Althouse: "How spectacular was LeBron's chase down block?"

June 21, 2016

"How spectacular was LeBron's chase down block?"

ESPN provides an excellent graphic depiction of greatness.

26 comments:

Gahrie said...: He lead both teams in every statistical category, led his team back from being down 3-1, and brought a championship to Cleveland like he promised. LeBron is not my favorite player, but I give him mad props.; 6/21/16, 10:06 AM
Ann Althouse said...: The video is an excellent graphic depiction of what was so great about one particular thing.; 6/21/16, 10:11 AM
Sebastian said...: "The video is an excellent graphic depiction of what was so great about one particular thing." True. Though the greatness of the play, and its significance, was instantly clear to any viewer during the game. Perhaps the only thing to be added is Iguodala's relative speed -- he's fast in his own right, which makes the block even more remarkable. Harder to capture, though implied, is the sheer determination to track down the play; it is the degree of commitment that set LeBron apart this time and is essential to superstar performance.

Blowout games can be boring, and regular-season contests uninspired, but many NBA games feature astonishing feats.; 6/21/16, 10:19 AM
David Begley said...: And the block was at the end of the game.; 6/21/16, 10:29 AM
mccullough said...: Given the situation, it was world class. LeBron is the best athlete in the world.; 6/21/16, 10:35 AM
Jake said...: Meh.; 6/21/16, 10:40 AM
Quaestor said...: The Cavs/GS series was disgusting. The refs let Cleveland play football, whereas GS incurred fouls by being literally run over.; 6/21/16, 10:41 AM
M Jordan said...: LeBron has earned his way into sports legendary status. The block was iconic but he did so many other things. Steph Curry is perhaps the new look in b-ball, but Lebron shows old school can still win championships.

And now for the political angle ... Cleveland's win paves the way for a Trump convention for the ages. This is the year the Mistake on the Lake is no more.; 6/21/16, 10:47 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I'm not a basketball fan at all. Things happen so fast that I can't appreciate most of the best of it without seeing several replays. In this case, though I watched the replays on the night of the game, this video brought out many things that were not knowable at the time, and opened up new vistas of admiration.

I still don't enjoy watching basketball, but it is Meade's favorite sport.; 6/21/16, 10:56 AM
Rocketeer said...: The Cavs/GS series was disgusting. The refs let Cleveland play football, whereas GS incurred fouls by being literally run over.

Quaestor, just curious - are you a University of Kentucky fan? Because if you're not - you should be.; 6/21/16, 11:02 AM
eric said...: With all the attention he is getting, what are the odds both campaigns are looking for his endorsement?; 6/21/16, 11:05 AM
Quaestor said...: @ Rocketeer

Not really. I've OD'ed on NBA and golf recently due to a co-dependent GF with a sports addiction problem. I've got to figure a way to dump her because my eyes glaze over whenever she steers the conversation to golf.

Sports. There's something wrong here.; 6/21/16, 11:15 AM
Tank said...: Not as spectacular as Dustin Johnson's walk to the scorer's tent after his win at Oakmont.; 6/21/16, 11:18 AM
mtrobertslaw said...: I wonder if this feat will ever be duplicated.; 6/21/16, 11:35 AM
Anonymous said...: A good big man will always beat good small men.; 6/21/16, 11:38 AM
California Snow said...: It was a great play, no doubt, but not some superhuman feat. He timed it perfectly as great athletes do. When you're going in for a layup you naturally slow down as you elevate, which Iguodala did then add in the defense slowing him down as well, it allows Lebron to catch up. It was a tremendous hustle play by Lebron which the great ones, who lead teams to titles, have to do. Great players do great things in great moments.; 6/21/16, 12:23 PM
Ron said...: The gold standard for me: Tayshaun Prince blocking Reggie Miller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QJ4iwqnLKc; 6/21/16, 12:46 PM
BudBrown said...: Yeah the replays were fun to watch. It happens so fast but the replays
show James gracefully avoiding trapping the ball.; 6/21/16, 1:07 PM
ngtrains said...: Yes, the only game in the finals that was not a blow-put.

Since was rooting for the Cavs, i was concerned that goal-tending might be called.

