LeBron James knows that Indiana Pacers star Myles Turner is one of the best shot blockers in the NBA. The 25-year-old has led the league in blocks twice during his six-year career. Out of 921 career blocks, a block from Turner's rookie year stands out the most.
In an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints, Myles Turner talked about his highlight block against LeBron James.
“It was my first quote-unquote viral moment. I had everybody back at home hitting me up like yo, that just happened,” Turner told ClutchPoints.
When the Pacers drafted Turner, he inherited an ongoing rivalry with James. Time and time again, the Pacers were eliminated in the playoffs by one of James' teams. Blocking him the way he did in this regular-season match showed the world Myles Turner was the real deal.
“When you first come into the league, you crave that in a sense. You crave that attention. You want to be known. It was one of the things that put me on the map,” Turner said about the block.
When James is coming at defenders full speed, players usually move out the way. Not the rookie from Texas. He had no intention of moving. Instead, Myles Turner scheduled a meeting between himself, James, and the rim.
“I knew it was going to end up on SportsCenter one way or the other. I was going to block it, or I was going to get dunked on,” Turner told ClutchPoints. “There's a certain fearlessness that you have to have on the defensive side of things. I'm a shot blocker. It's one of the things I've always done. I just went out there and let the chips fall where they may.”
It was a situation where nobody would blame him for allowing James to dunk. Myles Turner made the decision not to tolerate it. It set the tone for his career. It made a statement that it wouldn't be any easy dunks on his watch. Today that message is still understood loud and clear.
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