Bismack Biyombo not afraid of LeBron James, is afraid of lions
During Toronto’s shootaround prior to Game 2, Raptors center Bismack Biyombo — the finger-wagging, rim-protecting big man with a chiseled frame and a 7-foot-6 wingspan — was apparently if he’s afraid of LeBron James, as if Bismack Biyombo fears any man after growing up sans sneakers until the age of 16.
“No I’m not and will never be,” Biyombo responded, according to TSN beat writer Josh Lewenberg.
“I’m never afraid of human beings,” he added, which seems understandable given Biyombo’s game.
Any time anyone drops the phrase “human beings,” you know stuff’s about to get real. And real it got.
That’s right. “I’m afraid of lions,” Biyombo said. Totally fair statement. Hundreds of humans are killed each year by lions, according to a statistic I found on a totally reliable Wikepedia page, which is a scary enough thought on its own. And I’m no expert, but it seems to me you’d be more likely to come across a lion in Biyombo’s home country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, than in Cleveland, since neighboring Tanzania is home to both the highest population of lions and the most annual lion attacks in the world.
So, yeah, of course Bismack Biyombo is afraid of lions.
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As for whether Biyombo should be afraid of LeBron, in the more figurative sense, that’s a different story. After scoring 24 points on 13 shots in a Game 1 blowout, James responded with his 15th career playoff triple-double (23 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds) in 33 minutes of a lopsided Game 2 victory. Frightening stuff for any member of the Raptors trying to salvage even a game in these Eastern Conference finals.
Except, Biyombo prefers to look on the bright side.
Except when a lion’s lurking. And LeBron does fancy himself a man-eating cat — releasing several lion–themed shoes and sometimes adding a lion to his King James crest — so maybe we should all be afraid.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
