Perhaps the most mesmerizing play during Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals came within the final two minutes of the contest, when the Cavs and Warriors were tied at 89 points a piece.
Warriors fans, as raucous and rowdy as ever, knew the team was on the brink of winning back-to-back championships. The very first play inside of the final two minutes was a Warriors fast break, with Steph Curry dishing it to Andre Iguodala. Iguodala would attempt to lay it in over J.R. Smith, a bucket that would’ve given the Warriors the lead — Until LeBron James swooped in out of nowhere to save the day with a signature chase down block.
The block, which many fans believe could be LeBron’s greatest single defensive play of his career, permanently shifted NBA history — and perhaps — shifted the landscape of the association just one month later, with Kevin Durant joining the worn down Warriors in free agency.
Andre Iguodala publicly spoke about the play for the first time this past week, sharing his thoughts with ESPN:
“If J.R. is not there, I’m dunking it. Well, I don’t know if I’m dunking, though, because I was about to die out there,” Iguodala said while busting out in laughter. “But I give him all respect. When he blocked it, I thought somebody got shot. I laugh about it all the time. People try to joke on me. I still get mentions all day from fans always talking about the block.
“I’m like, ‘Man, that s— was so dope to me, too.’ I was a fan. That s— was amazing. When he blocked it, I was like, ‘Damn, somebody got shot.’ I thought it was funny. Somebody just made a good play. What you want me to do? If you enjoy the game of basketball, you should just be like, ‘Dude made a great play. F— it.'”
Iguodala gives LeBron James his credit, but also believes there’s another player who should be receiving the same: J.R. Smith.
“”I looked back at it too, and had I came in from a different angle, I could have [dunked it],” he explained. “But you know who made the play? J.R. made the play. Because I came in thinking dunk and then I took off and he swiped [at the ball] and I had to move the ball. If you look, I moved the ball [to my right]. I just tried to finish the play.
“People don’t realize, somebody just made a great play. There’s nothing to change about somebody making a great play because I even thought I could have went off to the other side [of the rim], but [LeBron] was so high over the rim, he would have had both sides covered. I mean, I wouldn’t have changed anything about it. If somebody just makes a great play, you just give them respect for making a great play.”
Andre Iguodala and the Warriors have moved on from last season’s disappointing Playoff run, and will now look to head back to the Finals for a third straight year this season. With Kevin Durant now aboard the team, most expect that task to eventually be carried out.
Several NBA fans have already declared that Golden State’s “super team” will easily win the title this year — Unless of course, LeBron James manages to swoop out of nowhere and once again save the day.
