Doyel: Can humbled Lance Stephenson give Pacers jolt they need?

Lance Stephenson 12 Points/1 Fight Full Highlights (4/4/2017)

Lance Stephenson addresses the media at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 31, 2017 after signing with Indiana. Clark Wade/IndyStar

Indiana Pacer Lance Stephenson meets with the media after resigning with the team that originally drafted him in 2010. Stephenson talked for about 15 minutes Friday, March 31, 2017, afternoon at Bankers Life Fieldhouse before rejoining his original NBA team.(Photo: Matt Kryger/IndyStar)Buy Photo

INDIANAPOLIS Hes talking about his parents. They live in Las Vegas now. Wont be moving back to Indianapolis, to the south-side home they shared with him the last time Lance Stephenson played for the Indiana Pacers.

Theyre not going to be following me everywhere, Stephenson was saying Friday from Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where he was makinga pit stopbefore joining sorry, rejoining the Pacers on Saturday in Cleveland.

When Stephenson first arrived here in 2011, Larry Birds 2010 NBA draft second-round flier soon becoming the franchises most exciting and exhausting player, his parents followed him from New York City to Wanamaker. They cooked for him, cleaned for him, shopped for him. He was 20.

Stephensons first two career points, a pair of free throws, came in a 110-108 loss to Phoenix on Feb. 27, 2011. Bernadette and Lance Stephenson Sr. were sitting courtside at Bankers Life. After each free throw, Lance Sr. threw confetti into the air.

No confetti this time. No parents, either.

I"m on my own now, Lance was saying Friday. Im a big guy, Im a big boy now.

Now hes talking about his daughter. Shes 8. Her names Liara. The news broke Wednesday that Lance Stephenson, who had been out of work since the Minnesota Timberwolves bid him adieu March 18, was returning to the Pacers. Before Lance could tell his daughter, his daughter told him.

Daddy, she said, you know you"re back on the Pacers?

How do you know? Lance told her. Ive not even told you yet.

It begged the question, so on Friday I asked it:

Lance? How did your 8-year-old daughter find out?

Hes shaking his head. Says something about the internet.

Kids these days, he says.

They grow up fast. Dont they?

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Lance Stephenson sounds different, looks different. A changed man? Well see. His first game back is Sunday against the Cavaliers, against LeBron James, the superstar Lance famously tried to freak out during the 2014 playoffs.

Lance blew in LeBrons ear during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the weirdest moment of a weird four seasons Lance spentin Indianapolis, going from the end of the bench to serious All-Star consideration in 2014. Hed gallop down the court on his make-believe pony, slapping at his thigh. Hed talk trash to opponents, steal rebounds from teammates, be involved in some way we still dont know how in the Pacers meltdown in 2014.

That season the Pacers had the NBAs best record at 35-9 when something, maybe everything, went wrong. They went 21-17 the rest of the way, made it to the conference finals anyway, then lost in six games to LeBron"sMiami Heat.

That was the year, a veteran no longer on that team told me, there were five crazy things going on in the locker room and Lance was involved in all five.

Lance Stephenson sounds different now. Matured. Humbled. Like I said: Well see. But failure can do that to a person,if the person learns from it. And Lance has tried.

Ive been on so many teams, Lance was saying Friday of his three years since leaving as a free agent in 2014, it felt like seven years ago. Ive been in five different places since I left here. It makes you stronger, it makes you smarter, and it humbles you also.

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The Pacers offered him five years and $44 million in 2014, butStephenson chose Charlottes offer of three years and $27 million. He left Larry Birds protective cocoon, struck out on his own, and struck out. After averaging 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists here in 2014, he plummeted to 8.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 3.9 apg in 2015 at Charlotte.

The Hornets traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers, who traded him to Memphis, who let him go after the 2016 season. New Orleans signed him before this season, then released him after six games. Minnesota signed him to a 10-day contract, then a second 10-day contract, but not a third.

It was a sheepish Lance Stephenson who met the media Friday.

I wish, he said, referring to his 2014 departure for Charlotte, I would have just stayed home.

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FILE Pacers guard Lance Stephenson was a key figure in the team"s run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2014.(Photo: Matt Kryger / IndyStar)

Lance Stephenson saves the Indiana Pacers.

Hows that for a story? It mighthappen. Mightnot, of course. Its possible he will never again be the triple-double threathe was in 2014. After shooting 35.2 percent on 3-pointers in his final season in Indiana, Stephenson has labored at 25.1 percent since. Theres a reason he has played for five NBA teams since 2015, and a run of injuries isonly part of it.

But what if he rediscovers his shothere? The Pacers signed him not to sell tickets the season is 76 games old but to win games. Their starting lineup is set at four positions, everything but shooting guard, where theyve tried Monta Ellis (too old), Glenn Robinson III (too inexperienced) and C.J. Miles (too inconsistent). Can Lance Stephenson get back into game shape and be the spark that gets this reeling team into the playoffs?

Well. It would be a great story.

The Pacers brought back Lance for his moxie as much as anything. The Pacers are poised, but not passionate. They arent necessarily soft, but they are absolutely not hard.

We have a lot of quiet guys, Paul George told IndyStar Pacers Insider Nate Taylor on Friday in Toronto, hours before the Pacers last game without Lance. A lot of guys that arent talkative or keep to themselves. It will be good to have a guy like Lance in our bunch. We all missed that edge that he brought. He lit a fire under me every night.

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Pacers coach Nate McMillan acknowledged having no idea how Lance will play. But he knows how Lance will compete.

This happening so late in the season, what can you expect? We dont know, McMillan told Taylor. (But) he will be a guy that we know will help and bring some fight.

The Pacers, who recently alternated wins and losses for a franchise-record 15 games and have dropped four of five entering Friday in Toronto, can use some fight. The Pacers, who have fallen from sixth in the Eastto the eighth and final playoff spot just one game ahead of the ninth-place Bulls can use some fire.

The Pacers can use some Lance Stephenson. Hes no longer a man-child of 20, but a man of 26. His parents have moved out. His daughter is growing up.

The time for confetti and childish things are over.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter: @greggdoyelstar or at facebook.com/gregg.doyel.

source: http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2017/03/31/doyel-can-humbled-lance-stephenson-give-pacers-jolt-they-need/99838662/