Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has never participated in the NBA Dunk Contest, but in the first game of his 10th Finals appearance, he reminded the league just how casually he can throw down dunks with authority.
With just a few seconds left in the first half, James grabbed a rebound and flipped it up ahead instead of attempting a half-court shot. Kyle Kuzma quickly turned and flipped up a layup, but it was a wild attempt and bounced off the back of the rim. The buzzer went off before it left his fingers, anyway.
Yet there was still excitement. James had continued running down the court.
As the ball bounced off the rim, James soared in, grabbed it in the air and threw down a reverse dunk.
LeBron just threw down an off the backboard reverse dunk like it was nothing pic.twitter.com/jR5Wrb5wCS
— 𝓜𝓪𝓽𝓽 🏀✈️ (@mldiffley) October 1, 2020
It wasn’t even close to being on time and counting, but the dunk was an impressive feat of athleticism, especially for an athlete of James’ age.
Take a look at this angle:
Bron getting crazy after the buzzer 🤯 pic.twitter.com/voX1YxDlQf
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 1, 2020
At 35 years old, James is in his 10th Finals and aiming for his fourth championship.
Los Angeles went on a huge run after falling behind by double-digits the first quarter and took a 65-48 lead at the half. The Lakers kept the pressure on the Heat, pulling ahead 93-67 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Through three quarters, James had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. Anthony Davis had 30 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.