[NBA] Slow-motion sequence of LeBron James stealing the ball from Reed Sheppard and hitting a clutch, game-tying three-pointer
Wasn’t Fred on all those raptors teams that got abused by LeBron too. Having a front row seat to that shot has to be brutal for him 😂
Ye he was part of the 18 raptors bench mob
I was just thinking this.
I really feel for the Rockets fans because this is legit how i felt back in 2018 season.
We were the 1 seed, Cavs were imploding, complete mid year roster turnover, team was 4 seed and look as dysfunctional as ever.
It was gonna be our year……
And then we got fucking swept.
Game 3 was similar too. Cavs in control, led by 10+ all game. Raptors came back to tie the game late in the fourth. Bron hits bullshit game winner. Raptors DeRozan basically died that day.
The LeFuckYou 3.
Bullshit shot after bullshit shot.
My brain couldn’t wrap around how we were swept, that was a good ass Raptors team man.
Prime Lowry and Derozan, Ibaka, OG, Siakam- bench of FVV, Poetl, Powell, valancunis, cj miles, and D Wright. That team was insane and deep af.
Bron faded our franchise out of existence with those 3s, and crazy ass bank shot fadeaways. I’ll never forget the feeling of LeBronto.
The Thanos memes were widespread.
Dread it Run from it LeBronto arrives all the same
One of my all time favorite calls, I think from one of those post fadeways, was:
“LEBRON JAMES! THAT THING WAS IN THE AIR SO LONG YOU COULD HAVE WATCHED A MOVIE ON IT!“
That entire series was incredible. TSN, which is our national carrier up here but very much leans Raptors obviously, just had absolutely, increasingly stunned post-game panelists after each ensuing game.
idk what game it was but there was a stretch of lebron hitting like four or five ridiculous mj fade aways. like a cat playing with a mouse it’s about to kill
that was peak lebronto for me
That was game 2 where he simply obliterated them. 43 on 19 of 27. Game 3 was where he let them hang around all game then hit the ridiculous running one handed bank shot at the buzzer.
And he was doing that last night. A bullshit bank shot and a bullshit “trying to draw a foul” 3
If your team sucks and you lurk in other teams’ subreddits, then you know that a lot of Rockets fans were dooming all season long. They didn’t have a real PG because FVV was injured in the offseason and to some fans, the door was shut after Steven Adams got injured and their GM made 0 moves at the deadline.
All season long, they’ve dealt with the same issues. No ball handling outside of KD and Sengun and no efficient self-creation outside of KD. Just a lot of bricks and low IQ plays. Like, if you go on a post-game thread in the Rockets’ sub, then there’s a good chance you will see complaining about horrible shooting and Tari Eason having low BBIQ.
So very few Rockets fans thought it was gonna be their year.
Don’t think any fans foresaw a 1st round exit against a Lakers team without Luka and Reaves though.
Not just an exit. Could very much be a 🧹 at this point. That’s just embarrassing af lol
I think it’s really weird that the Rockets didn’t try and acquire another point guard at some point during the year and relied on Reed Shepherd, Amen Thompson and point KD to run their offense. Or if they did try, I didn’t hear about it at least.
Rockets really are the most cursed franchise.
beaten by Curry during 2015-2019.
Beaten by LeBron during the bubble
Blew it all up for a rebuild. Got a high draft pick.
just to meet curry and lebron again.
Rockets have championships. They are definitely not the most cursed.
Thank you for reviving the trauma.
Now he’s on the 26 rockets bench sob 😞
The LeBronto era
Lebronto has become LeBrouston
LeBronhausen to FVV “you are cursed”
Sooo glad he moved to the West lol
LeBronhausen looks oddly German
LeVan Vleet
When LeBron caught it and pump faked, you can see fvv develop stomach issues in real time
Yeah I was about to say poor FVV can’t escape LeBron
I mean he kinda did in 2019
Lebron went to go get milk that year
Man life would be so much worse right now if we didn’t win that year
LePTSD
no different era
He was a rookie in 17. So he got the b2b belting too
Fred was the 6th man on that 2018 Raptors squad.
