LeBron James has been in the league for 15 and a half seasons and playing that many games and being on the court for so many minutes, you may expect him to get his shot blocked every now and then.
Even so, with him being one of the most explosive and unstoppable drivers and dunkers this game has ever seen, he’s actually not an easy guy to swat, especially if we’re talking about a dunk.
Despite his age, LeBron’s body is still quite strong, and there are just a handful of guys brave enough to try and contest a dunk from a 6’8’’ 249-pound bulldozer. As a matter of fact, he’s only been blocked 9 times on over 1850 dunk attempts, and today, we’re going to honor the players that have been able to do it.
Amar’e Stoudemire, December 1, 2004, and November 10, 2004
Amar’e Stoudemire is the only guy that can brag about blocking LeBron on a dunk attempt twice. STAT was a huge force down low back in the day, and he completely humiliated James the first time, when he swatted a no-look dunk attempt from James. The other block came just 3 weeks after that when he tipped the ball off the rim just as it was going to hit the net.
Jermaine O’Neal, December 23, 2005
Back in the day, Jermaine O’Neal was one of the most dominant big men in the league, especially when it came to protecting the rim. Young LeBron tried to beat him in the very first play of the game, but there was not going past Jermaine without paying the price. That time, the veteran humiliated him with a huge swat.
Gerald Henderson, December 26, 2012
The Charlotte Bobcats were a historically bad team during the 2012-13 campaign, so this play must’ve been the peak of their season. Gerald Henderson got LeBron with his very own signature, an emphatic chase down block from LeBron’s blind spot to swat his shot. Still, he got the offensive board and scored on a layup.
Mason Plumlee, April 8, 2014
Mason Plumlee’s highlights must be just a loop of him swatting LeBron James, to be honest. While he was starting at center for the Nets, he got the best out of the King and won the heart of Nets’ fans forever, as he recovered right before the buzzer beat to block James on a game-winning dunk.
Myles Turner, February 1, 2016
Myles Turner entered the league known for being a standout rim protector, but it wasn’t until he emphatically blocked LeBron James that we all actually took him seriously. Also, it was on a potential game-tying dunk with just over 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter when he was still playing with the Cavs.
Andre Drummond, November 1, 2016
Andre Drummond has slowly surged as one of the league’s best rim protectors, and the time he got LeBron is a huge proof of that, as he totally recovered even despite LeBron coming at full speed and got past him. Then, he swatted his shot with his fingertips and made a statement as one of the best big men in the league.
Kelly Oubre, April 5, 2018
Kelly Oubre may have not stepped up as the offensive stud we all thought he’d be right now, but hey, at least he can brag about being one of the few players that have been able to block LeBron on a dunk, as he got him from behind on a tip-in attempt when James was playing for the Cavs.
Jarrett Allen, December 18, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=491JPyceB_s
And most recently, Jarrett Allen got the best of James while he was driving on a dunk attempt that could’ve changed the entire course of the game, as it was right after tip-off. Allen got himself a poster by swatting the King and the Nets eventually got the W, while James used his age as an excuse, stating that ‘Allen was in his twenties and it took him less time to get warmed up”.
