Chris Webber might be among the few greats who deserved to win a championship but never did. While Webber jumped from team to team, his best chance at capturing a chip came in 2007, but LeBron James interfered; the 23-year-old James went off in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.
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In Game 5, with the series tied 2-2, young LeBron exploded for 25 straight points through the fourth quarter and two overtime sessions. He dunked on defenders, hit impossible fadeaways, and glided through the lane for gorgeous layups. It was a signature playoff moment and Webber had front office seats to James’ party. Talking about the incident on the podcast “Green Light with Chris Long,” the 5-time All-Star said,
“First of all Lebron can do that if you add 10 guys on the floor, but I remember this team being so into it that Rasheed kept saying don’t switch; you either double and then switch…But LeBron is a grown man, the way he was attacking the paint with force then and he hit those crazy shots, that’s something I hadn’t seen up until that time.”
While Webber could deal with losing to LeBron, what hurt the Detroit forward was other bench players like Daniel Gibson and Anderson Varejao going off for big numbers in Game 5. The former Golden State Warrior chalked up his Pistons’s loss to James and his crew just having a special night. That being said, Webber did admit to being pissed off at James as the Cavaliers forward was toying with Pistons. Expressing his frustration, Webber said,
“Lebron to me, he is the best team player in sports. Because he gets everyone involved even though he can be the Alpha at any time. He sticks to the rules and plays the right way. Him playing the right way, and getting 25 in a row, and getting other guys involved. That doesn’t do anything but frustrate you and piss you off.”
Webber’s frustration is warranted, James was unstoppable during that series. In Game 5, James posted 48 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals as a 23-year-old. And the Pistons were no slouch either, as the same team had won a championship just two years prior. LeBron was so impressive in Game 5, that Coach Mike Brown delegated his coaching responsibilities to the 23-year-old phenom.
Mike Brown recalls James going off in Game 5
By the time Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals rolled into the picture, Mike Brown had already understood that James had reached a whole other mental and physical space. The Cavaliers coach knew his years of coaching would pale in comparison to James’s strategies. So Brown did what no coach has ever done, he let a 23-year-old coach his team during a crucial timeout.
Mike Malone, who at the time was part of Cleveland’s coaching staff, had plans drawn up for the huddle, but Coach Brown advised against any interference. Recalling the incident during a sit-down media giant ESPN, the former Cavaliers Head Coach recalled his conversation with Malone, iterating that,
“I said, we’re going to sit right here, and we’re going to wait until the buzzer’s about to sound, and I’m going to go in there, say my one, two, three, and let them get back out on the floor. And so I went back in the huddle and LeBron was saying something. I just stood there and listened.”
In the end, Coach Brown’s strategy of non-interference paid off, as James would lead a scoring onslaught which saw the Cleveland side outscore their opponents, and bag the game with a final double overtime score of 109-107.
