"LeBron had the greatest defensive play in NBA Playoff history" – Shannon Sharpe shoots down comparisons of Ja Morant’s block with LeBron James’ block in 2016 NBA Finals
LeBron James' epic block on Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals has been compared to Ja Morant's incredible block against the Lakers on Sunday.
Former NFL star Shannon Sharpe talked about James' block being far superior to Morant's block during Fox Sports' morning show "Skip and Shannon: Undisputed." Sharpe said:
"LeBron just had the greatest defensive play in NBA playoff history. That's what that was. It was Game 7, in the final two minutes, in order to cap off a 3-1 come from behind victory against the greatest regular season team in NBA history that had a unanimous MVP on it. That's what that block did."
Sharpe continued:
"It's not comparable. Ja had a sensational play. He's a sensational young player. But what LeBron did, he reached the top speed of 20 miles an hour, he made contact with the basketball at 11-and-a-half feet, it's not comparable."
One of the greatest defensive plays in the history of the NBA Finals, James' chase-down block resembled something from an action movie. Given the sheer gravitas of the moment, as great as Morant's block is, very few would argue it was better than James'.
.@ShannonSharpe on whether Ja Morant's block was more impressive than LeBron's in Game 7:
"LeBron had the greatest defensive play in NBA Playoff history. It was Game 7 in the final 2 minutes to cap off a 3-1 comeback against the greatest regular season team in NBA history." https://t.co/zibQhfsO7G
Recapping LeBron James' 2016 NBA Finals
One of the greatest rescue acts the game has ever seen, LeBron James and his performances in the 2016 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors were something the game had never seen before.
With Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in tow, James stood a better chance in 2016 than the previous season. However, the series got off to the worst possible start James could have imagined. The Cavaliers were blown out in Games 1 and 2 by 15 and 33 points, respectively. "King James" shot less than 43% field in both games.
In Game 3, James had 32 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two blocks while shooting better than 53% from the field. This provided a brief respite for the Cavaliers, but they crashed to another defeat in Game 4 and almost all hope was lost.
LeBron James led all players in the 2016 NBA Finals in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.
James also became the 2nd player in NBA history to win Finals MVP with multiple teams, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Kawhi Leonard has since joined those two. twitter.com/UncleDrewWNBA/… https://t.co/ZJFZx3is0m
What followed was something out of a storybook as James averaged 36.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 9.7 assists while shooting nearly 51% for the next three games as the Cavaliers hurled the greatest comeback in NBA history. "King James" also averaged three blocks and three steals in those games. In the end, James stood on the podium with the Finals MVP award and the NBA championship in his hands.