Rating NBA's 21 most iconic photographs of twenty first century: Steph, Kobe, Dame on checklist a number of occasions, however who's No. 1?

Ever since Stephen Curry rained in what Ian Eagle instantly and completely dubbed the “Golden Dagger” on this summer time’s Olympics, I have been occupied with the place that shot ranks among the many most iconic photographs I’ve seen all through my lifetime. Roughly, that dates again to the early Nineteen Nineties, once I actually began watching NBA basketball. 

However clearly that is an arbitrary and extremely private cutoff. So then I narrowed it to the 2000s. That takes out all of the Michael Jordan photographs, the Reggie Miller eight factors in 9 seconds, the Larry Johnson four-point play and the Mario Elie kiss of loss of life, the Alonzo Mourning fall-on-his-back buzzer beater, the Steve Kerr and John Paxson Finals winners, the Magic Johnson All-Star Sport 3-pointer, the Patrick Ewing missed finger roll and a bunch of others. 

These photographs won’t ever be forgotten, however additionally they will not be on this checklist. Different photographs that will not make this checklist: Dunks and free throws. Dunks are their very own class, and free throws aren’t subject targets. That removes Klay Thompson strolling to the road and sinking a pair on a torn ACL within the 2019 Finals, the well-known Kobe Bryant lob to Shaquille O’Neal within the 2000 Western Convention finals, and Vince Carter’s dunk over seven-footer Frederic Weis within the 2000 Olympics. All different photographs qualify. 

So, with out additional ado, listed below are my 21 most iconic photographs by NBA gamers of the twenty first century. Observe: They are not all game-winners, and so they did not all come within the playoffs. The unofficial barometer of those rankings is how clear the shot stays within the common fan’s head, or how shortly somebody would recall the shot. If it is an “oh yeah, I forgot about that one” shot, it is additional down on the checklist. Right here we go. 

21. Dirk stamps out Heat (2011)

It is too unhealthy that this shot is not much more memorable, as a result of it was the signature shot of one of many extra signature championships of this century. Dallas was properly on its solution to taking place 2-0 within the 2011 Finals as Miami’s Huge 3 had raced out to 15-point lead with simply over seven minutes to play within the fourth quarter. The Mavericks proceeded to shut the sport on a 22-5 run, with Dirk Nowitzki scoring Dallas’ remaining 9 factors together with this game-winning lefty scoop with 3.6 seconds to play, earlier than happening to win the collection in six. 

20. Durant’s Sport 3 dagger (2017)

When Kevin Durant pulled up for this transition 3 in Sport 3 of the 2017 Finals, with the Warriors down two and below a minute to play, and being that it was over LeBron James, plenty of foolish symbolism speak began going round about it signaling Durant’s official supplanting of James because the world’s finest participant. That wasn’t true. However Durant wasn’t far off, and nonetheless is not, and he was completely ridiculous on this collection in averaging over 35 PPG on 56/47/93 capturing splits. 

Durant buried one other Sport 3 dagger within the 2018 Finals, however in that one the Warriors have been already profitable. This one was completely different. Cleveland was proper there to win this sport and and probably make it a collection at 2-1. Durant ended any considered that. James was clearly apprehensive about getting beat with Durant coming at him with a head of steam, however you simply cannot give KD this type of area when a 3-pointer beats you and a two solely ties. 

19. Luka dances on Gobert’s grave (2024)

That is the newest NBA shot on our checklist. Sport 2 of the 2024 Western Convention finals. Mavs path by two as the ultimate seconds tick down. Luka Doncic, who has already hit quite a lot of memorable photographs in his younger profession, will get the swap he desires and goes to work one on one towards poor Rudy Gobert, who’s on an island and has no probability of staying related as Doncic goes into his bag for his patented step-back. 

After hitting this shot, Doncic had some choice words for Gobert, who’s, let’s say, lower than preferred by plenty of NBA gamers. That is a part of the indelible reminiscence of the shot itself. The larger query right here is why Gobert was within the sport within the first place. Minnesota coach Chris Finch confirmed after the sport that the plan was to change all screens, by which case, Doncic searching Gobert was inevitable. Finch put his massive man in an inconceivable scenario, and Luka made them pay dearly.

18. LeBron works his Magic (2009)

LeBron James went wild within the 2009 Jap Convention finals towards the Magic by averaging 38.5 factors, 8.3 rebounds and eight.0 assists. It wasn’t sufficient as Orlando eradicated the Cavs in six, however LeBron nonetheless walked away with the signature shot of the collection and of his younger profession with a buzzer-beating 3 to steal Sport 2. The shot. The response. It is all etched clear as day in our collective basketball reminiscence. 

