“ABSOLUTELY NOT” – When LeBron James snatched clipboard off Cavs HC’s hands and drew up his own GAME-WINNING buzzer-beater

LeBron James' game-winner against the Bulls was drawn up by himself.

“ABSOLUTELY NOT” – When LeBron James snatched clipboard off Cavs HC’s hands and drew up his own GAME-WINNING buzzer-beater

Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski/European Pressphoto Agency

LeBron James is arguably one of the best players of our time known for his excellence in many facets of the game. However, one thing James is not particularly known for is being ‘clutch.’

The Lakers forward have not shied away from big moments and had hit big shots in his 20-year career much in contrast to the public narrative. One of the most memorable game-winners he hit against the Chicago Bulls came from a play he drew up by himself.

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Former Cavaliers teammate Brendan Haywood once told the story of how James hit the game-winner in Windy City. “Bron was supposed to be taking the ball out and the play was supposed to be for J.R. Smith,” Haywood also added. “Bron was like, ‘Nah-ah,’ wiped off the board .. then he ran the play to get himself the shot in the corner.”

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ESPN analyst and former teammate of James, Kendrick Perkins also told the same story on his podcast. “David Blatt drew up the game-winner for J.R., Bron grabbed the clipboard, drew his own play, and hit the game-winner !” Not only was LeBron James clutch in that game but it was also a pivotal shot for the Cavaliers that year. Going into the game, the Cavs were down 2-1 against the Bulls. It was the Eastern Conference Finals and the game was tied down the stretch with a few seconds left when James did the impossible.

Apart from the ridiculousness of James’ game-winner, the shot was also a direct response to Derrick Rose who also hit a similar buzzer-beating shot in the previous game. The shot eventually led Cavs to tie the series and then went on to reach the NBA finals where they lost to the Golden State Warriors.

Related: Austin Reaves in awe when LeBron James DUBBED Lakers as NBA’s ‘The Beatles’

How clutch is LeBron James?

Dillon Brooks taunting LeBron James
Dillon Brooks taunting LeBron James (Image via Brandon Dill/AP)

Before we dove deeper into the topic, let us first clarify what is Clutch, by definition clutch in NBA terms in minutes when the scoring margin is within 5 points with five or fewer minutes remaining in a game, and a clutch record is a team’s win-loss record in games that include the last five minutes of the games.

Contrary to popular belief, LeBron James actually tops the list in the clutch category. As per data James had made eight shots which is either a game-tying or game-winning shot in the final second of a playoff game. The last 0.1 seconds on the game clock to be more specific. According to the same database (only tacked past 26 seasons), no other player has made more than two of those kinds of shots.

Nick Wright said about James, “LeBron is the most clutch player of his generation and that he is one of the most clutch players ever while Kobe was inefficient and not effective. People just don’t wanna hear it.” The analyst went on to rank James higher than the likes of Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, and other players in terms of clutchness.

Wright seems to be right on point as all the other MVPs in James’ era are a combined 6-for-50 (12.0 percent) on these types of possessions. So, next time a debate discrediting James’ killer mentality or his clutch gene is brought up just hit them with these facts.

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