Six greatest shots of LeBron James' 20-year career so far

Josh Peter, USA TODAY
·4 min read

LeBron James once made an 83-foot shot.

Hit two shots from behind the basket in the same year, including this one.

Dunked so hard on a player’s head that the ball bounced back through the basket.

But none of those were good enough to make our list – six of the most memorable shots of James’ career – as he captured the NBA’s all-time scoring record.

There’s plenty to choose from with James' having taken more than 14,000 shots from the floor and more than 8,000 shots from the foul line but no better place to start than the beginning.

How it all began

Oct. 29, 2003

Four months after the Cleveland Cavaliers picked LeBron James No. 1 overall in the NBA draft, he was set to make his regular-season debut against the Sacramento Kings at ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

Fast forward to the first quarter.

Curling around a screen, James took a bounce pass from Cavs guard Ricky Davis. He drained a 16-foot baseline jumper as Kings big man Brad Miller watched with apparent relief.

“He wasn’t going to get his first pts on a dunk I tell u that,’’ Miller texted USA TODAY Sports.

LeBron James has made some stunning shots while chasing the NBA's all-time scoring mark.
LeBron James has made some stunning shots while chasing the NBA's all-time scoring mark.

'No regard for human life'

May 13, 2008

It was Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics when James’ threw down a vicious dunk over Kevin Garnett, then the NBA’s reigning MVP.

“LeBron James with no regard for human life,’’ Kevin Harlan, TNT’s play-by-play announcer, exulted on the telecast.

Harlan was sitting next to Doug Collins, then a color commentator for TNT, when he made one of the more memorable calls in James’ career.

“When that happened, (Collins) took his left arm and put it against my chest and both of our chairs began to fall backward,’’ Harlan recalled, “and we had the crowd right in back of us, and then that’s when I said what I said.”

The blindfolded shot

Nov. 29, 2008

James ditched his signature headband in 2015, but it played a part in one of the more novel shots of his career. With the Cavaliers playing the Bucks at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, he drove down the lane.

As he neared the basket, Richard Jefferson, then playing for the Bucks, pulled the headband over James’ eyes.

“I guess that would be one way to try to stop LeBron,’’ Jim Paschke, who was the Bucks’ play-by-play announcer at the time, told USA TODAY Sports via text.

No luck. James, essentially blindfolded, still made the layup. No foul was called. 

“It’s not a clear hit,’’ Ron Garretson, one of the three referees that night, told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s a glancing blow.’’

Masked man goes for 61

March 3, 2014

James stood at the free throw line with a curious look as chants of “MVP, MVP’’ rained down on him at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami.

He was still wearing a protective mask less than two weeks after suffering a broken nose. With 1:52 left in the game, he made a free throw to cap his 61-point game, which remains the highest-scoring game of his career.

Gerald Henderson, a shooting guard then playing for the then-Charlotte Bobcats said, “The Miami announcer has got this unique tone to him. If he’s saying LeBron’s name, it’s like, ‘LeeeBraaahn James!’ I just remember him saying that over and over and over and over. Like it wouldn’t stop.’’

At the buzzer

April 25, 2018

It ended with LeBron leaping onto the scorer’s table in celebration.

Game 5 of the first-round playoff series between the Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers. Score tied at 95. With three seconds left, James took the inbounds pass and drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The shot helped propel the Cavs to the 2018 NBA Finals.

Darren Collison, a guard then playing for the Pacers, said: “He’s always going to keep you on your toes on the help side because he’s willing to pass it to the guy you’re guarding. So the guy that’s guarding him, you just got to pray that he misses.’’

Picture-perfect dunk

Feb. 6, 2020

There stood James Harden, Russell Westbrook and three other Houston Rockets.

All they could do inside Staples Center in Los Angeles was watch James on a breakaway that culminated with artistry.

A double-pump, two-handed reverse dunk that NBA photographer Andrew Bernstein captured in an iconic photo.

Bernstein said he was sitting on the opposite end of the court and used remote cameras.

“I can only get one shot on the strobes that go off and you can actually see them in the ceiling in the background in the top left and right of the photo,'' he said. "The technology is pretty amazing.''

So are the shots.

All six of them.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LeBron's six greatest shots from his 20-year NBA career

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Garry’s Mod faces deluge of Nintendo-related DMCA takedown notices

    Facepunch Studios has announced on Steam that it's removing 20 years' worth of Nintendo-related workshop items for its sandbox game Garry's Mod to comply with the Japanese company's demands. But fans say the takedown notices came from trolls, not from Nintendo itself.

  • A. O. Smith posts quarterly profit beat on resilient water heater demand

    The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company has also benefited from growing demand for its energy-efficient boilers as commercial buildings look to improve their carbon footprints. Adjusted profit for the first quarter was $1 per share, compared with 94 cents per share a year earlier.

  • Blood-soaked horse ‘Vida’ recovering from surgery after London rampage

    Two of the five Household Cavalry horses that rampaged through central London have undergone surgery, a defence minister has said.

  • Businessman fined for attack on parish council chair in birds’ nests dispute

    In a victim personal statement read to the court, Andrew Mason said he thought his life was ‘in peril’ during the incident.

