2001 Slam Dunk to the Beach:

When the final game of the 2001 Slam Dunk to the Beach tipped off on Sunday night with junior prodigy LeBron James battling fierce 6-9 athlete Jason Fraser, everyone in attendance knew that an entertaining show was in store. But they couldn't have known that they'd witness a classic. James celebrated his 17th birthday on Sunday and obviously had much for which to be thankful, but one thing he wasn't happy to receive was a bloody nose in the opening minutes of the game. The 6-7 -- or is it 6-8? -- wing caught the iron on a 10-foot runner ... and he also caught a smack to the face and was sent crashing to the floor, then to the bench for clean-up. But LeBron was undaunted. Many close to the St. Vincent program noted prior to Slam Dunk that he hasn't been making -- or even taking -- his outside jump shot this season.

That all changed on Sunday night, when LeBron finally showed off his ridiculously high-arching three-point stroke. He hit a pair of threes in the first half and 5-12 shots total through the first two periods, but he did most of his damage at the foul line, where he buried nine of his ten attempts on his way to 21 points. Perhaps his biggest highlight of the half was actually a pass. James streaked down the left side of the floor in a two-on-three situation, cut sharply to the middle of the lane and delivered a beautiful underhanded lookaway pass to a teammate for a wide open layup. But amid the chaos both James and Fraser made enough plays to keep their teams moving forward. Jason hit another three -- this one absolutely ridiculous, with tons of elevation and in a defender's face -- and clearly stood in the way of some of LeBron's penetration opportunities. James struck back when Fraser got caught guarding him on the perimeter. He dribbled out by the three-point stripe, faked a step-back three attempt to get Fraser leaning forward, then dribbled by him in a move that got Jason so off-balance that LeBron may have been able to run a circle around him before the big man recovered. James then gave Fraser -- who's known for his Big East-style glares -- a long look as he trotted back down the floor.

LeBron had shared the wealth throughout the waning moments, but this time he was determined to carry the load himself. With seven seconds left, he made a quick move on the wing to free himself and launched a 22-footer that hit nothing but cord on the way through. And he was fouled. The crowd was now almost ready to riot, as LeBron stepped to the line with 5.4 seconds remaining, a tie score, and the chance to give his team the win ... swish. A horrified Amityville called timeout to regroup and attempt a last-second shot. When action resumed, Fraser found Price open beyond mid-court and hit him with a perfect pass and the Irish fouled him to prevent a layup. This time the precocious sophomore stepped to the line and buried both shots to give Amityville a one-point lead with four seconds left. St. Vincent-St. Mary called timeout and drew up a final play. But Amityville deflected the pass out of bounds and reduced the time remaining to three seconds. Amityville clearly wasn't going to let LeBron receive the in-bounds pass. James made a quick stutter step to break free of two defenders and streak down the sideline. But the pass was tipped and rolled unclaimed down with time almost expired. LeBron was able to scoop it up as he was falling out of bounds -- 27 feet away from the basket -- and make a final desperate heave to win the game. Everyone, and we mean everyone, knew this shot was going in as soon as it left his hand. It couldn't be any other way, right? But it bounced off the front rim, and Amityville survived with an 84-83 triumph. James finished the game with 39 points and seven assists, while Fraser led the way for Amityville with 28 points and 18 rebounds.