LeBron James pulls off ridiculous off-the-backboard alley-oop to himself (Video)
LeBron James, you might have heard, is pretty good at basketball. How good?
Actions demonstrate better than words:
YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS IN THE NBA FINALS pic.twitter.com/MMFrcgJiFq
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 10, 2017
James got caught in the air in transition, with the Warriors anticipating a kick-out to a shooter or a dump-off to Tristan Thompson. Most players, in this situation, would throw up an awkward floater.
LeBron, of course, isn’t most players, and had the presence of mind to toss the ball off the backboard, rise right back up and jam it home. He posterized both Kevin Durant and Thompson, his own teammate, in the process.
“Two of their players were back, and I was trying to engage one of them so I could get [Kevin Love] a shot in the corner,” James aid after the game. “But they both went to [Love]. And I got caught in the air, so that’s the only thing I could think of … just threw it off the glass and went and got it.”
LeBron explains his self alley-oop pic.twitter.com/q8AM9SYG0g
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 10, 2017
J.R. Smith, when asked about the play after the game, seemed to be just as in awe of James’ superhumanness as all NBA fans are:
JR in LeBron's self alley-oop: 'He's a Gatorade baby. He was made in a lab somewhere.' pic.twitter.com/41CEC3Trfx
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 10, 2017
“You see it in the park so much growing up, but you never really think about somebody doing it in a game,” Smith said. “He dunked on Tristan. That was the craziest part about it.
“He’s a Gatorade baby, man,” Smith continued. He’s made in the lab somewhere. There’s a lot of things he does that we can’t speak for.
The points were two of James’ 31 during Cleveland’s 137-116 Game 4 victory. He also recorded 11 assists and 10 rebounds for yet another triple double. But this highlight-reel play will be the one that is remembered for a long time. It’s iconic, and impossible to stop watching.
More NBA Finals coverage from Yahoo Sports:
• Cavs score NBA Finals-record 49 in a quarter
• Referee error leads to confusing Draymond Green non-ejection
• Did Zaza Pachulia punch Iman Shumpert in the groin during Game 4?
• Steve Kerr turn on the sarcasm: ‘Players are less talented’