Lance Stephenson: ‘I’m a Good Locker Room Guy’

The LA Clippers introduced Lance Stephenson to the local press Thursday, and the 24-year-old said he couldn’t be happier to join Doc Rivers and company in Cali.

Stephenson is trying to shed his reputation as a negative locker room presence, and says he’s on board with Rivers’ plan to bring him off the bench.

The Clippers’ president and head coach wants Lance to play with the same reckless abandon he did with the Indiana Pacers.

Per the OC Register:

When Lance Stephenson received the phone call that alerted him he had been traded to the Clippers two months after the conclusion of his worst professional season, the maligned swingman released a celebratory cry. […] “I just started yelling,” Stephenson said, “like, ‘Yeah! I’m happy!’”

 

His productivity plummeted (in Charlotte), and he was frequently described as a problem in the Hornets’ locker room, a reputation he burnished in Indiana, as well. But Stephenson expressed a deep desire to cleanse his image. […] “I want to take that title off of my name,” he said, “because that’s not me. I’m a good locker room guy.”

 

“Whatever it takes to win,” he said. “If I have to come off the bench, if I have to start. I’m here to do whatever it takes to win, and I trust (Rivers’) decisions. So I’m just happy to be here.” […] The Clippers traded Spencer Hawes and Matt Barnes to acquire Stephenson on Tuesday. And while Barnes’ shooting was often highlighted as one of the Clippers’ biggest holes, and Hawes was a dud in his one season with the Clippers, Rivers’ acknowledged trading for Stephenson comes with an amount of risk.