The Los Angeles Lakers’ abysmal 2021-22 performance has earned them a fair amount of mockery in NBA circles.
Some of the ridicule had to come from the Golden State Warriors, L.A.’s California rivals who won the championship after a couple of down years. Warriors owner Joe Lacob took a badly disguised swipe at the Lakers for putting together a roster packed with older players after the 2022 postseason began without the Purple and Gold among the competing teams
Stephen Curry picked up where Lacob left off when he hosted the 2022 ESPY Awards on Wednesday. Holding a drink as he walked on L.A.’s Dolby Theatre stage, Curry congratulated the L.A. Rams on winning the Super Bowl earlier this year. The Warriors guard added it was “inspiring” to see the strategy of acquiring old superstars “pay off for a local team around here.”
Curry then pointed at NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo sitting in the audience. “Hey Mutombo, I heard you’re looking for a 10-day [contract]?” he asked the 56-year-old. “Hit Rob Pelinka, let him know,” Curry added.
.@StephenCurry30 had to crack one Lakers joke 😂 #ESPYS pic.twitter.com/Z6VO1j0UIl
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 21, 2022
Also, Curry didn’t shy away from cracking a joke about LeBron James. The 34-year-old pointed out he was only the second NBA player to host the awards ceremony after James did it in 2007. “After losing in the NBA Finals,” Curry added. “So yeah, you guessed it, it feels better,” he said before taking a sip of his drink.
Steph brought out the LeBron jokes early at the ESPYS 😂 pic.twitter.com/FY4L1bmYfI
— ESPN (@espn) July 21, 2022
James made his first NBA Finals appearance with the Cleveland Cavaliers during his sophomore season back in 2007. However, the Cavaliers got swept by the San Antonio Spurs that year and would fail to make the Finals again until James returned to Cleveland in 2014, after a four-year stint with the Miami Heat.
Pelicans’ Jonas Valanciunas mocks James in game of charades
Curry joined in mocking James after a video emerged of New Orleans Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas making fun of the Lakers All-Star in a game of charades during a TV appearance on Lithuanian TV.
After showing the audience who he was going to depict, Valanciunas pretended to cry and flop around after being touched, eliciting waves of laughter from those who attended the show.
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