With the final moments of the Lakers’ season ticking away on Monday night, someone who helped last year’s NBA champions eliminate L.A. seemed to take shot at Kobe Bryant.
Dallas Mavericks reserve forward Brian Cardinal (okay, he barely helped Dallas last year) took to Twitter toward the end of the Lakers’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal to tweak Kobe about his stat line for the game.
The 14-time All-Star finished with 42 points on 18-of-33 shooting from the field, but didn’t register a single assist. In part due to Bryant’s domination of the ball but also owing to some cold shooting of their own, nobody else on his team scored more than 14 points in the loss, with just three other players reaching double figures in points. As a team, the Lakers combined for a grand total of just 12 assists.
To be fair, Bryant also finished the game just five rebounds away from a double-double. His quartet of controlled caroms gave him one more than center Andrew Bynum and ranked second (tied) on the team to Pau Gasol’s 16 boards.
Not surprisingly, such a tweet from a player who averages 6.3 minutes per game ripping the player with the fifth most points ever in NBA history got a little attentionand a few retweets. Noticing the hoopla, Cardinal took to Twitter again.
While chastising Kobe for not involving his teammates is hardly the most original piece of NBA analysis, Cardinal did manage to deliver his dig with more humor — and seemingly less ill intent — than the other reserve who mocked an NBA superstarthis postseason.
In the middle of Game 3 between the Heat and Pacers, Indiana sub Lance Stephenson made the universal “choke sign” after three-time MVP LeBron James missed a free throw on a technical foul.
James didn’t think much of it, though, shrugging off the gesture and then going off on the Pacers by finishing with 40 points and 18 rebounds in a Game 4 victory for the Heat.
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