There are myriad instances in which a fan can say they just looked at LeBron James and knew that on that night, or for that season, the four-time MVP and four-time NBA champion would deliver an otherworldy performance.
When the Miami Heat faced the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals, that was one occasion. On the brink of elimination just a season after the worst playoff series of his basketball career, James looked as possessed as he did determined. When he finished the contest with 45 points and 15 rebounds as the Heat forced a Game 7 and eventually went on to win his first championship, the moment that the cameras caught him staring intently and unblinkingly went down in NBA history.
Former NBA guard Iman Shumpert, who played with LeBron for three-plus seasons as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, took to the All The Smoke podcast with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes to discuss what he believes the best version of James is. Fitting for a man that watched LeBron lead the first 3-1 comeback in NBA Finals history when LeBron, Kyrie Irving and the Cavs took Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in 2016.
However, if anyone thought that Shumpert would be crowning Cleveland's version of James as king, they would be in for quite a surprise.
“You remember the year that Dirk [Nowitzki] won… That next year they came back when [LeBron] and [Dwyane] Wade vowed to not shoot, not settle for 3s… They was just attacking. It was vicious…”
"You remember the year when Dirk [Nowitzki] won? That next year they came back when him and [Dwyane] Wade vowed to not shoot… It was vicious… I feel like that was the scariest Bron to deal with."
—Iman Shumpert
(via @shobasketball)pic.twitter.com/DHPLAX9YPH
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 3, 2023
“They're runnin' fast… They big as s***… D-Wade and Bron literally passing it back and forth… just downhill… I feel like that was the scariest Bron to deal with.”
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