On Sunday, James was inspired to tweet, “That 330 kid cooking right now!” McCollum was raised in Canton, Ohio, not far from James’s hometown of Akron. Both cities are in the 330 area code.

Shortly after that — with under five minutes left and the Blazers up four — McCollum had a chase-down block on a layup attempt by Jamal Murray. With 12 seconds left in the game, McCollum hit a jump shot from about 16 feet that gave his team a three-point lead.

After the game, McCollum gave his own “330” shout-out to James, while saying that his block reminded him of James’s rejection of Andre Iguodala during Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

AD

AD

“It was a mini version of Bron’s block on Iggy, some years ago,” McCollum said. “I definitely didn’t get up as high, but it was a cool play. It’s something that I’ll remember forever — I might get a picture of that one, hang that joint up.”

James wrote on Twitter that the chase-down block was his “favorite play,” and he offered congratulations to McCollum.

Before that, James took a shot at basketball analytics, which have been the underpinning for an NBA revolution in which teams are increasingly eschewing midrange jump shots in favor of three-pointers or shots at the rim. Pointing to McCollum’s clutch make from 16 feet, James told his Twitter followers, “That’s exactly why I don’t wanna hear all that analytics talk!”

AD

You can see his tweet below:

That had some on Twitter defending analytics, by claiming that advanced metrics don’t indicate that midrange jumpers should never be taken, just that those shots are usually the least advantageous to offenses. But James doubled down on his stance, agreeing with a user’s declaration that “computers ain’t telling the whole story.”

While that debate can — and, if James apparently has anything to do with it, will — rage on through the rest of the postseason, the Nuggets’ season is over, in large part thanks to McCollum. He represented the 330 in grand fashion, and a certain NBA superstar with a fair amount of free time was most appreciative.