17. Curry places Clippers in blender (2015)

Stephen Curry modified basketball in two methods, along with his capacity to shoot from nearly limitless distances and off the dribble with a degree of effectivity that by no means might’ve been imagined. He utterly rewrote the definition of what constitutes a “good shot,” and there’s maybe no higher instance of this than when he freewheeled via the Clippers like a bunch of visitors cones earlier than spinning and sinking what could be a fully horrible shot for anybody else in basketball historical past. 

“I bear in mind from the sideline him trying like Curly Neal from the Harlem Globetrotters,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr stated afterward. “In my thoughts, I am occupied with each coach that I’ve ever had in my life, their voice was in my head saying that is a horrible shot. What I ultimately found out is that it is an incredible shot, as a result of it is Steph Curry. The numbers do not lie. That is a shot he makes over 40% of the time. I lastly realized, Steph will get to shoot every time he desires.”

Paul has gotten plenty of criticism through the years for not having the ability to end playoff collection. He’s, actually, the one participant in historical past to squander 4 2-0 collection leads. However in 2015, he flipped the script because it was Paul’s Clippers recovering from an 0-2 gap to knock out the defending championship Spurs, and it was Paul who banked within the Sport 7 winner with one second to play. 

That is an excellent cooler reduce of the shot, displaying simply how tough an angle it was as Paul simply barely cleared the outstretched fingertips of Tim Duncan.

15. LeBron turns into scoring king (2023)

LeBron James handed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because the NBA’s profession scoring chief with a 15-foot fallaway towards the Thunder on Feb. 7, 2023. There was nothing significantly memorable in regards to the shot, but everybody remembers it. We have been all monitoring his factors over the previous weeks. Each media outlet was doing a little sort of countdown. He wanted 36 to get the file at residence towards OKC. He ended the evening with 38,390 profession factors, a complete that has since risen to 40,474. 

14. Durant’s toe on the road (2021)

One of many league’s all-time”what if” photographs, Durant was an inch, actually, from eliminating the Milwaukee Bucks with a exceptional turnaround jumper to offer the Brooklyn Nets what seemed to be a one-point lead with one second to play in Sport 7 of within the 2021 Jap Convention semifinals. Nevertheless, upon assessment, Durant’s “big-ass toe,” as he known as it, was barely on the road, turning the 3-pointer to a two and as an alternative tying the rating. 

If Durant wears a dimension 17 shoe as an alternative of a dimension 18, the Nets most likely win that sport and that collection and find yourself enjoying the Atlanta Hawks within the convention finals. The what ifs from there can go any variety of instructions. 

For one, Giannis Antetokounmpo would not have a hoop. Possibly Chris Paul does. Or, possibly Durant will get his first away from Steph Curry and the Warriors, which might in flip have given James Harden his first ring and Kyrie Irving his first away from LeBron. In that case, possibly Durant, Irving and Harden are nonetheless enjoying for the Nets. As a substitute, they’re enjoying for the Suns, Mavericks and Clippers, respectively.

Or, the convention finals go one other method and the Hawks get into the Finals as a result of the Nets have been banged up (Harden left after one minute in Sport 1 and sat via Sport 4 with hamstring tightness whereas Irving missed Video games 5-7 with a sprained ankle). How are we speaking about Trae Young if he has an NBA Finals look below his belt. Hell, with the best way the Hawks have been enjoying that postseason, they could have received all of it had the Bucks not stopped them. 

Alas, none of it occurred. As a substitute of ending the collection, Durant’t shot solely despatched Sport 7 to additional time the place the Nets fell brief. And the remainder, as they are saying, is historical past. 

13. Kobe’s final shot (2016)

The final soar shot of Kobe Bryant’s profession will stay endlessly within the NBA time capsule. It punctuated a fall-out-of-your-seat-ridiculous sequence that concluded what was maybe the best exit efficiency in sports activities historical past: a 60-point masterpiece towards the Jazz, who led by six with 90 seconds to play. 

That is when Kobe cut up two defenders and pulled up from the fitting elbow to chop the deficit to 4. On the following possession, he buried a wing 3-pointer to trim Utah’s result in one. Then he did this …

Cliche as it’s, Hollywood could not have scripted a greater ending. It had every part that made Kobe Kobe: the basic fade on his jumpers, the refusal to offer in to defeat, the steely stare focus, the showmanship — a whole crew, enviornment, metropolis and NBA world going berserk round him and all he might see was the basket. It is nonetheless laborious to imagine Kobe is gone, however this shot and his legacy stay on.

12. LeBron’s banked buzzer-beater (2018)

What LeBron James did to the Raptors after returning to Cleveland from Miami was merciless, eliminating them three straight years, the ultimate two of which have been sweeps. The last word nail within the coffin was LeBron’s game-winner in Sport 3 of the 2018 Jap Convention semis, when he raced finish to finish for a floating banker simply as time expired to offer Cleveland a 105-103 win and a 3-0 collection lead. 

