Bennedict Mathurin on LeBron James: I think he’s the best player ever but I won’t say anybody is better than me

With the Brooklyn Nets about to blow up their roster in the wake of Kevin Durant’s trade demand Thursday, Kyrie Irving appears on his way out the door, too. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith reported on air Thursday that Irving wants to re-join LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers “as soon as he possibly can.” “He’s been telling people he wants to be in L.A., he’s been telling people he wants to wear the same uniform that Kobe Bryant once wore,” Smith said. -via Newark Star-Ledger / June 30, 2022

Clutch Points: “They could contend, but they won’t beat us.” 🗣️ Draymond Green on a possible Kyrie Irving/LeBron James reunion with the Lakers (via @lucas_shaw) pic.twitter.com/L2OGMYcwVd -via Twitter @ClutchPointsApp / June 26, 2022

“Let me tell you, the difference between four [rings] and three may as well be having one and four. It feels so night and day, like the rarefied air that we’re in after winning the fourth one than the third one, it’s just so rare,” Green said. “I was on the phone with ‘Bron the other day, and I’m just telling him like ‘Bruh, going from three to four is insane’ and he was like ‘Yo, I’m telling you, It’s crazy.” -via Clutch Points / June 26, 2022

Pritchard conceded, that the rebuild is going to take some time, and he’s right. There are no shortcuts, especially for a small-market franchise that isn’t a destination for big-time free agents. The Pacers aren’t asking anybody to be patient through some kind of midwestern version of The Process, but last year’s trade for Tyrese Haliburton and this week’s draft of Mathurin, Nembhard and Brown, are a hopeful beginning. “One of the things I’m absolutely convinced of, these three young men will be a part of this organization for a long time,” Pritchard said. “We wanted to get more athletic, more dynamic and bring some intelligence. All three demonstrated that athleticism and drive to win. The one common denominator is, they all love to play.” -via The Athletic / June 27, 2022

Before slipping off to his hotel room to make his final preparations for the draft, Mathurin said that there was one test, maybe the biggest of all, that he was particularly looking forward as a rookie: His first game against Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James “A lot of people say he’s great,” Mathurin said. “I want to see how great he is. I don’t think anybody is better than me. He’s going to have to show me he’s better than me.” -via Washington Post / June 25, 2022

James Boyd: New #Pacers numbers: Bennedict Mathurin is wearing No. 00 (because Tyrese Haliburton has Mathurin’s college number 0) Kendall Brown is wearing No. 10 Andrew Nembhard is wearing No. 2 -via Twitter @RomeovilleKid / June 24, 2022