LeBron James' Best Plays! | 2026 NBA All-Star Reserve

If you could select any version of LeBron James, which one are you choosing? The 2009 twitchy, high-flying volume scorer in Cleveland? How about villain LeBron at his athletic peak in Miami? Or maybe 2016 Bron with his blend of experience and offensive versatility? You really can't go wrong with any of them. But without question, I'm taking 2018 LeBron. His combination of elite athleticism, razor-sharp IQ, unpredictable playmaking, and his ability to take over in the clutch was surreal. It was like every version of LeBron thrown into one, and he needed all of it to single-handedly carry his team to where no one thought possible. 2018 LeBron unlocked mastery of the game of basketball, and this is how he did it. Facing LeBron in 2018 was simply terrifying. The dude was driven by vengeance, and the reason is because, well, actually, it'd be easier just to show you. After winning his hometown a historic championship in 2016, he and Kyrie Irving were viewed as the league's premier duo. There's no way this would be their last title together, except it was. Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors during the 2016 offseason, and the league was cooked. Cleveland would face them in the 2017 finals and get smoked in five. On his way back to the locker room, disappointed yet confident, LeBron dabs up Kyrie and tells him, we'll be back. But in reality, only one of them would be back. Just four weeks later, Kyrie demands a trade out of Cleveland with reports stating that he no longer wants to be in LeBron's shadow. One month later, he was gone. I can only imagine that LeBron felt disrespected and betrayed. He was left alone to carry the Cavaliers, and there was no doubt that it fueled him, because in 2018, the dude was a full-on demigod. Opening night for LeBron and the Cavs was straight to business. A matchup against the Boston Celtics and the new face of their franchise. But James Cook, he lit up the Kyrie misses a three over LeBron to tie the game at the buzzer. They dab up one last time, and the LeBron carry job begins. Well, actually, this was just the opening act. Game nine of the season against the Washington Wizards is when it truly began. 57. 57. You know, this fuckery wasn't supposed to go on for much longer. Yet, here he is, at 33 years old, dropping the second highest scoring performance of his career alongside 11 boards, seven dimes, three steals, and a couple blocks. He is not human. By this point, Cleveland was just 4-5 on the season, but LeBron's performance sparked a little bit of magic. A clutch time dagger at the garden, and Cleveland's on a two-game winning streak. 39-14, make that 4-0. 27-16-13, and the Cavs are 7-0. 34-12, and Cleveland's on an 11-game winning streak. And with a chance to make it a franchise record 13th straight against Sacramento, LeBron comes up big. He scoops home a layup to go up two, and then drains a dagger three with 15 seconds left for their 13th consecutive win. The king was still the king. LeBron was stuffing the stat sheet on a nightly basis like he was a spry 27-year-old in his prime, except he was 33 without an all-star teammate by his side. And even that didn't slow him down. As they entered mid-December, Cleveland was a flaming hot 19-2 in their last 21 games, and it launched LeBron into the MVP conversation, sitting right behind James Harden in the NBA's MVP ladder. And now with a game lined up on Christmas Day against the defending NBA champs, a win can put LeBron as the frontrunner for MVP. But instead, he and the Cavs went from flaming hot to ice cold. James didn't have a great game on Christmas, and it began a downward spiral. From December 25th to February 6th, Cleveland went 6-13. LeBron was still putting up numbers, but the team around him was dysfunctional. They were too slow, too old, and just a couple days out from the trade deadline, you knew something was going to change. They don't call him LeGM for nothing. However, a day before the deadline, they play the Minnesota Timberwolves, and LeBron decided to put on a show for his soon-to-be ex-teammates. 37-10-15, a game-tying layup, a game-saving block, capped off by a game-winning fadeaway, and celebrating with his teammates that would get traded less than 24 hours later. I'm not even kidding. The Cavs blew it up the very next day to get younger, trading 6 guys with an average age of 30 for 4 players with an average age of 26. It wasn't a superstar, or even an all-star for that matter, but they gave LeBron something to play with, and he started ballin'. As the calendar flipped to March, LeBron was slowly turning into playoff brawn. He averaged over 39-9 on a blistering 55% shooting with 9 30-point games and 4 triple doubles in the month. The dude was a highlight machine, jaw-dropping one-legged fadeaways in the clutch to close out games, catching bodies that should have him arrested for first-degree murder, and no-look dimes in LA that had him looking like Magic Johnson. LeBron's all-around game was at its absolute peak. He was virtually unguardable, highlighted by another masterpiece in April, a 44-point triple double against the 76ers for his league-leading 32nd 30-point game of the season. Now, here's the problem. They didn't win that game. Despite LeBron's greatness, the team around him was just… average. If he doesn't play well, they have almost no chance of winning. If he drops a 40-point triple double, winning is still not a guarantee, and it showed in the standings. The Cavs were the 3rd seed for the majority of the year, before slipping down to 4th in the final week of the season, landing them a tougher opponent in the first round of the playoffs and basically killing LeBron's MVP case. He finished 2nd in voting as James Harden walked away with the award in a landslide. The case was made for LeBron, but it didn't matter anymore. The playoffs were around the corner, and the king was about to show the league who's the real MVP. As the 4th seed in the East, Cleveland faced a legit Indiana squad in Round 1, and it was a wake-up call. The Pacers trampled them by 18 points on their home court in Game 1. Indy was no joke, and Bron knew it, so in the first quarter of Game 2, he made a statement. He erupted for 20 points in the frame, and he didn't stop there, finishing the game with 46-12-5 on 70% shooting from the field to tie the series at 1. But back in Indiana, the Pacers escaped Game 3 with a 2-point win to go up 2-1. And you know what that means. We're about to get another masterpiece from LeBron. 