Former NBA guard Stephon Marbury directed a torrent of criticism at Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James during an Instagram Live session.
Marbury, who last played in the NBA during the 2008-09 season, found fault with James on a variety of topics and offered some pretty brutal assessments along the way. These included his opinion of James’ performance during the Lakers’ Tuesday night loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
“LeBron James is supposed to grab 15 rebounds, he’s 6’9,” says @StarburyMarbury.
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 19, 2020
Stephon Marbury on LeBron James: “He shoots different without fans.”
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 19, 2020
Not content to merely focus on James’ alleged flaws on the court, Marbury then decided to ridicule the 35-year-old James’ hairline.
Stephon Marbury on LeBron's hair: "I know he didn't put a rug on his head."
"I don't have no hair on his head. Somebody sent me a clip where his head was over his headband."
"What was that about?"
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 19, 2020
Stephon Marbury on LeBron James' hair: "How you gonna have a bald spot and then the next season it's all black?
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 19, 2020
Stephon Marbury on LeBron James: "I seen a dude put glue on his head. Don't that hurt? How you take a shower?"
"If you saw me speak to you and I have a whole bunch of waves [in my hair]…how do you do that and you know a little bit of water it's gonna stink. Do you blowdry?"
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 19, 2020
Stephon Marbury says LeBron James' barber spends five minutes on one side of his head when he gets a shapeup & he puts his du rag on crooked afterward.
Marbury also says the Lakers All Star pays TNT & ESPN cameraman to use certain camera angles as filters during games.
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 19, 2020
While the Lakers did lose on Tuesday night, James could hardly be blamed for the defeat after contributing a triple-double with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 16 assists.
Marbury’s rants aren’t anything new, considering that earlier this year, he dismissed the idea of James being better than Michael Jordan.
“C’mon man,” Marbury said. “LeBron’s a great player. Don’t get me wrong. A great, great player. Unbelievable. Amazing. But better than Michael Jordan? – it’s not even the same. It’s just different. In fact, it needs no explanation or explaining because we can’t talk about Jordan’s game. It’s like we need to talk about what people are ‘not.'”
Critics of Marbury are likely to point to jealousy as the cause of his animosity toward James, since Marbury was named to the All-Star Game just twice and never played on an NBA title team.
In contrast, James is a 16-time All-Star, was named NBA Most Valuable Player four times and was Finals MVP on three league championship squads.
Such a comparison indicates that James will ultimately be remembered as an icon of the game, while Marbury is destined to be forgotten by future generations.
