“Almost Tore My Damn Achilles”: LeBron James’ Handles Had Austin Rivers Shook

There are a ton of reasons why LeBron James is currently the NBA’s All-Time Leading Scorer. His endless bag of tricks often goes unrecognized in the league. But those who have gone up against him know how adept James is in deploying the tools in his bag. Recently, former Houston Rockets guard Austin Rivers revealed how he was once overwhelmed by LeBron’s superb handles, during a recent appearance on The Ringer’s Off Guard Podcast.

The discussion started when host Pausha Haghighi asked Rivers, which player in the NBA had the “most underrated handles”. Without much introspection, Rivers replied, “I’m talking about LeBron James is the guy you don’t really envision having a tight handle.” The guard highlighted that people often overlook Bron’s dribbling skills because his dunks and inside finishes get much more attention.

However, Rivers stated that LeBron is a criminally underrated ball-handler. The 31-year-old even went on to explain how the versatile forward almost caused him an Achilles injury with his handles.

“I[Austin Rivers] pressed him[LeBron James] in Cleveland one time because he was up there. There, I was like, ‘I’m about to go get this sh*t from him.’ I went to go take the ball, and he goes out there and hits me with an in and out and my leg, my back leg went back, Pasha. And I almost tore my damn Achilles bro,” Austin Rivers said.

The alert defender didn’t expect a forward to come up with such a move, therefore, he couldn’t quite grasp what was going on. Rivers admitted that the move wasn’t anything extraordinary, just a simple in-and-out. However, LeBron is mostly known for blowing past defenders and soaring over players with his freakish athleticism. Because he doesn’t often rely on his craftiness to beat defenders, players often tend to think that he can’t. And that’s exactly what proved to be the case for Rivers.

There are various instances of LeBron overwhelming defenses with his wide range of moves. At the start of the 2021-22 season, he gave Rockets’ Alperen Sengun a “Welcome to the NBA” moment by putting him on skates. He put the 2021 rookie into the spin cycle and left him on a lonely island. Although Bron missed the shot, his ability to use such moves plays a huge role in getting constant separation from defenders at all positions. With the four-time NBA Champion celebrating his 39th birthday a few days ago, we might see him rely more on handles as more time goes by.

LeBron James has a diverse bag

One big aspect of James’ offensive game is that he has always improved with each season. When he came to the league, his shooting, especially from the deep, needed work. LeBron improved his efficiency over the years and is now a legitimate three-point threat. Apart from that, he has a wide array of fadeaways, pull-up jumpers, and jab-step jumpers, constituting an incredible shooting arsenal. These shooting skills, coupled with his sleek handles and driving potential, make him one of the toughest players to guard.

Before the beginning of the 2023-24 season, LBJ revealed his thoughts too when it came to ball-handling. In July, on his IG story, the Lakers legend co-signed on an NBA fan’s thoughts and referred to Kyrie Irving as “the best player with the ball in his hands we have ever seen.”

This is huge praise coming from LBJ, whose dribbling skills have created thousands of points. What a nightmare it was for defenses when they had to deal with James and Kai playing together!