Okay, so today I wanted to mess around with recreating that iconic LeBron James block from the 2016 NBA Finals. You know the one, right? Game 7, down by two, Iguodala on the fast break… and BOOM. LeBron comes out of nowhere.
First, I watched the clip like a million times. Seriously, I just kept hitting replay, trying to get a feel for the timing, the speed, everything.
My Setup
- I don’t have an NBA regulation court, I used my local park.
- I have no one to assist so I am alone doing this.
- Just me, my beat-up basketball, and my phone to record.
My first few attempts? Embarrassing. I tried to jump like LeBron, which, let’s be honest, is impossible. I ended up looking like a clumsy giraffe. I kept slamming the ball way too hard, sending it flying into the bushes more times than I’d like to admit.
Then I started to break it down. Instead of focusing on the insane athleticism, I focused on the basics:
- Timing the run: This was surprisingly tricky. I had to practice just sprinting from the half-court line, trying to gauge when I’d need to start to intercept the “imaginary” layup.
- The jump: Forget the two-handed block, I had an imaginary one.
- The “block”: I focused on keeping my hand high and slapping the ball towards the backboard, not just wildly swinging.
After maybe an hour of sweaty, frustrating, and honestly pretty fun practice, I started to get something that looked halfway decent. It wasn’t pretty. It definitely wasn’t LeBron-level. But I managed to consistently get the timing right and smack the ball against the backboard. It was a minor win, I’ll take it!
The biggest takeaway? LeBron is a freak of nature. Seriously, that block is even more impressive when you try to recreate it yourself. It’s all about the perfect combination of speed, timing, and insane jumping ability. Something I clearly have a long, long way to go on.