We recorded that game, so we were able to watch the play in slow motion. It's still unbelievable; 6/21/16, 2:55 PM
tim maguire said...: I find his ability to close the gap much more impressive than how fast he ran across the court. The final closing, however, not so much--the other guy slowed down to take the shot while James could go full out through the play. A great play marred by over-excited description.; 6/21/16, 3:15 PM
grackle said...: I still don't enjoy watching basketball, but it is Meade's favorite sport.

I love basketball. I played the game as a boy and young man and have been a basketball fan all my life.

My team was the old Celtics. I saw Walt Hazzard in 1964, a rookie from UCLA, clothesline Tommy Heinsohn on a fast break lay-up. Heinsohn punched him three times almost before they hit the ground.

One of my favorite players was John Havlicek. Skinny, pallid complexion, did not “look” athletic. But he was proficient in every aspect of the game.

Bill Russell changed the game as it was played at the time. Russell was a mean, ruthless player and a master of talking shit during games.

I had a seat in the 4rth row when I saw the Celtics play the old Baltimore Bullets in a charity game at Maryland University. It was Bob Cousy’s last season with the Celtics.

As the ball would miss on a rebound there would be a forest of hands and arms reaching for the ball. Then one big black hand would emerge above the others and snatch it. That would be Russell.

After Bird retired, the Celtics were never the same for me.

The play-offs this year was great sport, even though my team bowed out early. Coming back from the 3-game deficit is a feat that may never be duplicated. LeBron deserves all the accolades he gets but my favorite on the Cavs is Kyrie Irving. He out-played Curry on both ends of the court.; 6/21/16, 8:17 PM
mccullough said...: Basketball and hockey look exceptionally fast if you don't watch them much. Once you learn a little bit about the game, then it seems to slow down a bit as you can better anticipate how and where the players will move.; 6/21/16, 9:13 PM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: The greatest NBA players of all time are Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson. We'll see if Lebron goes on that list at the end of his career. Or if he goes on the list with Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, and Larry Bird.; 6/21/16, 10:13 PM
grackle said...: Long-term, I believe basketball will exceed football in popularity because the game of football has an intractable problem with the violence. In retrospect the game was always too violent but these recent revelations about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) were an eye opener for me.

http://tinyurl.com/javg926

My son has informed me that my grandson will never be allowed to play football. Too dangerous, too risky. I’ll bet a significant number of parents will feel the same reluctance.

There’s big money involved at all levels so football will not die without a fight. It is also deeply embedded in our culture. But if enough boys never play the game it’ll waste away no matter what they do.

Like soccer, basketball is more of an international sport than football and compared to football is relatively inexpensive to organize and play. The NFL is trying to change this, would I think even subsidize seed-teams overseas but the time differences and travel involved make seasonal scheduling next to impossible.

But basketball doesn’t have to create a popularity and familiarity overseas like football does. It’s already there. There are existing European and African parallels to the NBA, whereas for the NFL there are none. I can easily see big international play-offs in professional basketball’s future. Such events are not possible for football.

All sports performed on ice or snow are never going to be anything other than niche sports. I like watching the winter Olympics. I never watch most of those sports any other time.

All sports whose prime events are pay-per-view(PPV) are doomed to niche status. MMA and legitimate boxing went PPV. Short-term it’s big money for the promoters, long-term it’s a killer in terms of the popularity of these sports, one new and the other venerated and myth-filled. Both in my opinion are also too violent for emerging modern sensibilities to ever be as widely popular as basketball – or as soccer may come to be.

WWE is not a sport. It never was. When I was a boy professional wrestling was an entertaining, almost ritual enactment of folk-morality dramas. Never dependent on generations of schoolboy participants, it has now degenerated into a spectacle of eccentric athleticism displays, a mock-violent circus in the round. It also contracted the fatal PPV virus.; 6/21/16, 10:43 PM
Jaq said...: Well, he's not white like Larry Bird, so I am sure you will be able to put him on your list.; 6/22/16, 5:48 AM
Jaq said...: A good big man will always beat good small men.

Size is a talent.; 6/22/16, 5:51 AM