[Highlights] 2000s LeBron pulling up from deep
Yeah, but can he dribble?
“Lets see Ray Allen’s handles”
“Look at that subtle cross-over. The tasteful quickness of it. Oh my God.”
There’s Ray Allen standing in the corner and by god, it’s glorious!
A table at LIV? How’d he pull that one off? I’ve been trying to get reservations there for over a year.
Don’t disrespect Jesus Shuttlesworth like that.
Lol Ray Allen’s handles were actually much better than people realize if you had watched him in Seattle or Milwaukee.
Can’t hit free throws either
The video where he scores like 16 straight against Richard Jefferson is like 5 straight of these it’s just crazy stuff
Every time he hit a shot, their announcer would repeat something like “The L train, deep in the Bradley Center” lol
I miss the Bradley center nostalgia. I’ll never forget when someone said it’s like they built the whole thing then realized it didn’t have any windows, so they just slapped on a huge glass section at the end. My bus to college drove past it every day and i think about that a lot.
You see steph in the final few minutes of the gold medal game against France? They’re special.
2000s Bron had some of the craziest heat checks from deep
I used to joke that because of his insane strength and how he used to struggle from regular 3 he should just take most of them from logo range
Even back then when he wasn’t a consistent good shooter, he was capable of catching fire and pulling some ridiculous shit from 3.
Even though the Cavs lost that series, LeBron’s game winning 3 vs the Magic in the ECF is one of my favorite plays (even though he’s made more difficult 3’s in clutch scenarios later)
He was a rhythm scorer back then. His form would be different, footwork bad but if he had it? good night.
LeBron said in one of his podcasts that the thing that immediately improved his percentage is just eliminating the weird, off-balance, flashy, crazy type of 3s he used to do early in his career and just doing a normal shooting form every time
Lebrons heat checks in the 2020s may be crazier, there was a game i think against Brooklyn where he was on FIRE. He would get the ball run straight back out to the 3 point line and shoot some bs fade away multiple plays in a row.
2020s Bron has the FUNNIEST. He will hit ONE rhythm three and the next shot would be from the logo
Favorite player ever, 2001 Vince Carter comes in 2nd
The LeFuckYou 3.
Every game you knew at least one was coming from this demon of the east.
I didn’t realize he did this shit before LeDecision.
Famously different from the other LeFuckYou 3, where he looks at the ball and side-steps for the shot, which he developed later in his career.
But I thought Ray Allen said he couldn’t shoot threes…those are some deep nasty bombs! 😅
Ray is a MJ disciple so…of course
The funniest thing about all of this kind of nonsense to me is that Lebron and MJ have the exact same playoff 3 point percentage… literally right down to the decimal point.
LeBron has made 4.5x the amount of 3s Jordan made in his career.
The fun thing about percentages is that, they try to compensate for the lack of volume
He was a sub 33% 3PT shooter in his first stint in Cleveland. Very inconsistent and only shot at 35% or higher once. He didn’t become a solid to good (and sometimes great) 3pt shooter until his second year in Miami.
tbh if you were a 33% shooter from 3 in the 2000s especially at high volume you were definately seen as a threat from deep.
If LeBron took a 3 that was a winning possession for the defense.
if lebron took a 3 you sigh with relief that he didnt just run and dunk
Exactly lol rather a 3 than getting an and one and demoralize the entire arena
He’s still not good - particularly in the playoffs.
He’s made himself streaky/dangerous enough that teams will respect it though
Yeah I remember desperately wanting him to shoot threes back then. Especially those 2000s Cleveland teams where that was especially dangerous for them. Basically a free rebound unless it was just one of those random nights where it fell.
Must be wild to think you know basketball better than Ray Allen.
I didn’t watch basketball back then I had no idea LeBron was pulling up from the logo when Curry wasn’t in the NBA yet
he was also shooting one legged threes when lamelo was like 4
lebron’s shot selection used to be a little bogus lol and i say that as a big fan of his. he played like a young dude who felt like the best player in the world (understandably) and wanted to chuck BS every now and then. playing with real expectations in miami made him dial in his playstyle a lot more and just focus on smart shots and making plays.
could kinda compare it to young curry tossing some silly passes out of bounds a few times a game and eventually learning to be a bit more composed with the ball (he’ll still throw a nonsense pass every now and then tho lol)
Yeah, he was not making a high percentage of these shots lol You can even see awkward his form looks compared to his shot today- he looks like he needs to alter his form a ton to get that range compared to his 2nd Cavs stint and onwards
mf is is hucking it
From Akron again! Love that call
Headband Bron was the GOAT. He should bring it back for his final year.
His barrage against the Bucks is still one of his greatest reels. Absolutely insane heat checks.
Young LeBron would take shots from all over the floor, including wild three-pointers, and still shot 47% to 50% overall. His shot selection was based on vibes. One of the reasons his 3P% was “low” is because he took a lot of those deep heat checks, fadeaways, etc. Regardless, super fun to watch.