  • Celebrated Smithers artist Alex Cuba to receive honorary degree from UNBC

    Smithers singer-songwriter Alex Cuba will be awarded with an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Northern B.C. for his extensive contributions to the North’s arts scene. The singer will be presented his UBC degree on May 31 at the 2024 convocation ceremony in Prince George. “What a beautiful thing for me,” he said. “It’s very valuable for me to be recognized about my peers right here in my neck of the woods, I’m incredibly proud about it.” Cuba has received numerous awards thro

  • Watch live: Outside Supreme Court as Trump’s arguments on immunity heard

    Watch live outside the US Supreme Court on Thursday, 25 April, as it hears arguments by Donald Trump that he is immune from criminal prosecution for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. Justices will hear the former president’s appeal after lower courts rejected his request to be protected from four election-related criminal charges because he was serving as president when he took the actions that led to the indictment obtained by Special Counsel Jack Smith. The Republican candidate challenging Joe Biden, the first former US president to be criminally prosecuted, has pleaded not guilty in this case and three other criminal cases he faces.

  • First Minister facing vote of no confidence after powersharing deal axed

    The Scottish Conservatives confirmed they will lodge a vote of Humza Yousaf at Holyrood.

  • What is rail nationalisation and will it make fares cheaper? What we know

    Labour have vowed to nationalise the UK’s railways if it wins the next election.

  • Israel intensifies strikes on Gaza's Rafah ahead of threatened invasion

    Israel stepped up airstrikes on Rafah overnight, killing at least six Palestinians, medics said on Thursday, after saying it would evacuate civilians from the Gaza border city and storm it despite allies' warnings this could cause mass casualties. In the seventh month of a devastating air and ground war against the Gaza Strip's ruling Islamist group Hamas, Israeli forces also resumed bombarding northern and central areas of the enclave, as well as east of Khan Younis in the south. Israeli warplanes had hammered the north for a second day on Wednesday, shattering weeks of comparative calm there, and Israel said it was moving forward with plans for an all-out assault on Hamas holdouts in Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt.

  • Nanophase Technologies Corporation (PNK:NANX) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

    Nanophase Technologies Corporation (PNK:NANX) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript April 24, 2024 Nanophase Technologies Corporation isn’t one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here). Operator: Thank you for standing by, and welcome to today’s program entitled Nanophase’s First Quarter 2024 Financial Conference […]

  • Ahead of 2024 NFL Draft, Justin Reid reflects on day he was picked

    Ahead of 2024 NFL Draft, Justin Reid reflects on day he was picked

  • American Airlines Stock, Southwest Airlines Shares Diverge After First-Quarter Earnings

    American Airlines stock early Thursday while Southwest stock sank following Q1 earnings and revenue reports.

  • Big Daddy dune: Namibia angered by tourists posing naked in dune safari

    Photos of the three naked tourists have gone viral in Namibia, angering the authorities.

  • Speed limit rising on another section of 401 in Chatham-Kent

    Another stretch of Highway 401 in southwestern Ontario will be getting a new speed limit. The provincial government announced Wednesday that the 110 km/h zone from Windsor to Tilbury is getting extended by seven kilometres.The area is one of 10 sections on 400-series highways that will see speed limits go up by 10 km/h. Highway 403 from Woodstock to Brantford is also on the list.The provincial government started raising 401 speed limits in some areas about five years ago through pilot projects,

  • Altria tops first quarter sales on higher pricing, robust demand for smokeless alternatives

    Like other tobacco giants, Altria has been revamping its portfolio of products to keep up with consumers switching from traditional tobacco products to vapes or other alternatives and as inflation-hit smokers switched to cheaper brands. The company's net revenue came in at $5.58 billion in the first quarter, topping analyst expectations of $4.71 billion, while profit on an adjusted basis came in line with expectations. Last year, Altria launched a lower-priced version of its flagship Marlboro brand and finalized its acquisition of e-cigarette startup NJOY Holdings, expanding its portfolio to include pod-based vapes.

  • Eddie Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya renew rivalry: ‘You stalk me like a crazed fan’

    De La Hoya’s fighter Ryan Garcia beat Devin Haney, represented by Hearn, in Brooklyn last week

  • 'Can You Catch It as Well?': MEP Releases Dove Inside European Parliament

    A politician released a dove inside the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, on April 24 as part of a plea for peace.Slovakian MEP Miroslav Radacovsky released the bird while making what he said would be his “last intervention in the parliament.”Taking the dove out of a bag he was wearing inside his jacket, Radacovsky says, according to the live translation: “I would like to wish the whole of Europe, the whole of [the] world, the Russians and the Ukrainians – I wish everyone peace.”“And if I may, I would like to set free this bird as a symbol of peace, to symbolize that Europe needs peace.”The bird flies into the air before perching on a nearby desk, as Radacovsky continues: “Let’s let this dove fly above all of Europe, let’s let this dove unite all of us. Let this dove [be] a symbol of peace, [as] what we need most is really peace. Give peace a chance.”Another voice is then asking, “Can you catch it as well?” Credit: European Parliament via Storyful

  • Supreme Court hears high-stakes arguments on Trump’s absolute immunity in criminal case: Live updates

    Oral arguments in the case related to the federal election interference indictment against Donald Trump are set to take place this morning

  • Rupert Cornwell Award: £5,000 bursary for budding foreign correspondents

    The award honours the memory of Rupert Cornwell, one of The Independent’s most distinguished journalists

  • American Stage Theatre Company | Morning Blend

    Pack a picnic and enjoy a Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast in Demens Landing Park.