In the final moments of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals between Cleveland and Golden State, LeBron James unleashed a monumental chasedown block on Warriors player Andre Iguodala. A legendary moment that no one has forgotten, especially not Iggy. On the wrong side of the story that day, Andre still remembers the noise accompanying James’ counter to the board…
It may be the greatest action of LeBron James’ career.
89-89 between the Warriors and the Cavaliers, two minutes left in a sweltering fourth quarter. After a missed shot from Kyrie Irving, Andre Iguodala goes on the counterattack to play a 2-on-1 with Stephen Curry against JR Smith. He makes the pass to Steph, who hands it back to him, then Iggy goes up to the circle to try to lay down the lay-up. While Gerard does just enough to hinder Iguodala and force him to adjust in the air, LeBron James arrives like a rocket to release a huge chasedown block.
“It’s one of the loudest noises I’ve ever heard. BOOM!” said Iggy on the podcast Club Shay Shay. “When it happened, I was like, ‘oh shit’ (he says scared). I said to myself, ‘what just happened?’. I didn’t even know he countered me, I just heard BOOM. I was like a fan, I was like, ‘wow that was amazing’.”
That’s LeBron James, a player who can turn the victim of one of his feats into a fan almost instantly. Far from resentful, Andre Iguodala is well aware that he had to bow to the greatness of one of the best players in history. And he knows he couldn’t have done otherwise anyway.
“At first I wanted to dunk. But I was too far so I just wanted to drop the ball. Sometimes I think I should have gone to the other side of the hoop, but he also secured it with his left hand (laughs).
After this legendary action, the Cavaliers ended up winning thanks in particular to another legendary sequence: Kyrie Irving’s shoot on Stephen Curry. Andre Iguodala and the Warriors will nevertheless take their revenge in the following two years, with two NBA titles won against Cleveland following the arrival of Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016.
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Source texte : Club Shay Shay