As arguably the best to ever touch a basketball, soon-to-be Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, LeBron James, has indelibly left his mark on the sport.
Since beginning his career as the No. 1 overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft, James has won four league MVP awards, NBA championships, NBA Finals MVP awards, and become the league’s all-time leading scorer (40,474 points).
Though James possesses an incredible mix of size, strength and agility, those attributes are only partially responsible for his success. To pair with his incredible physical gifts, he’s also highly regarded as one of the smartest players to step foot on the court.
On the way to his four NBA title victories with the Cavaliers, Miami Heat and L.A. Lakers, James has run into plenty of formidable opponents in the postseason. To avoid elimination at the hands of some of the best players and teams in the history of the league, James needed to step up and perform a miraculous play or give the world one of the best single-game playoff performances ever.
More often than not, he was able to play his best under the bright lights of the NBA Playoffs. Of the many mind-blowing moments in the postseason career of LeBron James, here are five that stand out more than the rest.
5. James Ties the ECF With a Game Winning Three-Pointer vs. Magic
The then-24-year-old led his team to a thrilling last-second victory
Credit: Andrew Weber-Imagn Images
Just two seasons after the Cavaliers’ run to the 2007 NBA Finals, the team was looking to get back to the league’s biggest stage. This time around, LeBron James was coming off of his first NBA MVP award win after his 2008-09 season, where he posted averages of 28.4 points and 7.4 assists on 59.1 percent true shooting. James’ Cavaliers won an incredible 66 games after the conclusion of the regular season, including a 39-2 record at home.
Cleveland continued their dominance through the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons in the opening round, followed by another sweep of the Atlanta Hawks in the Conference Semi-Finals.
Just as they seemed to be hitting their absolute stride, they were given a wake-up call in the Eastern Conference Finals in the form of a Game 1 defeat on their home floor to 2009 Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard, and the Orlando Magic. Orlando collected a 107-106 victory thanks to Rashard Lewis and his eventual game-winning three-pointer to give his team the lead with 14.6 seconds left on the clock.
After a Cleveland timeout, Cavaliers’ point guard, Mo Williams, was set to inbound the ball for a chance to tie or win the game. The Cavaliers’ initial play was stifled, so James took it upon himself to get a shot up. He’d bump Türkoglu and run to the top of the key while calling for the ball. James caught and fired a heave from behind the three-point line which dropped as the buzzer sounded, giving the Cavaliers a 96-95 victory.
4. Game 7 Dagger in 2013 NBA Finals Gives James Back-to-Back Titles
The spot-up jump shot in the mid-range sealed another championship for the Heat
Credit: Pool Photo-Imagn Images
After completing his quest for redemption following a disastrous 2011 NBA Finals performance with his first title victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012, LeBron James and the Heat found themselves locked in a grueling seven-game series against one of the league’s best dynasties. The San Antonio Spurs were competing for their fifth title in the Tim Duncan era in 2013, but the defending champions stood in their path.
The Spurs took a 2-1 series lead with a 36-point victory in Game 3, though Miami would fight back to bring the series to a seventh game in Miami’s American Airlines Arena. James’ Game 6 performance in enemy territory to force a Game 7 was one of his most clutch performances of his career, as his 32 points were the leading cause of the teams’ 103-100 win.
Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals was fought tooth-and-nail from beginning to end, as the two teams were not separated by more than two points to end each quarter leading up to the final frame.
With the ball in his hands and a championship on the line, James began a drive with a right-handed dribble. After receiving a screen from Heat point guard, Mario Chalmers, he’d stop on a dime 19 feet away from the rim and pick up his dribble. After a slight jab step, James stepped back and fired and jump shot over San Antonio’s rising star, Kawhi Leonard, which sunk through the net.
James’ gutsy shot gave the Heat a four-point advantage with 29.7 seconds left, a lead that they’d never relinquish on the way to their second NBA championship victory in two seasons. After he knocked down two clutch free throws, James finished his dominant Finals run with a 37-point masterpiece in Game 7.
