CLEVELAND — To be featured in “One Shining Moment,” the legendary highlights package shown after the championship game of every NCAA Tournament is the goal of all the teams and players in the field of 68.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James never had the chance to be featured in “One Shining Moment” because did not play college basketball, as he jumped to the professional ranks from Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, where the Cleveland Cavaliers selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
Not to worry, however, as former NBA guard Rex Chapman tweeted out a video of the James’ first season with the Lakers set to “One Shining Moment,” but instead of being a highlight package, it was more of a gag reel full of missteps on the floor, getting lost in defense and shooting airballs.
The video opens with James dancing while sitting on the sideline and cuts to Kyle Kuzma doing shoulder shrugs on media day, as well as Lance Stephenson emphatically playing the air guitar after a basket and Rajon Rondo straightening the collar of coach Luke Walton during pregame introductions.
And who could forget about Michael Beasley wearing the wrong shorts and having to sub out to return to the locker room before entering the game?
In the on-court action part of the video, there is James throwing an inbounds pass off the backboard and back out of bounds for a turnover in Phoenix, Kuzma shoving him to get in position to play defense, as well as airballs and a fight between Rondo and Houston’s Chris Paul.
Also, there were those awkward moments where teammates miss high-fives or seemingly ignore them altogether and Rondo sitting among the first row of fans rather than on the bench in the waning seconds of a game.
During the second half of the video, James is shown walking up the court while the Rockets push the ball in transition, and then, letting a ball roll up the floor and out of bounds before picking it up.
In the final seconds, the video shows Houston’s James Harden throwing down a dunk and “posterizing” Lakers center JaVale McGee and James getting blocked by New York Knicks forward Mario Hezonja in the final seconds of a game at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Following the block, James is shown dropping to one knee in frustration while Hezonja points and laughs at the 16-year professional.
Currently, the Lakers are 31-40 and in 11th place in the Western Conference standings, 10.5 games in back of their in-arena rival, the Los Angeles Clippers, for the eighth and final playoff spot.
Limited to 51 games because of a mid-season groin injury, James has averaged 27.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 51.4 percent from the field, 33.9 percent from three-point range and a career-worst 66.4 percent from the free-throw line.
Except for the points-per-game average, James’ numbers in every statistical category have declined from his last year with the Cavaliers to this season in Los Angeles.