Ah, to be young. The irrational confidence that comes when you don’t really know anything about anything is absolute bliss. I wish I could get it back.
And, look. I’m not old — yerboi is only 29 years old. But at 19? If I knew what I knew now? I’d probably have viewed the world a lot different back then. But I also wouldn’t be where I am now, so it all worked out.
I say all that to say Bennedict Mathurin has an extreme case of irrational confidence and, honestly, you’ve got to respect it.
This dude was just picked 6th overall in the NBA draft and had an absolutely wild path in getting there. He should be confident. He is good. He’s officially one of the best 400 or so basketball players in the world.
But should he be confident enough to call out LeBron James who might be one of the best basketball players ever? Ehhhh, probably not.
Alas. Here he is doing just that.
Bennedict Mathurin wants to test LeBron James 👀 (via @washingtonpost):
“A lot of people say he’s great. 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.” pic.twitter.com/cx3ghu9n1R
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 24, 2022
“A lot of people say he’s great. 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.”
Benn. My guy. It’s LeBron, bro. We’ve all seen it. You’ve got to respect this sort of confidence. But at the same time, we’ve all seen how left this can go.
Just ask DeShawn Stevenson or Stanley Johnson or Jaylen Brown. The whole calling LeBron out thing didn’t work out for them at all. Probably isn’t the best idea here, either.
But hey, man. Can you really blame Benn? He’s, like, 12 years old. He wasn’t even around for a lot of that.
Nobody thought this was a great idea. No one.
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Max play every Lebron prop vs the Pacers next season https://t.co/iR3HLyicaN
— The Degenerates (@degen_betting) June 25, 2022
Ben Mathurin is not old enough to remember Jay-Z writing rap lyrics about LeBron destroying people who talked trash to him. https://t.co/LgmIMPdVbg
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) June 25, 2022
Irrational confidence for the win! https://t.co/RZfXm1aKy4
— JG (@Jason1Goff) June 25, 2022
Incoming 50 point triple double from LeBron https://t.co/3taU7wyf7b
— Ethan Talks Pacers, Fever, Etc. (@KriegerSports) June 25, 2022
I respect the confidence from these young guys but they gotta take a step back lol https://t.co/gRQ2F56pHS
— Dante Turo (@DanteOnDeck) June 25, 2022
Lebron first game vs him https://t.co/xunefzOkDG pic.twitter.com/vNxKzUc31M
— Duke’s Dad (@NxLevelTre24) June 25, 2022
Lebron: https://t.co/5fZVQzlYFf pic.twitter.com/pok0NdVN3a
— ✌🏾 (@thisaintjuan) June 25, 2022
when bron sees Bennedict 😭 https://t.co/rC1eIDBiU1 pic.twitter.com/fWEnlmt55Z
— 👨🏻💻 (@brandontaleonnn) June 25, 2022
Hey LeBron, point out the person you’re dropping a triple double on. 👀👀 https://t.co/du55Td9zQu pic.twitter.com/Icl23TFpMM
— Vacation Will 😴😴😴 (@WilliamRichJr) June 25, 2022
wait what https://t.co/PM8m8FqdtK
— Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) June 25, 2022
Aigh bro https://t.co/cE7soFYsrU
— Swoosh 🏁 (@JohnnyHSD__) June 25, 2022
He about yo get cooked https://t.co/GEWOinYbAw pic.twitter.com/ZiAaf8I2Ta
— Bourbon Trailblazer (@macjm) June 25, 2022
Hopefully, it goes well for Ben. If history is any indication? Probably won’t. But good luck to him, anyway.