People with no long-term memory act like FVV would magically save this team
Imagine the father stretch my hand music in the background
Is that the one they used for the Luka play on the Mavs where he dives for the ball, throws it behind his head to Kyrie who then throws an alley-oop?
Because that’s what I heard when I seen this clip
Edit: nah it was everyday hustle
https://youtube.com/shorts/XvbTwRkE90c?si=YQhtim_rOlRrdTfF
Father Stretch My Hands was the Lillard game winner over PG. “That was a bad shot”
Edit: https://youtu.be/Coo_8YKGPxc?si=FnOlp0bbzha-_wmj
Here’s 10 mins worth of edits lol
https://youtu.be/8oF3H5IWTtU?si=3vOJc158DQboKrKs
Best one was the edit on Kawhi’s shot vs the Sixers
I always thought the best one was the Jrue alley oop to Giannis in the finals
I always remember it for Giannis vs the suns alley oop
Will always be thankful to Dame for that shot 🤝
Jesus this feels like an eternity ago
Kyrie with a basketball in slow motion is like watching art I swear
I’ll always remember that clip for the way the ball spins in his palm. Absolute cinema
Best Worst effort: https://streamable.com/9m8r7j
v2 (shot make synced up with “beautiful morning”): https://streamable.com/bx3lkm
e: thanks for the callout averageATLien - I wasn’t too familiar with how the track was used and was just looking for something to do, so your callout let me get the correction up quickly. cheers.
Aren’t you supposed to sync the beat drop before “Beautiful Morning”when the shot goes in? lol
Done: https://streamable.com/bx3lkm
Well done
This is sick, nice job!
I just want to feel liberated, I, I, na-na-na
Yup this is it. Thanks for manifesting 🙏
This is so freaking dope
Outstanding, thank you
bravo sir/miss
You sneaky genius… it’s fucking glorious.
Oh ik it’s coming
Someone please do this
https://streamable.com/bx3lkm
Perfection. How can you not love basketball
This needs its own post my god
Legend !
Great job
Here you go https://streamable.com/ecsrpe
Made a whole edit lmao
Look at the crowd 😂😂
The Rockets bench looks shell shocked that whole sequence …might need to be monitored for ptsd
You even see one of the bench guys put his head down when the shot went in
I believe that’s Tate. He’s the guy who had just fouled Smart which put lakers within 3 pts so it was probably extra frustrating for him
Brooo rest of that game the look on his face did not change from “i fucked up”
Crazy that KD isn’t there
He was in the stadium, reportedly, but clearly his ankle injury was so bad he couldn’t even be wheeled to the sideline to support his teammates. KD’s ego is more fragile than a soufflé in an 80s sitcom.
wtf was dfs doin in that clip
Double agent celebrating
Telling them to hurry up and inbound for some reason
Was there. They were traumatized.
One of my guilty pleasures of moments like this, regardless of the teams playing, is looking at the home crowd and looking at people’s individual reactions
I love a good wide shot still photographs where you can see swaths of dismay in the stands
I legit will go back and rewatch the same 5-second sequence 30 times so I can focus on different portions of the crowd and watch how they respond. It’s pretty fun seeing all the relatable emotions and reactions.
Vanfleet having ptsd
Lebron is a flat circle.
One of the first things I noticed too on the rewatches. Those lakerfans dabbing it up in the stands while everyone around them suffers lol.
I went to a bunch of the lebronto games as a raps fan and honestly he was so fucking good I wasn’t even upset. Seeing all time greats be all time great is just the coolest
lady top right at the end letting out a pretty good scream lol
Bro Kennard knows his fucking role, I think he was always going to give that ball to LeBron.
I don’t care how good of a shooter you are, it’s a playoff game and that is LeBron Fucking James
he also blew the wide open transition 3pt look a minute earlier with a chance to give the Lakers the lead
Lebron was also open in the corner when Kennard missed that. prob made up his mind he was gonna get it to Lebron next time
He went too fast on that transition 3. Had time to square up
Yep. I think if he had slowed down to set himself first, he would’ve made it
He was in his head at that point. It’s pretty clear he’s bothered by a couple of early misses.
