The Los Angeles Lakers did not originally have a pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft but were able to trade a future second-round pick and cash to get the 35th overall pick from the Orlando Magic. Los Angeles selected Michigan State’s Max Christie, which eventually led to Russell Westbrook calling out Skip Bayless on Twitter.
The Lakers could have had a lottery pick if they flipped the years that they traded a first-round pick to the New Orleans Pelicans for Anthony Davis. The Pelicans wound up with the eighth overall pick in the draft and selected guard Dyson Daniels, who would have been a great fit in LA.
Two picks before the Pelicans selected Daniels the Indiana Pacers selected wing, Bennedict Mathurin, from Arizona. Despite five other players being picked before him, Mathurin does not lack confidence and thinks that he is already better than LeBron James. No, we are not kidding.
Bennedict Mathurin wants to test LeBron James 👀 (via @washingtonpost):
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 24, 2022
“A lot of people say he’s great. I want to see how great he is. I don’t think anybody is better than me. He’s going to have to show me he’s better than me.” pic.twitter.com/cx3ghu9n1R
This is quite the bold take from Mathurin. It is not every day that a rookie comes into the league and instantly declares that he is better than one of the best players of all time. Sure, LeBron may not be in his prime but he is still undoubtedly a top 7-8 player in the sport.
I can’t lie though — I love the confidence that Mathurin has to declare something like this before he even steps foot on an NBA court. However, Mathurin’s declaration certainly will have its consequences.
LeBron James is going to torch the Indiana Pacers when the Los Angeles Lakers play them next season.
There is no doubt that LeBron James is still one of the best players in the league and when he wants to prove a point he is going to put on a show. He dropped 50 points in two separate games in the same week last season when he seemingly wanted to prove that the team’s struggles were not because of him.
Back in January of 2021 LeBron was heckled by a Cleveland Cavaliers executive at the end of the third quarter. LeBron took it to heart and scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Lakers to victory and credited the executive for being too excited to see LeBron miss as his inspiration.
If this quote gets back to LeBron he is definitely going to remember it and teach the young rookie a thing or two when the Lakers play the Pacers. Mathurin will then probably learn that he is indeed not at the same level as LeBron James.
As promising as Mathurin’s future is, it would be an exceptional pick for Indiana if he becomes as good as LeBron is now, let alone better than him.