"I Gotta Get My Ass Back" - LeBron Finally Took Us Behind The Curtain And Broke Down His Iconic Game 7 Block

Thearon W. Henderson. Getty Images.

When you think of the greatest defensive plays to ever happen on an NBA court, I'm not sure you get through too many before LeBron's iconic block in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. Easily one of the most insane moments not just in Finals history, but in NBA history

Under 2 minutes to go in a tie game of a Game 7 with a title on the line? On the road? That's as big as the stakes can get, and since the Cavs ultimately pulled out the win and won the title coming back from being down 3-1, it's rightfully considered one of the greatest plays in NBA history. Even if you consider yourself a LeBron hater I assume you still have eyes that work, and given the execution and context of the play, there's no point in denying its greatness.

The reason I am even bringing this up is because after all these years, we finally have an inside look at what LeBron saw/was thinking during that whole sequence. Thank you JJ Redick for making that possible with his Mind The Game podcast, which for any basketball junkie is pretty much a must listen/must watch every episode. Imagine a podcast where two former players actually talk basketball and don't just spew hot takes to go viral? Man is it refreshing to consume as a fan.

Anyway, have a listen to the breakdown

OK, a few things right off the bat. I don't really care if LeBron is embellishing any part of this story or what was happening in that moment. You know why? We all do it. Oh, you're going to tell an awesome story about one of the best moments of your life and you aren't going to make yourself sound awesome? Of course you are, so I don't really care if LeBron is juicing this story in any way. I have to say I did laugh at the whole "if my mind is serving me right" knowing that he probably knew they were going to talk about that play and I'm sure he watched clips of it. Then again we have seen LeBron rattle off previous plays of his career in great detail before, so who knows?

The point is, hearing the thought process and the behind-the-scenes of that play is pretty fucking cool for such an iconic moment. All I know is that as an opposing fan, whenever you see LeBron start to track someone on the fastbreak in the open court, it gives you a feeling of despair in the pit of your stomach because you know he's punching that shit on the glass. The LeBron Chase Bown Block is no joke

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Part of me wishes they would have called a foul just to see LeBron's reaction, and I'm 10000% certain the god awful officiating in 2024 probably does. Tony Brothers probably gets a hard on just dreaming of being the one to do it.

Personally, I find stuff like this way more interesting than the hot take bullshit. Given the fact that none of us would ever sniff the NBA, I want to hear more about the awesome moments we all see from the guys who pull them off. It doesn't have to just be a LeBron play, and I don't even care if the players embellish a little bit, I just want to hear this kind of stuff from the people that actually were in the moment. It's a perspective we not only don't get as fans, and also why Jeff Teague's podcast is so awesome. He takes a more humor/self-deprecating approach, but the way he talks about his playing days and certain moments also never disappoints. 

I do hope LeBron/JJ touch on other big moments of LeBron's career though, and not just the good times either. So far in these episodes, it feels like both guys are pretty open and honest, and given LeBron has had one of the most polarizing careers perhaps ever, my guess is there are plenty more awesome stories just like this one.