He kept shooting, which is what you want to see, but he was definitely thinking a little too much out there after his first 2-3 misses.
Yeah I thought it was over after that missed 3 and Rocket board. I stopped watching, till I saw it was OT. I was so confused.
It’s easy to say this in the moment watching this singular clip, but some of the greatest moments in Jordan or LeBrons careers are because of the shooters around them.
What’s widely considered one of the greatest highlights in NBA history is Ray Allen’s shot to save LeBrons Heat.
Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Steve Kerr, Klay Thompson, Ray Allen, etc.
It’s not about knowing their role and it not being their shot to shoot. They’re standing on that court because they know when to take the shot and when not to.
Kennard is a MUCH better shooter than Bron and they both know that, but Kennard knows there’s a trailer and if he goes up for the shot he’s getting blocked from behind. He also sees Sengun cheat off Bron thinking the shot is going up. Passing back to Bron is 100% the correct basketball play and Kennard is a great player for recognizing that in the heat of the moment, but it does him and everyone else who plays that role around these superstars a disservice to act like it’s never their moment.
So knowing their role.
LMAO
I get the distinction they’re making but this still made me lol
Right, sometimes the decision to shoot is about confidence. But just as many times, it’s a cold calculation from what’s happening on the floor
LeBron taught Kennard all of this at his basketball camp in preparation for this moment
Well said, these are all pros and spend almost their entire life playing ball.
I think lebron talked about it very briefly about how he messed up the pass so Luke couldnt square up properly which played a big part in the pass.
but also thats LEBRON JAMESSSS, gotta pass it to the goat
Ya this stood out to me as well. Great decision
I think he didn’t get a good base on the catch from the LeBron pass. LeBron slip the ball a bit and the pass to Kennard wasn’t clean plus Sengun is recovering to him. I think maybe he saw a glimpse of Sengun slipping and pass it to LeBron. His pass to LeBron is better, right on the pocket too
LeBron. Fucking james
LeBron Motherfucking James.
bronny: yea?
Just an insane sequence all around. Also, rockets gm should be banned from the league for taking reed at #3. Easily one of the worst picks in today’s nba.
I don’t think I’d blame him alone for this when nobody on his team flashed to the middle as an outlet for the pressure. I also don’t think he was that bad, he’s shown great shooting in an expanded role but people did not think Castle was going to be as good as he was and Ime has heavily limited his role until having to play him recently. He’s still flawed of course but calling him on of the worst picks in today’s NBA is hyperbole
Reed would look a lot better on the Spurs with Wemby’s spacing than on this horrendous Houston team.
EDIT: To be clear, he would not look better than Castle does. I’m just saying he’s unfortunately a victim of circumstance.
He shot 6⁄21, had 5 turnovers, and was getting cooked nonstop on defence. Genuinely horrendous performance.
Calling him a ‘victim of circumstance’, I just don’t understand. I don’t know how many other players get excused for this.
I mean he definitely is. On a competently built team that’s not riddled with injuries he’s be a perfectly fine guy to bring off the bench to shoot a bunch of threes.
In no world should he be playing 45 mins or having the offense go through him. But because of the Rockets injuries and them neglecting to get a PG at the deadline those are both things that are happening.
He was on a short leash most of the season and then due to circumstance they’re running him near maximum starter minutes this series. That’s a tough position to be in as a PG, especially when you don’t really get to develop much due to your coach being dogshit offensively and the best offensive player on your team only interested in ISO basketball when he isn’t just being a shithead malcontent.
He’s shot badly this series, but Reed Sheppard still has a lot of talent and could become a very solid player in the league. He just needs to develop more as lead guard is arguably the toughest position to learn in the league.
The little tap to Kennard, unreal
was clearly just the extent of his reach, but the fact that the tap spaced kennard enough to get lebron out of sengun’s immediate reach is hilariously lebron
Kennard pump faking the 3 there to get Houston to reach was important too.
absolutely- kennard did a lot of the spacing rly
Jabari came in and pushed Sengun aside too lol
Haha just noticed that. No wonder Sengun was annoyed
Without getting bumped Sengun would have got a much better contest on the shot
jabari had a great screen on sengun 😂
Pure instinct. Amazing
Honestly, only happened because he bobbled the catch. Had he caught the ball clean he would have given Kennard a proper pass. But, all’s well that end’s well, and this one sure did.
