LeBron James’ iconic chasedown block during Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals was without a doubt one of the most defining moments of LeBron’s career, but he recently gave credit to his teammate JR Smith for his role.
It was a Warriors-Cavs showdown and Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala were steaming down the court with a two-on-one advantage, so LeBron was trailing the play.
Cavs guard Smith was the defending against Curry and Iguodala and Smith forced Iggy to adjust his layup.
This gave LeBron enough time to execute an incredible chasedown block and make sure the game stayed at 89-all with less than two minutes to play.
LeBron described his version of events on the latest episode of his podcast – Mind the Game.
“When I’m running, all I’m telling myself is like, ‘Swish [JR Smith], do not foul him,’” James told JJ Redick. “So, you can ask any of my teammates throughout the course of my career or throughout the course of that season, anytime that you see me trailing the play, all I need is a little adjustment from the offensive player and I promise you, I’ll track it down. Do not f***ing foul. Do not f***ing foul. I told the guys all year, ‘If you see me hauling ass, just make him — instead of just going in for a layup, make him change it a little bit.’
“And Swish gets a lot of s**t today because of the blunder he had the following year, or two years later, or whatever the f**k it was, of not understanding the time and score or whatever the case may be,” James continued. “He executed that s**t to perfection. He made Iggy change his shot just a little bit, and that’s all I asked.”
LeBron and the Cavs became the first team to come back from a 3-1 Finals deficit and beat defending champion Golden State Warriors 93-89 in the process.
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