How it unfolded
The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors 93-89. The Warriors had set the NBA's best-ever regular-season record at 73-9 and led the series 3-1. No team had ever come back from a 1-3 deficit in the NBA Finals. Game 7 hit a stalemate late in the fourth quarter, with neither team scoring for 4 minutes 39 seconds at 89-89. With 1:50 left, Andre Iguodala drove for a fast-break layup, and LeBron James chased him down from the opposite end of the court to block the shot just before it reached the backboard. With 53 seconds left, Kyrie Irving hit a three over Stephen Curry on the right wing to make it 92-89. James added one free throw to seal it. James finished the game with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and led both teams across the whole series in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. It was Cleveland's first championship in any of America's four major pro sports since 1964.
Why it still matters
This is the most dramatic confirmation that a regular-season record guarantees nothing in June, and it's the single most-cited series on LeBron James's résumé. Its ripples reached the league's structure: the Warriors signed Kevin Durant the following year, opening the superteam era, and stricter luxury-tax rules aimed at curbing star concentration followed. It's a rare case where the outcome of one game influenced the league's own roster-building rules.