11. Derek Fisher 0.4 seconds (2004)

This was 20 years in the past, however time has completed little to decrease the reminiscence of Fisher catching an inbound move along with his again to the basket and 0.4 seconds on the clock and in some way managing to show and hearth a hot-potato jumper clear via the online to stun the Spurs in Sport 5 of the 2004 Western Convention finals.              

The minimal period of time required to catch and shoot is 0.3 seconds. Once more, Fisher had 0.4, and his again was turned. I bear in mind watching this shot stay and practically falling out of my seat. And I, together with thousands and thousands upon thousands and thousands of NBA followers, have by no means forgotten it. 

10. Curry’s golden dagger (2024)

Is that this recency bias? I do not suppose so. In reality, I believe when it is all stated and completed, this ridiculous off-balance, falling-away, arcing-to-the-heavens 3-pointer to cap a private four-3s-in-two-minutes run and seal a gold medal for america will go down because the second-most memorable shot of Stephen Curry’s profession. 

Context is king in splitting hairs for a rating of photographs like those we’re speaking about, and given the truth that it was Curry’s first Olympic look, to not point out all of the hoopla round Curry and LeBron lastly teaming up, the anticipation of this complete Olympic run was at an all-time excessive. In some way, Curry, after a nasty begin to the event, did not simply stay as much as all of the hype; he exceeded it. This shot was the exclamation level. 

9. Kobe pulls up on Suns (2006)

This was within the “Lakers aren’t excellent however Kobe is rattling positive going to attempt to beat the world by himself” period. Bryant averaged 35 PPG in 2005-06 for the primary of two consecutive scoring titles, and he regarded like he was about to eradicate the Suns within the first spherical of the playoffs. 

It was Sport 4. The Lakers have been up 2-1 within the collection. After Kobe had tied the sport with a twisting layup off a Smush Parker steal within the closing seconds of regulation, he ran down a soar ball in additional time because it was heading out of bounds and, with the Lakers down one, turned and raced straight to the fitting elbow for his patented pull-up jumper. 

In case you have been watching this sport, that is a kind of photographs you’d have wager your life was going within the instantaneous it left his fingertips. For me, maybe due to the basic fist-pump response, that is probably the most memorable shot of Kobe’s profession, and I do not suppose I am alone in that opinion.

8. Lillard grounds Rockets (2014)

Damian Lillard has considerably overshadowed this shot with one other, newer collection ender that we’ll get to shortly, however that is the one which acquired the legend of Lillard off the bottom — a 30-footer off the catch to ship the Blazers into the second spherical with below a second to play in Sport 6 of their 2014 first-round collection vs. Houston. 

Wanting again, what stands out virtually as a lot because the shot itself his how emphatically Lillard is asking for the ball, clapping his palms and sprinting towards the in-bounder as he senses the separation he is created from the trailing Chandler Parsons. Take note, this was Lillard’s first profession playoff collection and simply his second yr within the league, and he wished this shot. This was the delivery of some of the clutch shooters we have ever seen. 

7. Curry pulls up on OKC (2016)

It wasn’t within the Olympics. It wasn’t even within the playoffs. However Steph Curry’s 38-foot pull-up winner towards OKC in February of 2016 was an all-time shot and second. Personally, I’ve by no means reacted to a shot as wildly as I did this one. Mike Breen’s double-bang says all of it. No person might imagine what they only noticed. 

Curry was on one other planet this complete season. Each sport he was making a number of photographs that defied logic, and he was doing it routinely. He had 46 on this sport towards the Thunder. The Warriors have been down 11 with below 5 minutes to play. 

However that season, when Curry hit 402 3-pointers at a laughable 45% clip, you possibly can be up 30 on the Warriors and nonetheless be apprehensive. Curry simply stored firing. And ultimately, he virtually all the time acquired sizzling. He was can’t-miss TV for the straightforward incontrovertible fact that he would, on a random evening in February, casually pull up from practically half courtroom in a tie sport, in additional time, when his crew had a timeout in its pocket. 

Neglect the expertise. The sheer audacity of this shot is worthy of a top-10 rating on this checklist. Curry will seemingly by no means make a extra memorable one. 

6. Robert Horry guts Kings (2002)

These early 2000s Lakers-Kings playoff collection have been classics, and within the 2002 Western Convention finals it regarded like Sacramento was going to recover from the hump with a 2-1 collection lead and a two level lead within the closing seconds of Sport 4. 

Kobe missed a possible game-tying layup. Shaq missed the putback. That is when Vlade Divac swatted the ball away from the basket hoping time would expire. As a substitute, it served as a superbly chest-high kickout move to the ready Robert Horry, who completely gutted the Kings with this unforgettable buzzer-beater. 

After the sport, Divac known as this a “lucky shot.”