Sigh. Yet another epic Lebron moment
He’s the GOAT
If he wins another championship at his age, I’ll sign on to this statement.
(real important endorsement, I know)
Soft_Walrus’ blessing is the last thing Bron needs to cement his legacy
And he was fouled on the shot, should’ve been an and-1
He’s 41. He’s supposed to have retired long ago. Yet these GOAT moments keep coming. Expecting more next year at 42.
5-10 years ago the GOAT conversation was contested. Now it’s undeniable IMO
Not enough made about Smith picking Sengun off the contest.
We all know what KD thinks about that.
That’s Mr. Getoffmydickerson to you
KD sends his full regards
Why would he do that he thinks Jabari is already regarded
Weird that he didn’t even put up a hand to contest the shot either.
Ya very strange. Like his sole mission was to disrupt Sengun. Just ignored Bron
Bari’s bball iq pretty much emptied out the last minute of 4th
If Bari was a former Laker, I’d say inside job.
Dude did this and that game changing pass.
GOAT. This isn’t “hanging around long enough to get title by default”. This is actively snatching the title for himself.
Absolute cinema
Absolutely beautiful. If it wasnt in vertical format they could make a movie out if this
This man is 57 years old. Can’t believe it.
His 10th prime
Geriatric hooping
Whoever directing that LeLast Dance documentary just drooled on his LeBron jersey.
I hope Denis VilLeNeuve directs it
Denis VilLeNeuve
Auteur director of such films as Bron Runner: 2049 and LeDune
Always wanted to know what I’d look like on an NBA floor.
But for real - Reed is an insane athlete by mortal standards, and of course is skilled beyond comprehension compared to the rest of us - and he looks like a pre-teen going against adults in this clip. Just looks tiny, slow, and completely overmatched.
Goes to show how amazing these guys are that a guy as athletic and skilled as Reed can be made to look like this.
I was just looking at how high Reed jumped to contest the pass after steal. Another planet compared to almost everyone. And then the massive gap between him and the other people on the court, wild.
Best guy I ever played against was a guy who’d just got cut by an NBA team at the end of training camp. Last guy cut. He had an overseas contract and had some time to kill before it started.
I’ve played against a lot of guys but this guy was unreal. He was a SF. Every rebound was above the rim. He’d just pull up from anywhere inside half-court. Dunks were beyond effortless. He could back off you literally 10 feet and still block your jumper. And even though I was a full foot shorter and pretty fast compared to most guys, he could take my dribble whenever he wanted.
And he was just chilling. Just trying to get some cardio and not get hurt. And none of us could do anything against him. And this was mostly guys who were previously D2-D3 level or thereabouts.
And this guy couldn’t even make a roster. Can’t imagine how good the rotation guys are, much less the stars.
Yep and imagine if you’re rui. Most people would have that ball stolen back by Reed trying to pass it to LeBron because he jumped so freaking high lol
He was like 41 minutes into the game because of no bench. Inconsistent players play consitently bad on heavy playoff minutes
I played against Bryce Alford in high school. He’s roughly the same build as Reed, plays sort of the same. I’m their height as well, and was a good enough athlete to keep up(most of the time), but then it was just him hitting shots over me. Short of fouling him there was nothing I could do, it was demoralizing.
Sometimes it’s better to not know the answer.
LeBron been making the same poke from behind steal for nearly 30 years now
Also good pass by Kennard, the seams were lined up for LeBron thats why that shot was so wet
Bro, I watched my local town U12 the other day and compared to this they look like toddlers learning how to walk…
It’s crazy but at the same time comparing average 12 year olds vs 12 year old LeBron is always going to be insane. Dude was only 4 years away from when he could have been a legit NBA player if the rules allowed.
Bro those passes are insane
Damn, I was just going to comment that when someone does that in my team, I usually call that “old man defense”. I guess he was already old at 12…
For real I thought it was a link to a random NBA game in his early Cavs or Miami years.
