Posters, crossovers, and chase-down blocks may lead the highlights but nothing steals the show like clutch play down the stretch. Wrestling the lead in the fourth quarter, isolation buckets with the game on the line, a silent crowd watching as the final few minutes scuttle seamlessly off the clock.

Michael Jordan practically invented and patented it. Kobe Bryant’s mamba mentality was forged off these noted and dire circumstances. Agent Zero’s legend expanded like a lethal virus out of every countdown bucket. Iced veins, Dame time, Kings of the Fourth and many more pieces of NBA lore and fan jargon arose from fourth quarter heroics and clutch buckets.

Notice, I did not mention LeBron James. In spite of sane conversations putting LeBron in the same air as Jordan, there’s been a notion throughout James’ career that he’s not clutch, that his best moments rarely occur late in games or in the fourth quarter of tightly-contested contests. Willing passers are often miscast as passive operators. Stars who would just as easily give it up to an open teammate rather than force the jumper, aren’t seen as closers. Even if it’s the sound basketball play, fans prize hero ball above all else. Historically, James has been challenged by his critics in these moments. This year James has loudly challenged that notion. He’s been phenomenal in the fourth quarter, at both ends.

John Wall missed a potential go-ahead jumper over LeBron James late in the game. According to Second Spectrum, James has been the defender on 7 direct isolations in final minute of 1-possession games since returning to Cleveland. Opposing teams have scored 0 pts on those plays. — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 6, 2018

Let’s bust the myths.

James is second in fourth quarter scoring at 7.4 PPG, trailing only Lou Williams (7.9 PPG). He’s also first in clutch scoring this season (4.4 PPG). Clutch scoring as defined by the NBA comes in the final five minutes of a game in which the score is within five, in either direction.

You probably knew James was performing at a high rate in the fourth this season, with no Kyrie Irving or proven second creator, James has shouldered a massive load and the world has been watching. But this is new—right? Wrong.

Fourth quarter scoring since James’ rookie season (2003-04)

James has led the league in fourth quarter scoring three times. (2008 – 9.1 PPG, 2009 – 7.7 PPG and 2010 – 8 PPG.) James has finished in the top five for fourth quarter scoring 10 times. James has only missed the top 10 twice, his rookie year and 2011-12. If you’re still cynical or if Skip Bayless and other slanted pundits’ years of slander have held tight to the back of your mind, take a look at the clutch stats.

James has led the League in clutch scoring twice. (2018 and 2008 – 4.9 PPG.) James has finished in the top five for clutch scoring nine times. James has missed the top 10 in only 4 of his 15 seasons. (Two of which were his rookie and sophomore years, where James was 19 and 20 years of age.) What about the playoffs? Irving was widely viewed as the Cavaliers closer the last few years and credit to Irving, the man can dance under the hottest of lights, creating offense without oxygen. However, in their three playoff campaigns together, Irving never averaged more points in the fourth quarter than James. Nor did Irving ever shoot a higher percentage from the field in the fourth quarter than James.

2015: Irving – 5 PPG, James – 8.1 PPG. 2016: Irving – 5.5 PPG, James – 7.1 PPG. 2017: Irving – 4.5 PPG, James – 7.6 PPG.

If you want to go back to the Miami years, in four playoff runs with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, neither averaged more points in the fourth than James in any year. Credit where credit is due, Wade did vastly outplay James in the fourth quarter of the 2011 Finals (the one where LeBron famously melts down in the spotlight with his worst Finals showing). That aside, James has led in Finals per game clutch scoring, in four of his eight trips, including all three years that his team won the title. The notion that someone else had to push James-led teams across the finish line to secure the Larry O’Brien trophy is not true.

2012: James – 3.8 PPG, Wade was second at 2.3 PPG. 2013: James and Ray Allen tied at 5 PPG. 2016: James – 4 PPG, Irving was second at 3 PPG.

Defensively, we know who LeBron James is and he’s never been sold short at that end. In his prime, he was a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year often, finishing second in the voting in two separate years (2009 & 2013) and top five an additional two years (2010 and 2012). The defining play of his career is known simply as, “the block.” Which, as all good basketball fans know, could not have come at a more clutch time.

If you’re not sold, here are a couple more memorable moments. Game 7 of the 2016 Finals and a mind Splitter from the 2013 Finals.

Achilles was held by his heels in the river Styx as an infant, the only part of his body unwashed leaving him vulnerable at the Achilles tendon—or so the legend goes. James took heat this past week for missing some clutch free throws vs. Philadelphia in a close regular season game and has historically struggled from the line, at least relative to his all-time peers. If you’re curious, according to stats.nba.com, James has taken 28 free throws in the clutch moments of his eight Finals—and hit 24 of those attempts (86 percent). Which, for those keeping score from home, is 12 percent better than his 74 percent playoff average.

Finally, though it’s not directly tied to fourth quarter or clutch scoring, when James is facing a series clinching or elimination game in the Finals, he’s averaging 32.1 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 8.6 APG, 1.8 SPG, 1.5 BPG, with a field goal percentage of 48 percent. Over the 1,350 career games James has played, he has had some failings, he’s missed some shots and his teams have not always ended the year triumphantly, but claiming he’s not clutch or doesn’t perform on the biggest of stages under the hottest of lights is flat-out incorrect.