Count me as a believer.
It took me a while, but I saw the light.
LeBron James is THAT dude.
Don’t get me wrong: I always knew LeBron was a special player. If you asked me to name the best player in the NBA right now, I’d waffle between him and Steph Curry before ultimately deciding on LeBron. When all is said and done, LeBron could be one of the greatest players in NBA history — if not the best.
Here’s the thing about great players: They have the ability to take over the game at a moment’s notice and leave you truly to fawn over their talents.
Such a thing happened this past Friday night when the Cleveland Cavaliers visited Smoothie King Center in New Orleans to play the Pelicans. I was in attendance as part of the stat crew (running stats to the owner’s box after transcribing quotes from Cleveland coach David Blatt’s pregame press conference.
Through a little more than three quarters, it appeared as if New Orleans had the game well in-hand. The Pelicans drained 3-pointer after 3-pointer and a one-point deficit at halftime turned into an 13-point advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Then LeBron flipped the switch.
|
Play
|
Score
|
Time
|
4th Stats
|
|
Layup
|
83-94
|
6:23
|
4 pts
|
|
Free Throw
|
84-94
|
5:44
|
5 pts
|
|
Free Throw
|
85-94
|
5:44
|
6 pts
|
|
Layup
|
87-96
|
5:01
|
8 pts
|
|
Layup
|
89-96
|
4:31
|
10 pts
|
|
Assist on 3
|
92-96
|
4:02
|
10 pts, 1 ast
|
|
Layup
|
94-98
|
3:01
|
12 pts, 1 ast
|
|
Layup
|
96-98
|
2:39
|
14 pts, 1 ast
|
|
Free Throw
|
97-98
|
2:39
|
14 pts, 1 ast
|
|
Jumper
|
99-98
|
1:47
|
16 pts, 1 ast
|
|
Layup
|
101-98
|
1:15
|
18 pts, 1 ast
|
Just like that, LeBron dominated and gave his team a three-point lead in a matter of five minutes, eight seconds. By the time the fourth quarter ended, LeBron scored 23 points in that 12-minute span alone. LeBron finished with a game-high 37 points, in addition to eight assists and seven rebounds.
To show the other side of the narrative, LeBron also had a chance to win the game if his jumper fell with 0.09 seconds left. It didn’t. Many have criticized LeBron for his lack of late-game heroics, but he’s made some more often than not.
The Pelicans eventually won the game in overtime 114-108 and let it be known that a team can always beat one individual, but that individual can be fun to watch.