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This decade was full of epic NBA moments reminding us time after time why we love this game. And as we start a new chapter, it’s only right to take a look at a few defining moments that are gonna be remembered in NBA history.
What up everybody my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
This is the look that made Lebron James the icon that he is today. At this very moment, he had 0 championships, got ridiculed for forming a superteam and then losing to Dirk the previous year, people called him a choker, and some believed that he’ll never win a title.
That was close to happening in 2012 as the Heat went into the hostile Celtics arena trailing 3-2 in the Conference finals. But then this look, that let everyone know that the king will not let his team lose. 45 points 15 rebounds and 5 assists shooting 19 for 26 that’s 73% on the road in elimination game. Considering the opponent, and the circumstances, this is a historic game for him and after winning game 7 and eventually the NBA championship, the whole narrative about Lebron changed, he got 2 more titles in the meantime and we see him today as one of the top 10 players to ever play this game.
Number 2: In the midst of the entire chaos and euphoria, this escape off the floor for Dirk Nowitzki is so memorable and says a lot. Similar to James, Dirk was also labeled as soft and had an embarrassing loss as well, as a #1 seed from the 8 seeded Warriors.
But during the 2011 playoff run that I can only describe as heroic, he carried the Mavs and got through Kobe Pau and the Lakers, Russ KD and Harden with the Thunder, and The big three in Miami in the finals. Just think about how crazy that is as you look at all of these clutch shots that he made. So all of the work, the emotions, the failures to get to the championship, when he finally did it- Dirk had to take a moment and reflect by himself. And this is that iconic retreat to the locker room.
Number 2 is just known as the Klay game. Down 3-2 in OKC the Warriors were trailing the whole game, and they needed a miracle. And that came in the form of Klay Thompson hitting 11 threes in game 6. These incredible shots basically forced KD to join them, as he did shortly after Golden State won this game and eventually the series. Who knows what would have happened if OKC won and went to the finals. Maybe the dynasty in Oakland never happens. But since it did, I credit all of that to this ridiculous performance. BTW 11 threes is the record for an NBA playoffs game. So there’s a little extra knowledge for yall.
Moving on, we’ve got one of the wildest sequences in NBA finals history. Spurs lead by 5 just 28 seconds away from championship. Lebron fires a 3 and misses, if the Spurs get the rebound it’s game over. But James somehow gets a second chance and knocks it down.
Then Kawhi is fouled and misses a free throw, leaving the door open. So Miami throws one final punch to save everything. Lebron shoots and misses again, but the iconic Bosh rebound, pass out to Ray Allen and the rest is history.
They will of course end up winning this game in overtime, and even though the Spurs were absolutely crushed after this game, they still fought till the very end in game 7 making this one of the most exciting finals series endings.
However you can probably guess my final defining moment of this decade, and yeah it includes Lebron once again sorry guys but it is what it is. We can never overlook the drama, with players fighting for their lives, their legacies, their championship.
All of that intensity culminating at the end, when Andre Iguodala got a rebound and started a fast break. Today this is just known as the block. James makes a superhuman effort and comes out of nowhere to reject this shot that ultimately set the stage for Kyrie Irving and the shot.
1 on 1 in his zone, the dance, the stepback and the dagger. Unbelievable.
And we certainly can’t forget about the effort of Kevin Love on defense which secured the title for the Cavaliers in 2016.
So obviously this is just my list, and I know that there are a ton of them that I’m missing but this is what marked this decade at least in my opinion, if I had to get it down to just 5 moments.
So let me know in the comments what I missed and also which one was your favorite out of these. Happy New Year, I wish you nothing but the best in 2020, thanks for sticking with me, and hopefully I can bring you even more interesting videos in the year to come.
Talk to you in the next one peace out.