Rowan Kavner
SAN FRANCISCO – Jumping into a starting lineup with four players entering their third year together, whichever newcomer ended up winning the starting small forward job was going to need time to adjust.
As Lance Stephenson does that, his teammates see a player open to their advice and someone who adds an instant energy comparable to what Glen “Big Baby” Davis used to provide.
“Lance, he just gets excited,” said Blake Griffin. “It’s great. It’s our job to help him channel that. He’s been amazingly receptive to everything we say to him.”
Stephenson said the directions he gets from teammates can range from what spot he should be in, to how the starters want their defense run, to just about anything. He said he needs to earn the starters’ trust, and once that happens, everything will operate smoothly.
He added that to win a championship, a player has to be willing to give his “whole self away.”
“They know each other better than they know me, so they’ve got to get used to me and figure me out, and I’ve got to figure them out,” Stephenson said. “I’m not going to complain. I’m on a championship team, and I’m going to have to take a sacrifice.”
That sacrifice may come in on the stat sheet. Stephenson knows he may not be the triple-double machine he was late during his tenure in Indiana.
Through four games, he’s averaging 5.5 points, three rebounds and 2.5 assists in 20.8 minutes per game, all lows for him since becoming an everyday player with the Pacers during the 2012-13 season. But Stephenson knows it’s more about how he impacts the game with this group than the minutes he plays or a flashy box score.
Stephenson’s effect on games from an energy standpoint is rubbing off on his teammates positively. Whether it’s celebrating after a dunk or his gesticulations and frolicking around after a nifty pass, it’s all part of what makes Stephenson unique, and it’s accepted by his teammates.
J.J. Redick said playing the way Stephenson does is not for everyone, but it’s how he gets his edge. Much like it used to be for Davis with the Clippers, it’s Stephenson’s way.
“He’s got to talk, he’s got to put a little extra mustard on things, and it works,” Redick said. “I love seeing him play like that. I think when he plays like that and plays with that force and that verve, in practice it goes well for him. Now it’s good to see that aggression in a game.”
The starters are still figuring out Stephenson, and that’s a process everyone knows will take time. Chris Paul said Stephenson is non-stop high energy. That’s helpful, but Paul said the element of Stephenson’s game needed most is his willingness to compete.
“Sometimes you’ve got to be like, ‘We hear you,’ stuff like that,” Paul said. “But at the end of the day, he has the right spirit. He wants to win.”
The energy and on-court antics are what people will notice, but he has to provide more than that for head coach Doc Rivers to start him. The reason Rivers said he likes Stephenson with the starters is his ability to pass and handle the ball. The latter ability is something Rivers said the Clippers lacked at that spot previously.
Despite playing the sixth most minutes, Stephenson has the third most assists on the team.
“When he gets more comfortable with what we’re running, he can lighten the load at times, even bringing it up for Chris so Chris doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting,” Rivers said.
Rivers said Griffin and DeAndre Jordan are always on Stephenson, which was evident against the Kings as Griffin pulled Stephenson aside to talk to him even after tossing a successful lob up to Jordan for a dunk, but he said it’s all for positive reasons.
And, more importantly, Rivers knows Stephenson wants to get it right.
“You can visibly see him, like, he’s frustrated when he’s in the wrong spot,” Rivers said. “That is a high-demand group, that first group. It’s like Paul (Pierce) was saying the other day, they come down and call a play from two years ago, they expect you to figure it out. When you don’t, they get frustrated, which is unfair, but they’re a high-demand group. I think Lance is feeling that demand from them, which in the long run will push them.”
In the meantime, Stephenson will continue to be himself, which is what the Clippers want.
“You see him making faces and jumping around and stuff, that picks everybody’s energy up,” said Jamal Crawford. “It really does. From a distance, you’re like, ‘This dude’s crazy.’ I was like, ‘He’s crazy.’ Good guy, but he’s crazy. But when he’s on your team, you want that craziness. You love playing with him. He’s been great for us.”