Archie Godwin, a former NBA player, made an appearance on a podcast where he revealed a LeBron James story. On the podcast, Godwin narrated an anecdote from the time James was representing the Miami Heat. Godwin, who played for the Phoenix Suns, revealed that one of his then-teammates made the grave mistake of talking trash to the King. The incident that occurred after chirping at LeBron left every member of the Suns’ stunned.
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During the ‘Heatles’ era, at one point in the third quarter, a member of the Phoenix Suns started talking trash to LeBron James. From that point onwards, Bron erupted for 32 points and ended up blowing out the Arizona side by more than 20 points. Hear Archie Godwin narrate the story:
“LeBron catch the ball on the wing, on the right wing. He right by our bench. So, I’m on the bench and my teammate’s on the bench. LeBron catches the ball and he’s sizing up PJ Tucker and one of my teammates yell out ‘yo, we living with that sh*t. Shoot that brooke a** sh*t. We living with it’. So, LeBron passed the ball, he looked back at him and said ‘what you say?’
One of our coaches at the time, he looked at my teammate like ‘yo, shut the f**k up! Leave him alone… Don’t f**king wake the bear up.’ It was like the third quarter, so he had been chilling, we only down like four or five. He only had like six points… He ended the game with 38 (points). 38… He did not miss after that. He went nuts and we ended up losing by 20.”
Archie Goodwin talks about the time LeBron went off after the Suns poked the bear 🔥
(via thismotionpod/IG) pic.twitter.com/zKWWiI223Q
— LeBron History 🏀 (@bronhistory) November 15, 2023
LeBron wasn’t known for his shooting during his tenure with the Miami Heat. However, he didn’t take it lightly when anybody disrespected his jumper. Unfortunately, the Suns had to learn that the hard way.
LeBron James doesn’t trash-talk as often
LeBron James is one of the greatest ball players of our generation. Apart from being equipped with intangibles like durability, the King is also blessed with some incredible physicality and versatility. These certain traits have enabled James to dominate his competition for the past 20 years.
Despite being one of the most lethal players ever, there are rarely any moments where Bron initiates the trash-talk. Yes, there are numerous stories that we’ve heard, like the one above, where LBJ is shutting up his naysayers. However, the King initiating the trash-talk is not a common sight.
During his second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the four-time MVP became much more expressive, in terms of trash-talking. Famously there have been two occasions where his trash-talking took centre stage.
Back in 2015, after swatting away Evan Turner’s dunk attempt, LeBron said, “I blocked it, you tried.” Further, during the 2016 Finals, there were several moments during the series when LBJ got into verbal altercations with Stephen Curry.