The Lakers appeared headed for a quick playoff exit after losing Game 3 at home against the Nuggets to fall into a 3-0 hole in the first-round series.
Denver had beaten Los Angeles 11 times in a row dating back to the 2022-23 regular season. And no matter what the Lakers threw at MVP candidate Nikola Jokic, they had no answer.
It would have been easy for Los Angeles to turn around in Game 4 and start planning an early vacation, but LeBron James and Anthony Davis had other plans. James scored 30 points and Davis added 25 points and 23 rebounds as the Lakers broke their losing streak against the Nuggets.
“We have given ourselves another life” James said after Los Angeles’ victory while facing elimination. “We’ve given ourselves another lifeline and for us it’s a one-game series.”
With the Lakers trailing 3-1 in the series, it’s time to remember LeBron James’ classic 3-1 meme from the 2016 NBA Finals.
LeBron James 3-1 meme, explained
The LeBron James 3-1 meme is an image of James wearing sunglasses and headphones. The shot came from the NBA TV broadcast, which captured James locking up before the Cavaliers’ crucial Game 5 against the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.
The graphic on the screen showed that Cleveland had to make history to pull off an improbable comeback against a Golden State team that finished with a 73-9 record during the regular season.
“No team in NBA Finals history has come back from being down 3-1 (0-32),” the NBA TV graphic reads.
Five years ago today, LeBron gave us this iconic meme while losing 3-1 to the Warriors in the NBA Finals ? pic.twitter.com/9jr4nEUcGu
-ESPN (@espn) June 8, 2021
How the LeBron James 3-1 meme started
The meme wouldn’t have had a very long shelf life if James and the Cavaliers hadn’t completed the historic comeback, but they did.
Trailing 3-1 in the series against a Warriors team with the best record in NBA history, James and Cleveland seemed all but certain to miss out on a championship in the 2016 NBA Finals. Then James changed gears. March and the Cavaliers faced elimination.
In Game 5, Cleveland took advantage of a shorthanded Golden State team that was missing star forward Draymond Green, who had to serve a one-game suspension for reaching the NBA’s postseason technical foul limit in the game. 4.
James and Kyrie Irving became the first pair of teammates to score 40 points in the same game in NBA Finals history, and the Cavaliers posted a convincing victory to bring the series to 3-2.
Returning to Cleveland for Game 6, the Cavaliers once again took care of business thanks to another 41-point performance from James. And you probably know how things went in Game 7.
LeBron’s iconic “Blocked by James!” eventually became Irving’s historic game-winning goalwhen the Cavaliers won Game 7 on the road to become the first team in NBA Finals history to overcome a 3-1 deficit.
And that’s how the LeBron James 3-1 meme became engraved in the imaginary Internet Hall of Fame.
