Ten Times LeBron James Was Outmatched

As arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, LeBron James has some of the best and most watched highlights in history. James has very few moments where he appeared inferior on the court. Whether playing with his team or individually, it’s nearly impossible to stand in his way.

However, as we all know, even the best can’t be perfect. When you’ve been around the league for 20 years, you’re going to get bested once or twice. Today, we’re taking a look at some of the times LeBron has been outplayed or even embarrassed on the court, dating back to his high school days and up to this past season. 

Although it doesn’t happen often, we’ve ranked the top ten instances when King James was outmatched:

Starting off this list, LeBron rotates in help defense to find Steven Adams ready to throw down a ferocious Jam. LeBron mistakenly jumps with Adams only to find himself on highlight reels for days, and on the opposite end of what he’s used to.

LeBron finds himself guarding Jeremy Lin at the top of the key. He’s giving Lin all the room he needs to put a nasty move on him, making him stumble as the Hornets bench rises in awe.

In a tight game down the stretch, LeBron drives into the key ready to throw down a posterizing dunk to knot the game, but seven footer Myles Turner is there. Turner, with no fear, jumps with LeBron and denies him the chance for glory, and gives his own team a huge momentum boost.

Oladipo receives the ball and explodes towards the hoop, blowing by his defender to meet LeBron at the rim. James comes to help, but is no match for Oladipo who finishes with a powerful two handed slam, knocking LeBron to the side and igniting the playoff crowd. 

At the peak of the Cavs – Warriors rivalry, all eyes are locked in every time the two teams meet. On the main stage, the LeBron led Cavaliers are trailing by 35 points and to make matters worse, LeBron gets embarrassed by KD who denies him a powerful dunk at the rim.

In one of the most highly anticipated and hyped up high school matchups ever, a young LeBron faced off against one of the best Philadelphia public league players ever, Maureece Rice. With Allen Iverson watching from the stands, Rice put a nasty combo on James, dropping him to the floor, much to the delight of the Philly crowd. 

With the Cavs trailing with under four minutes to go, LeBron tries to ignite a rally by throwing down a momentum boosting dunk. Instead, he is met by Terrance Jones who comes out of nowhere to leap at the perfect time and forcefully reject King James. 

In overtime of game two of the 2015 Finals, with the Cavs down one, LeBron drives into the paint looking for either a basket or foul. What he didn’t see was Draymond Green sprinting from the other side of the court to meet him at the rim and cleanly deny him of a bucket. 

In one of the dirtiest moves of Gordon’s career, the transition hesi has LeBron looking for a map. Gordon fully spins LeBron around and then splashes the three before James can recover.

It’s one thing to get denied in crunch time by a Defensive Player of the Year in Draymond Green, but it’s another to get blocked at the buzzer by Mario Hezonja and losing to a Knicks team that won 17 games. As LeBron drives to the bucket looking for a game winner, Hezonja stays with him the entire time and finishes the play with a block on James to secure the win. The stare down, point, and celebration only add to the moment. 

To close out our list, we have what could be Jayson Tatum’s best moment in his stellar young career. In game seven of the second round of the 2018 playoffs, Tatum explodes towards the hoop with LeBron waiting under it ready to make an effort to deny him of the basket. Instead, Tatum elevated over the leaping LeBron to finish off the posterizing and athletic slam that put James and the NBA world on notice.

After checking out this list, do you want to bet on him or against him? Either way, here are the odds for the Laker’s next game @ the Utah Jazz: