Three moments. Three years. One date: March 18. That might be THE date LeBron James would want to circle out in his highlight-studded basketball career.
On Wednesday night at Toyota Center, the 41-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star went 8-of-8 from the field in the first half against the Houston Rockets in a 124-116 win. He hadn't shot that efficiently through a half without missing since March 18, 2011, when he dropped 20 first-half points on 8-of-8 shooting against the Atlanta Hawks as a member of the Miami Heat.
The significance of the date in James lore doesn't end there. In 2013, that date produced one of the most replayed dunks in NBA history.
James soared over Jason Terry in at TD Garden, slamming home a lob from Norris Cole and staring down the fallen Boston Celtics guard. The technical foul that followed was worth every penny. The Heat extended their winning streak to 23 games that night, the second longest in league history at that point, and Miami clawed back from a 17-point deficit for a 105-103 win.
The clip resurfaced on social media on Wednesday, just hours before James began torching the Rockets in Houston. One X account posted the footage alongside an old interview where Terry, now an assistant coach with the Utah Jazz, recounted just how inescapable that moment became.
"I'll forever go down in history like ‘you got dunked on by the king!' Every camp, every clinic I go to in America, I go and talk to kids. They don't ask me ‘how did it feel to play 19 years and play with Dirk and win a chip?' They say how does it feel for LeBron to dunk on you like that?" Terry, a member of the Dallas Mavericks' 2011 championship team alongside Dirk Nowitzki, hilariously narrated.
Jason Terry explains what life was like after LeBron dunked on him
"I'll forever go down in history like ‘you got dunked on by the king!' Every camp, every clinic I go to in America I go and talk to kids. They don't ask me ‘how did it feel to play 19 years and play with Dirk… https://t.co/yw8KWLiDygpic.twitter.com/66ZGZnViQk
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) March 19, 2026
For James, the dunk was indeed personal. It was Terry, who had helped Dallas beat James in the 2011 Finals, and he had dismissed the Heat's winning streak before that game. James answered with one of the most vicious posters of his career.
"I've had a chance to review it, and it was one of my better ones," James said afterward. "The fact that it happened to J.T. made it that much sweeter. Because we all know J.T. and he talks too much sometimes. And I'm glad it happened to him."
Thirteen years later, Terry still can't get over it. And now the date itself has become a testament to James's longevity.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
In 2011, James was 26, a Heat newcomer still searching for his first championship. In 2013, he was in the middle of the most dominant regular-season stretch of his career. And in 2026, at 41 years old, playing alongside Luka Doncic, he is somehow recreating the same efficiency.
On Wednesday night, James eventually finished with 30 points on a ridiculous 13-of-14 shooting as the Lakers won their seventh straight game. That tied the best single-game field goal percentage of his 23-year career from 2013.
At this point, nobody knows how many more March 18ths James has left. But circling it back three times across 15 years just reminds everyone that the man simply refuses to fade.
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