Turns out it really is from 30 years ago and LeBron just makes those otherwordly passes and floaters in fucking middle school.
Fucking amazing game from him, he’s the goat in my eyes after that shit
Marcus Smart is always in the right position, he’s just always there man.
Smart was the game MVP imo. Watching him on a non-Celtics team is much more satisfying.
Why did Jabari smith push sengun out of contesting the shot LMAO not only did he have that terrible turnover but this as well jeez
It was Bron’s slight pump fake.
He was trying to close out. His momentum took him into sengun.
I honestly got teary eyed after this game dude. For a lot of this season LeBron has definitely looked like he’s getting close to the end, and I’ve been saying I want him to retire because I don’t want to watch him until it’s ugly. He’s my favorite player of all time, he’s my GOAT, he’s made me fall in love with watching and playing basketball, but I’ve been ready to watch him leave the league.
After these 3 games he’s played though dude…my god there will never be anything like watching LeBron play basketball. I know when he finally hangs it up I’m going to get emotional as fuck.
41 years old. Unbelievable.
I am also 41 and could barely get out of bed this morning. I played exactly zero basketball games last night. Dude is a machine.
Greatest of all time and it’s not close. We done with the pipsqueak plumbing illegal defense expansion eras
Whatever else happens in these playoffs, even if Lakers don’t manage to get past the 2nd round, I think going up 3-0 against the Rockets with Luka and Reaves out will be something to remember. Pretty crazy stuff.
LeSunshine
But Bron ain’t clutch
Jeff green so tired of this shit lmao
goes to show how thin the margins are, three times in this clip where if the ball was a few inches difference it would have not worked out.
That’s why we love the game.
LeBron, he stole the ball!!
This clip is so good
This play encapsulates why sports are amazing
The live watch of this was incredible. Fucking GOAT!
FVV gotta be telling his teammates “i know how this story ends”
Doing this at 57 years old. WOW.
Van Fleet having Vietnam level flashbacks. You see the hope drain from his face in real time
Jabari Smith low key blocked out Segun’s block attempt as well. MVP for the Lakers the last 30 seconds
The from-behind deflection to Rui… Deflection to Kennard… Pump fake to get Jabari biting and essentially screening Sengun… Bron was playing this whole Rockets team on a string. Absolutely locked in
Love all the slow motion stuff the league has been doing recently. The overall state of watching NBA in 2026 is messy and unpleasant but highlights and clips are the best they’ve ever been.
poetry in motion
Of course the NBA chooses this shitty music, probably because it’s royalty free. One of my complaints about the NBA is that they have no aesthetic vision for how to market the game. There are several independent videographers on social media who create much better stuff.
Fun fact : The steal is for Marcus Smart.
Basketball is weird sometimes, lol.
Bron’s eyes lit up when he saw he had Reed 1 on 1 in the backcourt
Put it in the goat reel
This mother fucker is FORTY ONE. FORTY ONE!
I feel bad for those poor Rockets players.
Classic reaction from Şengün in the background, right at the end.
Nothing but net and he looks unfazed, what a monster
I can’t believe I (amongst many others obviously) got to witness LeBron’s entire career from a kid growing up, to now. What an incredible journey. It’s amazing to still watch him perform at a high level like this, but damn it’s gonna be sad to see his final departure one day. Can’t believe so many people have hated him from the start til even now, rather than appreciate the greatness we’ve witnessed for 23 fucking years
What LeBron is doing this postseason is incredible. As a fan with zero rooting interest across the league, he is must watch
wtf was Reed doing man lol
I’ve never tried crack but I imagine this is the closest I could get to feeling that kind of high.
Lebron is playing out of his mind in this series, untouchable
Reed look devastated. Look like he was still playing college ball.
LeBrocket is looking crazier than LeBronto.
If it was JR Smith instead of Kennard, he would have dunked it rather than pass to Bron. Ez 2 points.
Really nice pass by Smart
Jeff Green like “yup”
Sengun struggling to close down on Luke and James then Smith Jr pushes his contest out of the way giving lbj a clear air to shoot.
KD bouta drop a diss track lol