LeBron James’s return to the Cleveland Cavaliers kicked off one of the greatest sagas in sports history. The King, in just his first season back, made it to the finals, after sweeping a stacked Atlanta Hawks team in the Conference Finals. Though LeBron was short-handed during the series, he still managed to carry his team to victory. Jeff Teague, who at the time was playing for the Hawks, decided to talk trash to LeBron’s teammate Matthew Dellavedova during a game. Though Teague was certainly good, he wasn’t ready for the retaliation that came from LeBron’s side for his trash talk.
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The Hawks were looking like a team that could upset LeBron and The Cavaliers. Atlanta had 4 All-Stars on the roster that season ( Al Horford, Kyle Korver Paul Millsap, and Jeff Teague). They even finished with the best record in the East, demolishing teams on their way to meet LeBron in the Conference Finals.
Jeff Teague talks about LeBron James and the 2015 ECF
Jeff Teague is a co-host on The 520 Podcast. He shared some interesting stories from his playing days. During a recent episode, Teague shared details about The 2015 Eastern Conference Finals. Talking about James that season, Teague said “LeBron’s first year back in Cleveland, when he had that weak a** mustache and Kyrie and Kevin Love were out, he was eating.”
Talking about an incident during the Eastern Conference Finals, Teague recalled, “We had a game. I gave Dellavedova some crazy work. I told him it was going to be a long fu**ing night”. Lebron responded with “Can you score more than me ?”. I said “Yeah”. LeBron retaliated with “ You gonna have to show me”. Teague recalled the conclusion of their matchup, telling his co-hosts, “I averaged like 18 points and LeBron had like 36 that series“.
The story is pretty indicative of how the series went. The Cavaliers swept the Hawks in the series, demolishing the first seed on their way to meet Golden State in the Finals. LeBron averaged 30.3 points per game, 11 rebounds, 9.3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks for the series.
Trash-talking and LeBron James in High School
Talking trash to The King isn’t a great idea, and some players learn that the hard way. Trevor Ariza once decided to talk trash to LeBron while the duo were in High School, and it didn’t end well. Ariza, who played for the Westchester’s Comets, decided to talk smack alongside his uncle, before a game against LeBron James and St. Vincent.
LeBron drops 52 on Trevor Ariza in high school after being trash-talked by Ariza and his uncle pic.twitter.com/CKY2KQZj1M
— LeBron History (@bronhistory) September 8, 2023
The outcome of the game said it all. LeBron dropped 52 points, in that game. Ariza, who defended LeBron most of the game, even got dunked on, as the world was quick to realize that ‘The Chosen One’ wasn’t to be messed with. LeBron has since established himself as someone who not only talks smack but also knows how to shut someone up when need be.
