The way Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt outlined the play, LeBron James inbounded the ball. King James quickly decreed that he would take instead of give.
Don’t question the King.
LeBron James scored a buzzer-beating basket on Sunday in Chicago to even up the Cavaliers-Bulls second-round playoff series at two apiece. Playing on a sprained ankle, James nonetheless demanded the ball during the timeout before the last play. His shot, which left his hands before the sound left the horn, put the Cavs ahead 86-84.
“To be honest, the play that was drawn up, I scratched it,” James explained after the game. “I just told coach, ‘Give me the ball.’ We’re either going to go to overtime or I’m going to win it for us. It was that simple.”
Blatt did not divulge to reporters that James jettisoned the play. LBJ’s poor day from the field, he went 10 for 30, likely influenced Blatt’s initial decision for LeBron to pass instead of shoot.
“I was supposed to take the ball out,” James told reporters. “I told coach, ‘There’s not way I’m taking the ball out, unless I can shoot it over the backboard and it goes in.’ I told him, ‘Have somebody else take the ball out, give me the ball, and everybody get out of the way.'”
File under: LeBron James, player-coach.
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