He's only 24-years-old, and sometimes you're foolish enough to think you've seen it all.
But last night, LeBron James did something else that made you immediately take stock of where you were when you saw it. I was in the media section where you're supposed to maintain an air or impartiality. I didn't care. I don't care.
I went nuts - just like you did. Because just when we were foolish enough to think there was something LeBron couldn't do - he did it. He saved the season in a single second.
Rashard Lewis gave Mo Williams just enough space to find LeBron, who rattled home the game-winning buzzer beater. Had LeBron missed, the Cavaliers would've gone to Orlando, a place they haven't won this year, down 0-2.
It's a moment you'll probably remember for the rest of your lives. I had a friend in - from Cleveland now living in New York - who had never been to The Q before. Friday night's memory is what he'll take back to the Big Apple.
LeBron's shot didn't erase the pain of "The Shot," but maybe it signaled that Cleveland will be inflicting some pain instead of always absorbing it. (That familiar "painful Cleveland feeling" when Hedo Turkoglu sank his jumper with 1.0 remaining was palpable. In me and in the building.)
Friday night's game-winner immediately goes into local lore -- joining **** Snyder's runner in the Miracle season or Sandy Alomar's home run off Mariano Rivera in the 1997 ALCS.
"As a kid, you practice those types of moments," said LeBron. "As a basketball player, you are sitting in your backyard, you are in the gym and you are five, four, three, two, one (buzzer) ... you don't have to be in the NBA to know what I'm talking about. Everybody knows those types of moments. And to hit a shot like that at the buzzer - wow."
As Stan Van Gundy explained after the game, the Magic were thinking about the lob play that the Cavaliers ran in a bizarre game in Indiana in February - essentially a side-out alley-oop for LeBron. But James popped out and with Hedo in his face, canned the game-winner.
After the 96-95 win, Mo Williams explained the list of options on that last play: "Okay, Option B was LeBron. Option C was LeBron. Option D was Big Game James. And that was Option D - that you saw."
Cleveland isn't supposed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But on Friday night - referring to the author of the original "Shot" - Michael Jordan - LeBron James served notice that there's a new marshall in town, and that things might be a little different around here.
"Well, that guy is not in the league anymore," smiled James. "The other 2-three is on the good side now. That other 2-three is gone, so we don't have to worry about that no more."
The biggest difference between LeBron's idol's shot and his was that MJ's dagger sent the Cavaliers home for the summer. The new 2-three's shot only put the Magic away for 44 hours.
The Cavaliers haven't had any success in Orlando this season, dropping both contests by an average of 20 points. But in any sport, there's always a huge momentum swing - in a game or in a series - when one team goes for the kill-shot and misses and the other team gets new life.
Savor every second of Friday night's big win. We are truly witnessing basketball genius.
But the series rolls on this Sunday night in the Magic Kingdom. And when gametime rolls around and No. 23 begins running through his pregame warmups, I'll be wondering, just like you ...
What's this guy gonna pull off next?


I'm still in a daze!
Susieb (DG4L)02:06 PM EST