June 19, 2016 produced one of the most replayed moments in recent NBA history when Mike Breen shouted “BLOCKED BY JAMES!!” after LeBron James chased down Andre Iguodala late in Game 7 of the Finals, followed minutes later by Kyrie Irving’s go-ahead 3-pointer that sealed Cleveland’s championship, according to ESPN. The series capped a season that also featured the Golden State Warriors’ record 73-win regular season and Kobe Bryant’s 60-point finale.
The 2016 postseason included dramatic comebacks across both conferences, highlighted by the Warriors rallying from 3-1 down to beat Oklahoma City in the West and Cleveland becoming the first team to erase a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals, according to ESPN. To mark the decade since, some members of that Cavaliers squad planned a European reunion that included playing golf in Scotland.
LeBron James was the engine of the Cavs’ 2016 run, leading the team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in that postseason — a feat noted by ESPN at the time — and his chase-down stop remains a defining image. Since then he has continued to add milestones: a 2020 Lakers title that made him the first Finals MVP with three franchises, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA’s career scoring mark in 2023, teaming with his son Bronny James as the first father-son teammates after Los Angeles drafted Bronny in 2024, and extending his career into a record 23rd season in 2025-26, according to ESPN.
According to ESPN, James, now 41, made his 22nd straight All-Star team and helped the Lakers to a first-round playoff win over the Houston Rockets despite the club dealing with injuries to Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. He was listed among the top available free agents this offseason if he chooses to return for a 24th season.
Kyrie Irving provided the go-ahead 3 in Game 7 and was a key figure in Cleveland’s comeback; he and James remain the only teammates to score 40 or more points in the same Finals game when each scored 41 in Game 5, according to ESPN. Irving requested a trade in 2017 and moved to the Boston Celtics, later spending time with Brooklyn and Dallas. He missed the end of Brooklyn’s 2021 second-round series versus Milwaukee with a sprained ankle and reached the 2024 Finals with the Mavericks, who lost to Boston in five games, according to ESPN.
Irving sat out the Mavericks’ 2025-26 season with a torn left ACL and is listed at age 34 in ESPN’s reporting. Many members of the 2016 roster remain linked by that title run a decade on, whether in retirement, overseas plans or ongoing NBA careers.
