Cleveland star Kevin Love believes that LeBron James’ iconic 2016 Finals block is the greatest defensive play of all time.
The 2016 NBA season was a memorable season. Kobe Bryant’s last season ever, Golden State Warriors historic 73-9 record and the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history by the Cavaliers. The 2016 Finals was like no other.
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After being down 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals, the Stephen Curry-led Warriors managed to come back and win the series. However, in the finals, they saw themselves on the other side of a similar situation.
Against LeBron James and his Cavaliers, GSW led 3-1. In a tragic turn of events, Golden State managed to blow away their lead, making the Cavs the only team to make a successful comeback in the finals after being 3-1 down.
The series saw several iconic plays. However, in a recent interview, Kevin Love opened up about a particular play which was one of the main reasons they won the championship. Love believes LeBron James’ iconic clutch chase-down block to prevent Iguodala’s shot, was the greatest defensive play of all time. Love explained:
“When you run it back because I was running back on defense, JR Smith was ahead of me. And then Iguodala had the ball, and I just remembered that split second when JR, went over the top just to create that little bit of space and a little bit of time to then allow Bron to take off and pin that ball on the glass.”
“That’s what I remember, I had maybe a better shot and glance and angle at it than anybody else. I’ve said it before, I think (it’s) the greatest and most clutch block, maybe defensive play of all time.”
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“It was a special play from a guy that will go down as the greatest player of all time”: Kevin Love
The play was indeed a spectacular play. The high level of difficulty it was, shows us King James insane athleticism. That block lead, Kyrie Irving to shoot a difficult three-pointer to help the Cleveland Cavaliers win their first-ever championship. Love further explained why this particular play was the most incredible out of all:
“I know we had several plays in that game that were incredibly meaningful. But for that, there’s no telling how the game would have ended up if you didn’t have that miraculous play in a game seven on the road like that. It was just a truly special play from a guy that’s going to go down in the history books as maybe the greatest player of all time.”
Years later, it is no surprise that many people still reminisce about that moment. Even though LBJ has gifted offensive talents, his greatest play is a defensive play. This only proves what a versatile player the future Hall-Of-Famer is.
