Bennedict Mathurin is Officially Better Than LeBron James

Indiana Pacers rookie, Bennedict Mathurin, had something exciting to say about LeBron James prior to being drafted this summer. Here’s what he told the Washington Post:

“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.”

Bold from the no. 6 pick but the Pacers and Lakers finally battled on Monday night and the Pacers snuck out a 116-115 victory in Los Angeles thanks to an Andrew Nembhard buzzer-beater but Mathurin proved his pre-draft point.

Here’s what he did against the Lakers (and compared to what LeBron did):

32 minutes (LeBron 36)
23 points (LeBron 21)
10-for-22 shooting (LeBron 8-for-22)
3-for-8 from 3 (LeBron 3-for-10 from 3)
8 rebounds (LeBron 7)
+7 (LeBron -7)

Bennedict Mathurin, by his own measure, just backed up his words. He outplayed LeBron. His team won. The Pacers are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and the Lakers are struggling to avoid being relegated to the G-League.

Mathurin is a strong week of basketball away from being the front-runner for rookie of the year. He’s averaging 19.1 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 41% from 3.

For months, we’ve been waterboarded with trade rumors. Russell Westbrook for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. It really says a lot about Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office that they aren’t out here trying to steal Mathurin who would easily become the second-best player on the team behind Anthony Davis. Obviously, he’s better than LeBron. That’s been made clear.

And I can’t not talk about the actual game that took place on Monday night. The Pacers came back from a 17-point deficit down 101-84 with 9:59 left in the game. All leading up to this moment:

ANDREW NEMBHARD FOR THE THREE AND THE WIN AT THE BUZZER❗️❗️ #Pacers pic.twitter.com/69HioRG6Cc

— Bally Sports Indiana (@BallySportsIN) November 29, 2022

It’s amazing to watch these two teams as they stand on opposite sides of the team-building spectrum. One team traded away their future for Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook and the other team gathered a shit ton of young guys with high ceilings. The Lakers would be in the playoffs if Tyrese Haliburton was on their roster.

Mind you, Tyrese Haliburton now has 3 straight games of 10+ assists without a single turnover. Mad decent.

This is officially a Bennedict Mathurin stan page. We will all remember this night when Mathurin achieves the all-time scoring record in 25 years beating LeBron’s record. This is history, you understand?