The 2016 NBA Finals called. It wants LeBron James back.
During Monday’s marquee showdown The 2016 NBA Finals called. It wants LeBron James back. between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Quicken Loans Arena, James reminded basketball fans and every other NBA player why it’s never safe to assume that they are going to make a seemingly wide-open layup – even for someone who goes by the name of Kevin Durant.
Folks, there are not a lot of people who could do that to Durant, whose combination of speed, size, and length almost make him immune from getting blocked.
In a sense, that block from LeBron James was reminiscent of his crucial block on Andre Iguodala during Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. While Durant did not take the shot in transition, he mistakenly thought that no one’s going to stop him from laying up an easy basket just as Iguodala did almost two years ago. (Well, J.R. Smith challenged Iguodala’s block, but you get the idea.)
There are plenty of things LeBron James could do on the court, and among those is his penchant for hurting opposing players’ feelings by stuffing their shots from behind. James has essentially trademarked the chase-down block, which has become synonymous to the four-time NBA MVP.
James is not a big blocker, as he is just averaging 0.8 blocks per game in his career, but whenever he swats a shot, he makes sure that it would burn a mark on his victims’ minds because of the vicious nature of his rejections. Kevin Durant probably would remember that for the rest of his career.