LeBron James may be looked at as one of the two greatest basketball players of all time in 2022, but 10 years ago, people doubted whether he’d ever be able to ascend to championship status.
His talent was evident from Day 1 and he had a glittering trophy case of MVPs, but a championship eluded him. He left his hometown team of Cleveland in one of the most hated free-agent decisions of all time to make a super-team in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. However, the first year ended in heartbreak at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks.
2012 was a must-win year for the Heat and LeBron, but it looked like their journey would end in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals when they went down 3-2 against LeBron’s old rivals, the Boston Celtics. A crucial Game 6 for the Heat saw one of the greatest playoff performances of all time as LeBron James went off for 45 points to completely dominate the Celtics en-route to a win.
That performance started with a miss in the first quarter. However, LeBron would go ultra-instinct and score his next 30 points without missing a single shot. Did we mention he scored all 30 in the first half alone?
After missing his first shot of the game, LeBron scores 30 straight points without a miss in the first half. With his legacy on the line.
Masterclass. pic.twitter.com/KYW8FNhsvw
— LeBron History 🏀 (@bronhistory) March 9, 2022
LeBron putting on a shooting clinic as he drained multiple mid-range jumpers and two threes to start his scoring run. In contrast to most of his high-scoring games, LeBron didn’t attack the rim until the end of the second quarter for his 11th bucket of the half when he slammed down a putback dunk over Kevin Garnett.
LeBron showed off his dunking later in the game, throwing some nasty tomahawks down. He ended the night with 45 points and 15 rebounds as the Heat walked out 98-76 winners in the TD Garden. The win was emphatic and essentially turned the tides of the series that Miami closed out in their home.
LeBron James’ legacy was in the most danger it had been at that point, and he responded with utter domination of a team that had haunted his success up until that point. He would win his first championship in the Finals after overcoming the Oklahoma City Thunder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN17J-KMWnY