3James Rattles Off Nuclear Scoring Run Against Detroit
An iconic scoring explosion brought the Cavaliers one step closer to the NBA Finals
Credit: Leon Halip-Imagn Images
At just 22-years-old, James led the Cavaliers to their second straight playoff berth in 2007. James brought the team to another 50-win season and a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference, falling just three games below the No. 1 seeded Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons were three years removed from their magical 2004 NBA championship run, though plenty of their core pieces stuck around to hopefully catch lightning in a bottle for a second time.
Leading the Cavaliers 2-0, it was all-but confirmed that the Pistons would have a chance to win their second title in four seasons until the series shifted to Cleveland, when James and company stormed back to even up the series at 2-2, setting up a pivotal Game 5 in Detroit.
James’ scoring prowess had been shown throughout the course of the game prior to overtime, though the true scope of his abilities would soon be presented in the most grand of fashions. As soon as the first overtime period began, James began his mission to single-handedly will his team to victory.
James’ performance in the fourth quarter and both overtime periods is one of the greatest displays of scoring in the history of the NBA Playoffs, as his 48 points and seven assists helped to bring Cleveland to the franchise’s first NBA Finals in 2007.
When all was said and done, James had scored the Cavaliers’ last 25 consecutive points, and 29 of the team’s last 30 points overall, an unbelievable stretch of clutch offense against one of the league’s greatest defensive teams.
2. Game 6 Heroics in Boston
James gave the world an all-time performance with his back against the wall
Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Just one year after the Miami’s disappointing loss in the 2011 NBA Finals to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks, LeBron and the Heat found themselves on the verge of another postseason collapse. This time, the team trailed 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals to James’ arch rival, the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics, led by 2008 NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce, 2004 NBA MVP Kevin Garnett, and all-time great three-point shooter Ray Allen, were trying to claw their way back to the game’s biggest stage after falling in 2010 to Kobe Bryant and the L.A. Lakers. After trailing the series against Miami 2-0, the Celtics fought their way back to three straight wins to regain the series advantage, leading up to a Game 6 in Boston.
Whether it was pull up jump shooting, aggressively driving to the basket or flying in for put back jams, James pulled out all the stops on the offensive end to give the Heat a double-digit halftime lead of 13 points. James exploded in the first half in Boston, scoring 30 of his team’s 55 points. The second half saw much of the same from James, as he continued to wow the hostile Boston crowd with an array of different jabs, fakes and hesitations on his way to a 45 point, 15 rebound double-double.
James’ Game 6 performance still may be the greatest single game of his storied career, as his absolute destruction of the Celtics’ defense with, in many ways, his legacy on the line, led to his championship and NBA Finals MVP award win in 2012.
1“The Block”
James earned his third title with one of the best defensive plays in NBA history
Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
In improbable fashion once again, James found himself one win away from the greatest comeback in NBA history. The 2016 NBA Finals pitted James’ Cavaliers against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors, led by back-to-back NBA MVP, Stephen Curry.
The Warriors had beaten Cleveland the previous season to capture the franchise’s first title in 40 years, and now they looked to take Cleveland down once again to cement their status as the greatest NBA team ever assembled with a championship win.
After Golden State took a commanding 3-1 series lead, James and his running mate, Kyrie Irving, willed the Cavaliers back by winning two straight games to send the Finals to a Game 7, a game which fittingly came down to the wire. With the score knotted at 89-89, Warriors’ forward and 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala came down with a rebound and led a fast break with Curry sprinting down the floor by his side.
Iguodala, who had taken home the Finals MVP award for his defensive effort against James, would now be on the receiving end of an incredible defensive play from the Cavaliers’ superstar.
With two minutes remaining, Iguodala passed ahead to Curry, who immediately threw a bounce pass back to Iguodala. Iguodala gathered the ball and avoided the contest of Cavaliers’ guard J.R. Smith.
Thinking the coast was clear, Iguodala reset and attempted his layup, only to find that James ran from end to end and soared in behind him to emphatically reject the shot, giving the Cavaliers the chance to once again break the tie. James’ unbelievable effort led to one of the most clutch shots in NBA history, as Irving nailed a three-pointer over Curry with 53 seconds left to play to take a 92-89 lead.
After the final buzzer sounded, James’ block led to the Cavaliers winning their first NBA championship and becoming the first team to ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals. After the series concluded, the game-saving block by James immediately went down as one of the greatest defensive efforts in the history of basketball.