32 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists to tie the series at 2. James was putting up video game numbers like it was nothing, and in Game 5 at home, he turned on Aimbot. I thought this fuckery wasn't supposed to go on for much longer, and this dude is nailing game-winning threes at the buzzer to go with 44 points, 10 boards, and 8 dimes. You know, something light. But I'll tell you what wasn't light. Game 6 in Indiana. The Cavs got smoked by 34 points, and now shockingly, a LeBron-led team is going to a Game 7 in Round 1. But the result of that Game 7 wasn't much of a shocker. James threw on his backpack and went to work, exploding for 26 in the first half, and from that point on, you knew it was over. He finished the game with 45 for his third, I repeat, his third 40-point game of this series to carry his team into the second round. And you want to know a crazy stat about this series? LeBron did not have a single teammate score more than 20 points in any game throughout the series. The literal definition of carrying his team. James' brilliance set up a daunting matchup against the number one seed Toronto Raptors in the second round. The third consecutive playoff matchup, that is, between these two squads. And I think you know how the story goes. They don't call him LeBronto for nothing. What did you expect? He's LeBronto. After dismantling the Raps in Toronto with nasty fadeaways, he nails an elegant one-legged fading runner off glass to win Game 3 and take Toronto's soul. I mean, look at some of these reactions. It was over. They killed the Raps by 35 in Game 4 to complete the sweep, and for the 8th consecutive season, LeBron is back in the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Boston Celtics. Unfortunately, Kyrie was out for the series due to injuries. But don't take anything away from the Celtics' young core. They were a problem. Game 1 was a major slap in the face to LeBron and the Cavs. They lost by 25 points, and Bron had it rough. 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting and 7 turnovers. But as we've seen this postseason, the dude responds every time. In the first quarter of Game 2, his jumper was butter. He was knocking down long-range missiles, sweeping hooks like a prime Kareem, and opposite shoulder fading threes for a 21-point first quarter. He was unstoppable. He'd finish the game with a 42-point triple-double, and they still lost by double digits. Cleveland was in serious trouble. In fact, as a franchise, the Boston Celtics are 37-0 all time when leading a series 2-0. This is bad, but I swear I've seen a similar graphic like this before. Anything's possible. In Game 3, the Cavs answered. Then in Game 4, LeBron did. With a 44-point bomb for his sixth 40-point game of the playoffs, and just like that, the series is tied. But in Game 5, Boston responded as they put the Cavs on the brink of elimination. LeBron is going to have to do something crazy to will his team to two straight wins. And in this case, crazy is actually an understatement. The King tapped into another dimension in Game 6. Finishing at the cup, cashing in spot-up threes, lacing home mid-range fades. He was on one, but with just a few minutes left, the Celtics cut the lead to single digits. LeBron is in trouble. Bang! With two monster threes in a sweet spot, LeBron seals the deal with his seventh 40-point game of the postseason to force a Game 7 in Boston. And if you know anything about Game 7 LeBron, then you know what's about to happen. 35-15-9 capped off by a powerful and one with a primal scream to miraculously get his team to the NBA Finals. LeBron was Superman against the Celtics, but next up, he'll have to face his kryptonite. When the Warriors and Cavs faced off in 2017, Cleveland realistically had no chance of winning. And that was with Kyrie. Fast forward to a year later, and you got just LeBron with a weaker supporting cast. The writing was on the wall, but we should keep in mind that LeBron's been playing the best basketball of his career. And with all these 40-point games, he's due to go for 50. In my opinion, this is the single greatest game of LeBron's career. 51 points, the fifth most ever in the Finals, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists against the mighty Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. He was the definition of unguardable. And after Draymond poked him in the eye in the second quarter, he was looking like a legit supervillain out there, dude. It was insane. But, this game isn't over. LeBron's effort got the Cavs within one with four seconds left, and George Hill is at the line to shoot two free throws. He nails the first, and then… JR was… JR. He thought they had the lead, he dribbled the ball out to kill the clock, and butchered a chance to win the game. LeBron was, uh, pissed, to say the least. He knows you cannot give Golden State any chance to survive. And they just did. The game went into overtime where the Warriors outscored the Cavs by 10 to take Game 1, in what was Cleveland's only chance in this series. From then on, Golden State took care of business, sweeping the Cavaliers with ease, and ending LeBron's otherworldly 2018 season. Although it ended without a championship, what LeBron was able to accomplish throughout this year, and especially in the postseason, is still viewed as one of, if not the, single greatest playoff run by an individual player, ever. At 33, this might be it for LeBron. Father Time is finally gonna catch up. I'll say it again, he'll never have a greater achievement than getting this team to the finals. This historic 20 championship belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers. One person has ever shouldered more and gotten his team to the finals.