Former NBA guard Damon Jones is an ex-teammate and coach of LeBron James as well as his close friend. But back in 2005, he was just a rival guard with the Miami Heat who found himself on the wrong end of a ruthless LeBron James poster dunk. At the time, LeBron was a high-flying 20-year-old forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers with unlimited bounce–and he took a moment to remind Jones just how high he got that day on Twitter this week.
The famous finish developed as Cavs guard Jeff McInnis pushed the ball down the right side of the floor on a fast break. As McInnis approached the basket, Jones jumped out to prevent the point blank field goal. In response, McInnis dumped the ball to LeBron who was streaking down the left side of the floor at full-speed. After James collected the pass from his point guard, Damon made the regrettable decision of trying to jump with the King and the rest is history.
“My, my, my!! What in the H-E-double-hockey sticks was that man thinking,” LeBron wrote on Twitter in response to a video of Damon’s attempt to defend James at the rim back in 2005. “He wasn’t, is the problem.”
LeBron would put plenty more defenders on posters from there throughout his career, but the dunk on Jones during his second season in the league was one of the first high-flying finishes that really made your jaw drop. It was an electric dunk that was simply punishing and it sent a message to others around NBA–if you want to try to jump with LeBron, make sure you do so at your own risk. If not, you might end up on a poster that people are still talking about nearly 15 years later.
