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WATCH: Evolution of the LeBron James ‘Put-Back Dunk’ After 9 Seasons

Published 01/17/2021, 9:26 AM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Though LeBron James is 36-years old, he can still provide some insane highlights on the court. Despite age slowing him down, LeBron continues to defy time and puts on performances people his age usually don’t. Players after 18 seasons in the league start to slow down, but LeBron is still fleshing out his legacy.

Even though the goal this season is an NBA Championship, King James has done quite a lot in his career. He has been to 10 NBA Finals in 17 seasons, winning 4 championships in the process. One of those title wins was marked by an Eastern Conference slug-fest between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat in 2012. However, LeBron closed that series out after being down 3-2.

Shades of ‘prime’ LeBron are still there, as evidenced by this put-back dunk against the New Orleans Pelicans day before.

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LeBron has been building his list of posterizing dunks even in this advanced age. We saw him shoot up to the rim plenty last season, and the King is planning on doing the same this season.

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LeBron James: How long can he keep this up?

The first thing that you see from the clip is that LeBron James can’t jump as high anymore. However, does that matter when the end result is the same? As long as the ball goes through the hoop and adds two points to the score, everyone is happy.

USA Today via Reuters

LeBron has built his body up over the last few seasons and is genuinely a freight train nowadays. Even though he isn’t as fast or agile as he used to be, he is way stronger and much harder to knock off the ball. His dunk over the 6’11 Nemanja Bjelica from last season is proof of that.

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LeBron had a fair amount of put-back dunks in the 2020 Playoffs as well. He is so skilled in getting through the traffic in the post and getting to loose balls atop the rim. The only difference is that 27-year-old LeBron did it with blistering pace and explosive athleticism. 36-year-old LeBron does it with finesse and authority.

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Written by:

Ishaan Bhattacharya

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Ishaan Bhattacharya is an NBA, NCAA Basketball, and Combat Sports writer at EssentiallySports. Currently, Ishaan is pursuing a Post Graduate Degree in Journalism from Xavier's Institute of Communication. Previously, Ishaan has written for The Indian Express, The Quint, Sportskeeda, and WrestleClub.
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