Iman Shumpert claps back at Eddie Johnson amid LeBron argument, calls him ‘weird’ for looking up his 3.3 PPG in 2016 playoffs

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.

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.

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.

There could be more exchanges soon.