Draymond. That’s just a perfect example of Russ being Russ and not really giving a fuck what people think. He’s had tiffs with the Warriors, Embiid, and plenty more all season while averaging a triple double for the second straight season. You can’t say anything to the Brodie. — Z.F.
KD liked a derogatory IG comment about Russ.
Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated posted screenshots of Kevin Durant liking an Instagram comment saying Russell Westbrook was the real problem in OKC. When asked about it, KD said it was a mistake. All this after he was caught using a secret account to argue in his favor on social media. I really hope Durant finds peace because finally getting a ring doesn't appear to have provided him any. This shit is getting sad. — A.D.