It’s been fascinating to watch the evolution of the deeeep three over the years.
In the ‘90s, they were almost universally reserved for desperation heaves following a full-court run-up. The exceptions—Reggie in a pull-up against the Knicks in ‘94, Chris Mullin against LA around ‘91—were crazy heat check highlights to me that I remember to this day.
LeBron’s arrival coincided with an era where stars still usually only hoisted from super deep if the clock was winding down, but the players were also starting to kind of lean into a little bit, rocking the ball up top as the clock ticked down until they had “no choice” but to pull from deep. A number of those can been see in the LeBron’s highlights above.
That transition seemed to coincide with more and more players pulling up for jump shots from near half court rather than the traditional heave. He was hardly alone but Vince Carter was one of those early guys to pull-up from half-court with a standard-looking jumper.
All that seemed to segue into guys easing into deeper and deeper threes in non-buzzer beating scenarios until Steph came and broke the entire door down. It was probably inevitable, but I feel like Steph was an accelerant.
Honorable mention to Tayshaun Prince. His five consecutive threes at Kentucky was an all-time download clip for me back then.
Never seen that Tayshaun Prince clip before. What a way to start a game!
I did it in high school games in 1999 and I’m pretty sure I was imitating Jason Williams. I can’t think of anyone else who had been doing it regularly before him
Good call on J-Will. You either had to be a shooter of shooters (Miller/Mullin) to justify that sort of attempt every now and again or… you had to be young White Chocolate, who had zero cares about anything.
Regarding high school, I tip my cap to ya for being able to pull it off in ‘99. My coach was not particularly old school for his time but still only vibed with threes after almost every other option was explored first. Spot-ups in the half-court with toes close to the line.
Dan majerle too
Great call.
Still remember losing my mind watching Dame pull up from 10 feet behind the arc with zero change to his shooting form
Such a shame he isn’t clutch. Such a shame he never had a good jump shot. Such shame this dude only had one move, drive to the basket.
Lebron is the biggest conundrum in sports debates imo. This dude has been so fucking good for so long and has played so many games that you can create any narrative about him you wish, good or bad, while also having clip content to support your claim.
Watching this brought me back to that time period and remembering how much weight a 3pt shot carried back then.
It’s easy to forget today because of how many 3s are taken and made, but back then, a guy like LeBron nailing a 3 was crazy and just not something you saw everyday. Nowadays anyone at 6’8 is expected to have a deep ball.
nice AI slop. we all know this man on his first Cavs stint only knew how to pass or drive to the basket
Once Delonte fucked him mom he turned into a villan
There’s that video of him throwing the basketball like a football from across the court.
I realized we weren’t the same species in that moment.
Man those type of shots back then were so fun to see go in until curry made them his layup……
Haters will say if anybody is 25 Years they will have these highlights
LeBron was halfway through his 10th campaign (9.5 seasons) when he scored his 20,000th point.
That’s more than most players have in their entire careers, and usually, if you hit 20K, you’re going into the Hall.
My guy did it twice.
Fortunately, I’m not a hater
Feel like his jumper was a lot more fluid (motion-wise) than his later years
That’s what happens when you get old. Haha
Knicks and Clippers hit piece
LeFuckYou 3s
He definitely wasn’t a great shooter in this part of his career, but if he made 2 in a row all you could do after is pray
Yeah but let’s see him hit a free throw or dribble the basketball
Damn he been doing lefuckyou 3s for a min now
He’s pretty good
The hesi pull of doom in the third clip 😭
The shot at 51 seconds reminds me of the Toronto game winner bank shot in 2018. That one was just further to the side of the net, but the motion of the shot feels similar from memory.
I watched the Milwaukee game live. One of my favorite LeBron moments of all time.
I feel like this belongs in r/oddlysatisfying
NOBODY SHOW RAY ALLEN THIS
I was at that bulls cavs game. First game ever. What a game
They might look like different opponents but all of those were actually against the Knicks
Someone show Ray Allen this clip
He and Vince Carter were the most comfortable long range shooters of all time before Steph.
2000s LeBron was the definition of a streaky shooter
You’re probably posting this cuz of the ray allen clip but tbh during LeBron’s first stint with cavs his shooting was very mediocre. His second stint is where his shooting became sooo good. Seeing his career arc has been so satisfying
People who said LeBron couldn’t shoot, need to rewatch the fades and these deep 3s. He would lose faith in his own shot in certain years, I chalked it down to his tendency to fade plus physical play throwing off his accuracy
Miss the Cavs announcer at ~44s yelling heat check
Steph Curry before Steph Curry
Kobe was doin it before both of em.
Ok, if it matters that much to you lol
People said he had no bag
did not know he was moving like this 😂
And now he won’t shoot these. He will just toss the grenade to his teammate. Not the goat.