There's nothing like the NBA Playoffs to bring out the best, and at times, the worst in a player, as the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James watchers found out on Thursday night in Denver.
A failed attempt at a dunk contest worthy slam by LeBron James stole the Lakers' momentum in the second quarter, and drew a chorus of boos and snickers from the crowd on social media.
The play happened as James sprinted ahead of the defense with under eight minutes left in the quarter, swooping in for what should have been an easy dunk. He appeared set to throw down a windmill reminiscent of his younger days with the Cleveland Cavaliers as he approached the rim, only to fumble the ball out-of-bounds.
Oh no LeBron 😭😭pic.twitter.com/3R0n52eIgD
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 19, 2023
Fans unsurprisingly roasted James on Twitter after the mishap.
The ball obviously slipped relax 😂😂 but that was funny
— RK_TooPlaya (@RK_TooPlaya) May 19, 2023
I’ve never seen that ever happen to him lol
— Moe Jazi (@Moejazi323) May 19, 2023




https://twitter.com/4Marucci_/status/1659370716502929409
The Lakers jumped out to a five-point halftime lead behind the stat sheet-stuffing play of James, Austin Reaves and Anthony Davis, hoping to win their first game in the series against the surging Nuggets before falling by a score of 108-103.
LeBron's ‘Shaqtin' a Fool' worthy moment came at the worst possible time, as the team had momentum on its side. The Lakers star's mere attempt at the dunk was commended by some fans considering he is currently 38 years old in his twentieth NBA season.
The NBA's all-time leading regular season scorer and all-time playoff leading scorer, James has shot 49.5% in the NBA's second season over the course of his career. This time around, he turned the most high percentage of all shots into a frustrating miss.
The Lakers will return home to host Game 3 on Saturday at 8:30 pm ET, and all eyes will be on James after his failed attempt at ‘Showtime' in the Mile High City.