No greater thrill than a Hail Mary from the King
Lebron James’ buzzer-beater puts him beside Michael Jordan as an all-time great, writes
If you were not one of us sad oiks who stayed up until 3am, then seek out the video, pronto
There ain’t no buzz like a buzzerbeater, particularly when it is performed by a genius on his own court with the season on the line. No wonder they call Lebron James “the King”.
The scores were level with only three seconds left when James, of Cleveland Cavaliers, enacted a block on Indiana Pacers’ Victor Oladipo that was so audacious only the video replays noticed the ball had actually touched the backboard and should have resulted in a goal-tending penalty.
Before that outrageous piece of larceny, the Pacers were surely about to take a 3-2 lead back home for the final two matches in the best-ofseven series. James’s march to his eighth successive NBA finals was in doubt.
And then Lebron did what Lebron does. From game-saver to gamewinner in true gamechanger fashion. After resuming from a timeout, there were a few dribbles and then the throw. Lebron was still in the air as the clock switched to nought and the ball glided clean through the net.
Mayhem ensued in the Quicken Loans Arena, with James jumping on a table to salute the 20,000 Cavs fans. The Pacers could only stand, heads in hands, mouthing “What the actual …?”
It would have been tempting to plagiarise BBC Radio Five Live commentator Alan Green and remark they did not know what had hit them.
Except the Pacers knew exactly. One of the greatest of all time had hit them and now they must somehow rise for tonight’s must-win game.
If you were not one of us sad oiks who stayed up until 3am to witness this ultimate of show-stoppers, then seek out the video, pronto. The tension will get you, even though you now know how the drama unfolds.
I would contend that in all of sport there is nothing more exciting than the defining, Hail Mary basket with no time remaining. The entire evening’s competition and entertainment comes down to that split second when the player takes aim with what Sally Jenkins, a Washington Post columnist, calls the “marriage of mechanics and mindset”.
Jenkins argues that, on one level, these feats are actually more human than superhuman because they rely on the positive effect of stress. “Any idiot can run fast when a bear is chasing them,” Jenkins writes.
Yet it is invariably only the giant who steps up to the three-point line to accept the responsibility and, of course, there was no bigger giant than Michael Jordan. In
1989, “His Airness” produced what is known simply as “The Shot”. Ironically, this came against Cleveland. The difference being Jordan’s last-gasp heroics won Chicago the series and therefore must be given preference.
It is ever thus for James – always behind Jordan. Yet perhaps James’s most notable achievement is that the GOAT conversation is no longer foregone. The majority will forever hail Jordan as Mr Undisputed, but James’s body of work is demanding to be put alongside.
Why it has to be, only these modern times truly know. We are deep within the era of comparison, when every player and every team must be placed in order of their brilliance, both currently and historically.
So, Mohamed Salah is better than Lionel Messi, and Liverpool delivered the most devastating attacking display in a European semi-final. Why do we have to pause for such nonsense, why can we not just go on enjoying the moment?