Former NBA star Deron Williams witnessed LeBron James‘ greatness firsthand as a teammate on the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he doesn’t seem to rate him too highly as a clutch performer. Williams was asked to give his list of the 10 greatest clutch players in NBA history on the To The Baha podcast, and here’s who he went with.
– Michael Jordan
– Kobe Bryant
– Damian Lillard
– Robert Horry
– Stephen Curry
– Dirk Nowitzki
– Chauncey Billups
– Ray Allen
– Kyrie Irving
– Reggie Miller
Williams initially thought he had to give 15 names, and James might have made it in then. He didn’t mention him, though, when naming some of the players he wanted to put in. Williams brought up Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce, but not James. He wasn’t the only one on the show to leave the Los Angeles Lakers superstar off the top 10, either.
Raymond Felton went with Jordan, Bryant, Irving, Horry, Lillard, Billups, Miller, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Now, there is no denying the fact that the players Williams and Felton mentioned made some big shots late in games during their careers. They were/are clutch.
James should be in there, though, but it’s not a surprise that he isn’t. The 22-time All-Star has gotten a reputation for not being a clutch player because of how often he passes the ball in late-game situations.
James’ focus has always been on making the right play. If there are two defenders on him, he’s not going to try to score over them the way that Bryant, for example, famously used to. He’ll instead try to find the open man for an easier shot, and that has led to the notion that he is scared of taking the big shots.
Is that true? Absolutely not. Jordan (9) is the only player in NBA history to have made more game-winning buzzer-beaters than James (8). He is tied for second with Bryant and Johnson.
James has also made the most game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final five seconds of playoff games since 1997. He has gone 8-20 (40.0%) in those situations, and you’d be surprised to know he’s been far more efficient than some of the players who did make these lists.
Bryant went 4-18 (22.2%), Pierce 3-14 (21.4%), and Lillard 3-10 (30.0%). So, James is a lot more clutch than you might think he is. He once broke down how he approaches these late-game situations.
“What’s going on in my head?” James said. “Like you said it’s in slow motion, I slow it down as well. It’s just about trying to be patient, not trying to be over-exertive or try to pre-determine what I’m going to do.
“It’s still read and react, even with the clock going 9, 8, 7, 6,” James stated. “If you look at a stopwatch, those seconds are ticking, like they’re going fast. But for some odd reason on the basketball court for myself, when the time looks like it’s going fast, it’s actually slowing down for me.
“So, I’m able to just slow it down and be able to see what’s going on on the floor,” James added. “Does that always result in a make? No, I wish it would go in every single time. But I try to put myself in a position to make the right play or come home for the team every single time. That just comes with experience, the best teacher in life is experience. The more you get those moments, the better off you’ll be.”
James is going to make the right play and live with the results. While there are plenty of critics of this approach, there are also many who understand that this doesn’t mean he is not clutch. Charlie Villanueva and Theo Pinson are two of them, as they both included him in their top 10 here on this episode.
