On Wednesday, former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Eddie Johnson took a shot at former NBA champion Iman Shumpert for blaming NBA icon LeBron James for inspiring today’s superteam culture in the NBA.
Johnson called Shumpert’s loyalty into question, as he seemingly took issue with Shumpert making those comments about a player that helped him win a ring. Johnson also cited the fact that Shumpert averaged just 3.3 points per game with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2016 NBA Playoffs, when he and James won the title in question.
No loyalty also is ripping the very guy that gave a spotlight to your career by carrying you and that 3.3 points a game during the title run in 2015-16 ! People forget don’t they. Podcast heaven https://t.co/b6WT79Vt9p
— Eddie A Johnson (@Jumpshot8) November 20, 2024
Iman Shumpert says LeBron James ruined today’s NBA by making it okay for star players to team up with one another
(🎥 @bigpodwithshaq / https://t.co/dzKwEg965r) pic.twitter.com/0QagOaMYQe
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 19, 2024
On Thursday, Shumpert fired back at the former NBA journeyman on X. He stood his ground and called Johnson “weird” for the fact that he looked up Shumpert’s scoring average during Cleveland’s title run.
I didn’t realize u was a real account. If you are u goofy for not being able to admit he started the trend. He did and u weird for looking f up stats like it got somn to do wit what I said https://t.co/SLhv395R1h
— Iman. (@imanshumpert) November 21, 2024
As a longtime NBA player, Johnson likely understands as well as anyone that a player’s total impact can’t be measured merely by scoring average. How many points per game Shumpert averaged with Cleveland doesn’t quite convey his importance to the team in the 2016 NBA Playoffs.
In actuality, he made an impact on the defensive side of the ball across 21 playoff games. Additionally, while Shumpert’s scoring average in the 2016 NBA Playoffs may suggest that he fared poorly on that side of the ball, that isn’t the full story. The guard had a limited role on offense for a Cavaliers team that had plenty of firepower, and when he was called on to shoot the ball, he usually made the most of his opportunities.
Shumpert shot 38.2 percent from 3-point range on 1.6 attempts per game during the playoff run. He also converted 50-plus percent of his looks from deep in Cleveland’s playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors.
While he was less effective as a shooter in the NBA Finals and wasn’t necessarily heroic during the playoff run, he still had a hand in Cleveland’s championship.
Fans of the Cavaliers should stay tuned for any updates on the back-and-forth that’s been going on between Shumpert and Johnson of late. In the latest layer, Johnson responded.
I used your stats because he got you a chip and i personally would not have called out a teammate Iman! Bottom line, but you did i responded! Had 400 of them. 🙂
— Eddie A Johnson (@Jumpshot8) November 22, 2024
Wrong! You dont call out the hand that fed you with noteriety! You would not understand that obviously
— Eddie A Johnson (@Jumpshot8) November 22, 2024
There could be more exchanges soon.
