LeBron James has hit so many big shots in his legendary NBA career that it is difficult to rank them all.
But for superstar Stephen Curry, one huge James 3-pointer immediately stood out.
6LeBron James once hit a fadeaway 3-pointer that Stephen Curry couldn’t believeCredit: Getty
It was May 20, 2021 in Los Angeles during a play-in game.
Both James’ Lakers and Curry’s Golden State Warriors were trying to advance to the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Golden State led 28-22 after the first quarter and 55-42 at halftime.
Then the Lakers took over.
Los Angeles erupted with 35 points in the third period and finished off the Warriors with a 26-21 advantage in the fourth.
But what really finished Curry and Golden State that night was an unbelievable 3-pointer by King James that left Curry staring back in disbelief.
With 58.2 seconds remaining and the game tied at 100, James received a high pass from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and calmly lined up for a shot with Curry as his primary defender.
As the smaller Curry raced in, James fired from 34 feet away from the basket, which was more than 10 feet away from the 3-point line.
Curry tried his best to close down James
But James still found his range from 34 feet and seeing triple after an earlier eye-poke
The ball flew in for the Lakers
And Curry could only shoot James a disbelieving glance
With Curry staring up helplessly at James, the ball clanked off the right side of the iron and bounced through the net.
It was 103-100 Lakers.
Draymond finger to eye
“After the Draymond (Green) finger to the eye, I was literally seeing three rims out there,” James said. “So I just shot at the middle one.”
That score would remain until Los Angeles had moved on to the playoffs and the Warriors’ season was on the brink.
Curry’s immediate look back at James said it all: How did you make that shot?
“The fact that Steph looked at LeBron in that moment like, ‘Yeah, right, Bron,’ ” ESPN analyst Jay Williams said. “That was the look Steph gave him.”
While Curry created a dynasty with Golden State, James set the NBA scoring record
James only scored 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting but he hit the one shot that counted the most.
Curry scored a game-high 37 points and sank six 3s.
But with less than a minute left, the biggest 3 of the night belonged to The King.
The Warriors’ 2020-21 season ended a game later with a play-in defeat to Memphis in overtime.
James’ Lakers made the playoffs but were knocked out of the first round 4-2 by Phoenix.