It was a great game winner, not going to deny that.  It was an awesome play, and it was unexpected. To catch the ball cleanly, then release in a normal fluid shooting motion in less than a 1 second and then to have the ball actually go in was pretty unreal.  I couldn’t believe what I just saw, nor could all the thousands of fans in the Quicken Loans Arena and the millions upon millions watching at home.   You don’t see a buzzer beater very often, so it is always cool to see one when it you are not the fan of the losing team.  However, can we settle down with ranking it among the all-time greats? Why the need for the instant history hysterics?

I get it, LeBron James made the shot.  That is why you have Sportscenter already trying to rank it in their highlight packages.  I am sure Page 2 will have it ranked sometime this week.  Bill Simmons immediately tweeted it among his Top 12 pantheon of game winning shots.   Is that shot worthy of being ranked so highly?  As of right now it does not.

The Magic cameback to win game 3, and did it pretty easily. They were not deflated by LeBron’s game winner.  As of right now, that shot just has kept the Cavs from being down 3-0 instead of 2-1.  The Magic remain in control of the series. This wasn’t even the first buzzer beater that the Magic have dealt with in the playoffs.  Remember Big Baby? That shot tied the series at 2, and gave homecourt back to the Celtics.  The shot didn’t even get talked about it.  Glen Davis running over a kid in celebration is what grabbed attention.  What ended up happening in that series?

What if anyone else on the Cavs made that shot?  Does it get the attention all weekend long? Of course not. LeBron James is supposed to be the “next Michael Jordan,” which even to itself is stupid. Because you cannot be someone else, as soon as you reach that level you are the “1st whoever.”  But LeBron did hit it.  He is the best player in the league (sorry Kobe), he is this seasons MVP, he is the one that is supposed to bring Cleveland out of their misery.  He is supposed to give hope to the city of Cleveland, which is being hit hard in these tough economic times.  Which makes as much sense as when Michigan State made the Final Four and was supposed to change things in Detroit.  But these are reasons as to why this shot is being made out to being such a big deal.  Remember when Kobe hit a game winner against the Suns a few years ago?  Still thinking about it?  Yeah, the Lakers lost that series. We won’t get into: “what would have happened had he missed it?”

But what if LeBron didn’t take it and someone else made it, like Sasha Pavolic or Mo Williams? Would the story been as big?  Would we have seen the highlight as many times? Would we have seen a clip from the Cleveland Newscast?  Most likely the answer is no. It would have been treated much like Big Baby’s game winner.  The other story would have been about how LeBron gives his teammates this confidence to make those shots, how much better he makes them.  Or how all the attention was being given to him, and the defense didn’t worry about Delonte West.  However, it definitely would not have reached the hysteria that it hit late Friday night and all day Saturday.

The greatness of the play will increase if the Cavs can win this series, which is really in doubt right now.  But as of right now, no one should be placing it among the all-time best.  It should only rank high for the 2009 playoffs, slightly behind Glen “Big Baby” Davis’.

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