LeBron James’s 8 fadeaways in Game 2, ranked by levels of disrespect

Few human beings, if any, are more feared in the post than LeBron James. He’s cerebral. He sees the game better than any other player on the planet. He makes passes they don’t allow in video games. When all else fails, his brute strength is too much for most defenders to handle. And when he has it clicking on all cylinders, well, God bless the team that has to deal with all of it.

But most importantly, aside from his ridiculous basketball IQ, his court vision, passing ability, and brute strength, James can flat-out shoot the ball from the post. If the Toronto Raptors didn’t know that before Thursday night, now they know.

James chopped the Raptors up for 43 points on 19-of-28 shooting from the field. It got so bad, they renamed the city LeBronto — or LeBrontario. The brunt of his critical damage was done on the very low block he’s feared from around the league. Toronto never sent the help. After The King picked them apart, they will not make that mistake again.

Disrespect level: MODERATE

Nothing too fancy here. Just a casual step-back fading three-pointer from a living, breathing, GOAT grazing at the Air Canada Centre.

Disrespect level: MEH

James took a screen, dribbled back in towards the paint and stopped on a dime before fading away over his defender. It wasn’t a clean bucket but it went in. Don’t worry. We’re just getting started.

Disrespect level: SMH

The shot isn’t the disrespectful part here. No. It’s the fact that James started posting DeMar DeRozan up at the three-point line and backed him down into the paint. DeRozan contested pretty well without fouling. It didn’t matter. Super Splash Bros., no melee.

Disrespect level: YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO DO THAT, FAM

James fumbled the ball for a second and realized the defender behind him actually wasn’t a defender at all, merely a projection of Toronto’s imagination. So he turned around, falling away and shot a jump shot over a jersey.

Wow.

Disrespect level: THAT’S JUST FOUL

Give credit to Kyle Lowry. He’s six feet and has no business defending James in the first place. But man, The King’s just shooting over a chair at this point. Not even a high chair. More like a step stool.

Here I offer you a few pieces of evidence.

Exhibit A: The jab step that sends Pascal Siakam stumbling.

Exhibit B: The speed.

Exhibit C: The crime scene

Disrespect level: SUB!

Disrespect level: SAVAGE

When OG Anunoby signed his contract to become a professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors, I know he imagined being on a playoff team making a deep postseason run. He probably imagined his first NBA bucket, or his first poster dunk. He’s a solid defender, so he probably imagined his first steal. He probably imagined his first paycheck, and what he’d do with the largest amount of cash he’d ever seen.

I’m sure he NEVER imagined guarding James, who wouldn’t acknowledge his presence as a defender. James hit the “Lean Back” on Anunoby and faded away as if Fat Joe were playing in the background. I have never seen a fadeaway from that far away from the rim as disrespectful as this.

He knew he was going to do this all along! Love addressed the media after Cleveland’s Game 2 win and he shared a scene from shoot-around earlier in the morning. James was calling his shots all along. Only the greats can see the future.

“I actually stopped him on the way back when he went over his right shoulder then went over his left shoulder, he said when he got the mismatch that he was gonna do that,” Love said. “So he actually called called his shots this morning.”

The Cavaliers are up 2-0 with the series heading back to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4. That might be the most disrespectful part of it all. One season after LeBron James swept the Raptors in the second round, he’s on pace to do it again.