Stanley Johnson made it his goal leading up to and during Game 2 to poke the proverbial bear that is LeBron James.
All it has led to thus far is an angry and more amped up LeBron. King James visibly roared after dunking on Reggie Bullock in Game 2 and made a point to give Johnson a not so friendly bump as he walked by him to his bench during a timeout in the first quarter of Game 2.
đź‘‘ King James greeting rookie Stanley Johnson. #NBAPlayoffs #Cavs #Pistons https://t.co/k0zyfKzxzH
— LeBron Fans đź‘‘ (@LeBronJames) April 21, 2016
Johnson has not held his tongue when speaking about LeBron or the Cavaliers, questioning LeBron’s confidence for only talking trash when the Cavs have a large lead and saying that LeBron’s bump was “fugazi” which is a slang term with the young folk for fake tough.
Stanley Johnson isn't scared of King James. https://t.co/5d6V3cLraY pic.twitter.com/MH7n9LnlKF
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 21, 2016
Here is the aforementioned “fugazi” quote given to Michael Lee of Yahoo.com:
“That was fugazi,” Johnson said. “He didn’t bump me. I just didn’t move out of his direction. I don’t know what y’all take from that. I don’t take anything from it. But a cheap-ass shot, a cheap-ass bump.”
He has also called the Cavaliers, outside of LeBron, his “cheerleaders” which doesn’t quite make sense either if his main target for mind games is LeBron.
The fact of the matter is Johnson is an immature 19-year-old kid that averaged 8 points in under 20 minutes per game during the season, often falling out of the rotation. He is no match physically or mentally for King James as this point.
All that this is managing to do is motivating and bringing together a Cavaliers team. It is reflecting poorly on Stanley Johnson and making him look foolish. Have we learned nothing from Lance Stephenson?
Johnson is not good enough to challenge LeBron, he is not a random veteran “tough guy” built for these sort of mind games, he is a teenager trying to establish himself and his reputation in the NBA.
A word to the wise Stanley, just let your play on the court do the talking and soak up all of the positive aspects of this postseason experience at the tender age of 19. Keep the trash taking to the big boys.
