It was the poster dunk heard around the world, then it quickly turned into the meme to end all memes. Jason Terry gets asked about that one play more than anything else in his storied 19-year career.
Terry was a guest on Untold Stories with MasterTes this week where he described getting viciously dunked on by former Miami Heat star LeBron James. The year was 2013 and Terry was playing for the Boston Celtics when he encountered James and the Heat in a regular-season rematch of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals. Tempers and adrenaline were both running high.
James was streaking down the middle like a steamroller on the play in question after Dwyane Wade had stolen it from Terry. Wade dished it out to Mario Chalmers who flipped it to Norris Cole and then he served up a perfect lob alley-oop to James for the monster dunk. It was as pretty as it was vicious — and the dunk has haunted Terry for the rest of his life.
Sure guys, LeBron James posterized Jason Terry for an all-time dunk, but he did have five turnovers that game.
“It was a fast break, I was coming down … I turned the ball over so it’s just instinct for me, I got to get it back so I’m chasing it,” Terry told MasterTes. “I mean, I may have chased their whole team and the coach, trying to get the ball back. I got Chalmers coming at me, and then LeBron is coming down the middle, and I took my eyes off LeBron for one second, chased Chalmers, turned back around and he was already in the air.”
The dunk went viral, one of the first NBA memes to hit it big. Terry said his Celtics teammates harassed him for months about it. Numbers he didn’t have names attached to texted him for at least three weeks asking if he was okay. And Terry’s Wikipedia page updated his death date: March 18, 2013.
“I jumped, man, and he [James] lifted me on his knee and I was still going up with him … it was like I was in the rim,” Terry said. “I didn’t hop up quick, I laid there for a minute, and I think that’s the meme that’s out, like I’m laying there with my arms folded, like we at a funeral.”
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Terry Describes Partying in South Beach
Terry was no stranger to intense rivalries with the Miami Heat. Remember, he was a key member of the 2011 Dallas Mavericks squad which upset the Big Three in six games in the NBA Finals.
Untold Stories Episode 24
Jason Terry reflects on my favorite team ever, the 2011 Dallas Mavericks.
The headband-wearing guard recalled celebrating on the court at AmericanAirlines Arena in 2011 and then taking the party to LIV Nightclub at the famed Fontainebleau Hotel. The Mavericks brought the Larry O’Brien Trophy to the club and racked up an epic $110,000 tab.
“To walk through their prestigious Club LIV, with the trophy, and this big a** wheelbarrow of ice … to this day, I haven’t seen a bottle of champagne that big,” Terry told Untold Stories. “I remember Lil Wayne definitely gave us a shout-out on the mic. I remember [Mark] Cuban getting on the stage with the mic. Dirk [Nowitzki] was on stage with the mic, after that it’s a blur.”
Mark Cuban left the server at club LIV a $20,000 tip on at $110,000 tab. #WINNING #mavericks
Celtics Fans, Most Loyal in Pro Basketball?
Another interesting nugget from Terry’s interview with MasterTes was his effusive praise for Boston Celtics fans. The 43-year-old only played one season in Beantown and didn’t win a championship there, yet they treat him like a conquering hero every time he visits. Terry averaged 10.1 points and 2.5 assists per game in his lone year in Boston.
“I will tell you this, Boston got some of the greatest sports fans ever and every time I go back it’s all love,” Terry said. “You would think I won a championship and played there my whole career.”
“‘I go and talk to kids [and they ask] How did it feel for LeBron to dunk on you like that?’” – @jasonterry31
His resume, in short:
➖ 1x Champion
➖ 6th Man of the Year
➖ 7th all-time for 3PM
This is the same town where Terry got turned into a poster by James in 2013. That game took place at the TD Garden.
“I want to say it’s one of the lowest moments in my career but at the same time, I’ll forever go down in history like you got dunked on by the King,” Terry said. “Every camp, every clinic around America, I go and talk to kids and they don’t ask like how did it feel like to play 19 years? How did it feel to play with Dirk or win a championship? No, it’s how did it feel for LeBron to dunk on you like that? C’mon man, get outta here.”
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Jason Terry Recalls Beating Miami Heat, Partying at SoBe Nightclub