“That wasn’t no luck shot,” Horry responded. “I have been doing that each one my total profession. He ought to know. He higher learn a paper or one thing.”

Horry was proper. You aren’t getting the identify Huge Shot Bob for nothing. Dude has made extra massive photographs than simply about any participant in historical past, and none have been larger than this. 

5. Dame waves goodbye (2019)

Underneath any circumstances, watching Lillard bleed down the clock to its remaining ticks earlier than pulling up for a sidestep 38-foot buzzer-beater to win a playoff collection would’ve been epic. Nevertheless it was the unhealthy blood that was effervescent between Lillard and the Thunder — he and Russell Westbrook had been jabbing within the media for years, and Dennis Schroder had mocked Lillard’s “Dame Time” wrist faucet earlier within the collection — that took it to a different degree. 

Neglect Steph’s “night-night” or Kobe’s fist pump and even Jordan’s hanging comply with via in Utah; Lillard actually waving goodbye to the Thunder bench was probably the most savage sendoff in NBA historical past. 

4. Kawhi bounces 76ers (2019)

I swear this ball continues to be sitting on the rim half a decade later. So many careers and franchise fortunes hanging within the stability. If it drops out, possibly the 76ers win in additional time and Joel Embiid not less than has a convention finals look on his resume, if no more than that contemplating the Warriors have been hobbled. Possibly the Ben Simmons factor goes otherwise. Possibly Jimmy Butler stays. 

As a substitute, the ball falls via the online and every part adjustments. The Sixers begin breaking apart. The Raptors go on to win the primary and solely championship in franchise historical past. Kawhi Leonard turns into probably the most sought-after commodity in the marketplace, and even manages to interrupt up the Thunder on his solution to the Clippers by bringing Paul George with him. 

The shot. The response. The longer term fortunes and fallout. This shot had all of it, a Sport 7 buzzer beater in contrast to something we have ever seen. 

3. Allen Iverson’s Step Over (2001)

It wasn’t a series-winner or perhaps a game-winner, however who might ever neglect Allen Iverson hitting the brakes on Ty Lue, stepping again and swishing a nook jumper, after which stepping over Lue as he sat on the bottom helplessly in Sport 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals? 

Iverson, who was an absolute one-man offense for these Sixers, scored 48 factors over 52 minutes on this additional time win for Philly. The Lakers received the following 4 video games to win the collection handily, however it has been the step-over picture that has endured. 

In Everything But The Chip: The 2001 76ers, Iverson recalled of the step-over transfer … “I can not inform you what the sensation was like. I can not duplicate it. I used to be within the second. I simply know [Lue] fell in entrance of me; I do not understand how I even considered stepping over him like that. I used to be simply enjoying basketball.” 

Lue, for his half, has by no means understood the large cope with the transfer. 

“Individuals make an enormous deal over it like he crossed me over and I fell down after which he stepped over me,” Lue stated on an look on All the Smoke. “He hit a contested shot and I stepped again and I fell, he stepped over prime of me. For me, it wasn’t an enormous deal. To today it is not an enormous deal.”

Lue is true. He truly defended that step-back about in addition to anybody might have. He acquired a hand up on the shot after which stumbled afterward. It is not like Iverson broke his ankles with the precise transfer. Nonetheless, it is a sequence of occasions that point has completed nothing to fade. Iverson stepping over Lue is as clear a picture because it was greater than 20 years in the past. 

2. Ray Allen rescues the Warmth (2013)

This was a legacy-altering shot however it wasn’t Allen’s legacy within the stability; it was LeBron James’ after he modified the NBA as we all know it, or knew it, by forming the Huge 3 in Miami. If Allen would not hit this shot within the closing seconds of Sport 6, LeBron loses his second Finals in three years in Miami and is 3-7 within the Finals for his profession, which in some way sounds lots worse than 4-6. 

However Allen modified historical past by first understanding precisely how far to backpedal to the nook off a Chris Bosh offensive rebound, and second by truly drilling the shot to tie the sport. The Warmth went on to win in additional time, and two days later closed out the collection in Sport 7. 

1. Kyrie Irving places the Cavs forward in Sport 7 (2016)

It is a painful reminiscence for the Northern California child and longtime Warriors fan in me, however I’ve to confess, my nostalgic allegiances however, I sort of smiled when this shot went in. It was all I might muster, however I needed to tip my hat to Kyrie and the Cavs. To be down 3-1 towards a 73-win crew and are available again to win the championship on a shot like this? Wow. 

That is the shot each child desires up within the driveway. Sport 7. Tie rating. One on one towards the MVP. All the burden of a championship drought in Cleveland that had lasted properly over half a century resting in your shoulders, and also you stand up and stick the that sort of dagger? Say what you need about Kyrie, however this was, is, and endlessly can be one of many NBA’s most legendary photographs.