Once upon a time, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James was labeled as a choker.

The phenom from Akron was often hit with the “LeChoke” tag for shying away (i.e. passing to Donyell Marshall) or coming up short in the clutch. However, after a few notable big-game failings during the first half of his illustrious career — most famously the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals and the 2011 Finals — LeBron ultimately won his first of three championships in 2011-12 with the Miami Heat.

Of course, in the past decade, James has led his teams to eight straight Finals appearances from 2011 to 2018 and produced numerous memorable moments along the way. His choking narrative has long been dormant, especially since his heroic run in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but there are still some who compare his clutch gene to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

With that said, for those haters out there who still hold that view of the future Hall of Famer, Danny Green has a succinct yet effective defense of his Lakers teammate.

“He's a clutch guy. He shows up when the lights are the brightest,” Green said, per Ryan Ward of ClutchPoints.

James' playoff points per game average (28.9) ranks fifth in NBA history. Consequently, the King is far and awaythe NBA's all-time leader in postseason Win Shares with 51.0 — about 12 ahead of Michael Jordan (39.76). Jordan, it should be noted, has the best Win Shares per 48 minutes in league history.

LeBron James is hoping to lead the Lakers to the promised land for the first time since joining the storied franchise in 2018. The top-seeded Purple and Gold franchise (49-14) will officially restart their quest for a 17th title on Thursday in a match-up with the Los Angeles Clippers (44-20).