In the 2011 NBA Finals, Miami were at the mercy of a Dirk Nowitzki-led Dallas side so the next year, LeBron James took matters into his own hands.
A stacked Miami side that featured James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem were matched up against the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.
Haslem this week recounted a never-before-heard story about prime LeBron’s preparation for the series.
“I seen this man [James] work on a move for one damn practice, for ten minutes,” Haslem said on The Pivot Podcast. “And the man used the damn move against the Knicks in the first or second round. The man used the damn move on the Knicks about ten times like he had been doing it his whole life.
“And it was boom! … Ain’t nobody stopping that man. At the end of the day, you can sit there and be like, ‘I can try to contain’ or whatever you wanna try to do but you ain’t gonna stop him.”
The move must have worked, because the Heat won the series 4-1 and went on to win that year’s championship as well as the next.
King James averaged 27.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists in those five games against New York and throughout the whole playoffs averaged 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists to earn his first Finals MVP award.
It is a testament to Haslem and LeBron’s skill considering today, Haslem is the oldest current NBA player and James is 38 years old and still putting up incredible numbers, albeit with more injuries than he’s had in the past.