LeBron James impresses Dwyane Wade, Ric Flair with Game 3 performance

LeBron James was sensational again in Game 3 and Dwyane Wade and Ric Flair were clearly impressed by the King’s performance.

The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Toronto Raptors 115-94 to gain a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. Along the way, LeBron James was again sensational, and had his fifth straight playoff game scoring 33 points or more. That earned him high marks from Chicago Bulls shooting guard Dwyane Wade and “the Nature Boy” Ric Flair, a Hall of Famer in the pro wrestling world.

It was a tale of two halves, with the regular season Cavs making an appearance in the first half against the Toronto Raptors before the playoff Cavs left the visitor’s locker room to close out the game. James was the only constant.

With his 35 points, James scored 16 points in the first half, including this basket to put him past Shaquille O’Neal on the NBA’s all-time leaderboard for postseason field goals.

James is now third all-time in that category, finishing the game with 2,047.

He started the game posting up a comically overmatched Norman Powell, who he terrorized all game long.

In the first quarter, the story of the game was Kevin Love’s ability to get to the rim and the Cavs’ general ability to hit timely shots. James wasn’t assertive in the first quarter, frustrated with calls and no-calls alike while having a few unforced turnovers that killed his ability to attack on offense. He did hit a second field goal in the first quarter, hitting a push shot in the lane off-the-dribble after a nifty spin move while guarded by P.J. Tucker.

In the second quarter, James started the period by going coast to coast for the layup, a shot that allowed James to tie Shaquille O’Neal for third all-time in postseason field goals (2,041). That was the shot before James hit a three over Patrick Patterson from the top of the key.

He was fouled constantly as Love tried to hit him with his patented full-court passes. He hit a lefty layup late in the period after bulldozing Powell inside the arc. All the while, James kept his head on the swivel, finding Love, J.R. Smith, Kyrie Irving and Kyle Korver for easy baskets.

He never seemed to be pressing, or worried, even when the Cavs were behind on the board. The third quarter started with the Cleveland Cavaliers down 49-52 and, despite DeMar Derozan continuing to play the game of his life, James kept playing his game.

He drove to the basket, he found shooters from behind the arc.

Then James started doing the unbelievable. First, a tough left-handed push shot inside. Then, a tough stepback jumper over Powell.

Soon enough, it was the fourth quarter and what was a three-point lead for the Raptors turned into a two-point lead for the Cavs.

Kyle Korver brought the Cavs to life by hitting three straight triples. Tristan Thompson was able to do work inside on a lob and a simple postup.

The King did this:

His next field goal looked like this:

At this point, the Cleveland Cavaliers were up 105-84.

For anyone that plays NBA2K, you know that means.

It’s game… blouses.

(Translation: It’s game over.)

Pass the sticks.

(Translation: Pass the controller to the next person.)

The game wasn’t already over but at the point when James started to treat the game like NBA2K, the NBA might as well have changed the rules to the unspoken rule among people who’ve played NBA2K.

When you’re losing by 21 points, you get one shot at the other end to cut the lead back down and if you miss, you lose.

For what it’s worth, the Raptors lost Game 3 by 21 points, exactly three minutes and thirty-six seconds after they were down 21 points. Like I said, they should have just forfeited the rest of the game.

After the game was over, James’ sensational performance was seen to have caught the attention of a couple of particularly notable sports figures.

Wade, who is widely regarded to be the third-best shooting guard of all-time behind only Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, was clearly impressed by James’ performance.

Wade is one of James’ best friends and the two were teammates while playing for the Miami Heat from 2010-2014.

Flair, who helped build the sport of professional wrestling with well, flair, and is one of the most well-known pro wrestlers of all-time, also had words for James.

This may seem biased but Flair Seems to have a point.

For what it’s worth, Flair predicted the sweep if it happens.

Why so much fandom from Flair? Well, there’s mutual respect between the two parties.

In the 2015 NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers brought Flair out to pump the home crowd up after the first quarter.

James has said that he thinks Flair was one of the creators of “swag”, according to Spike Espkin of CBS Philly.

"“When I was a kid, I loved wrestling,” James told the Associated Press. “He was one of the guys I loved, too. I think he’s one of the creators of what we call swag these days with the Rolexes and the stretch limos and all the girls and all that stuff. He’s one of the creators of swag.”"

That’s high-praise from the Italian-cut King.

That’s also high-praise from Wade and Flair.

James is now averaging 34.3 points per game in the playoffs, the highest average of any player to be 32-years-old or older.

He’s averaging 36.3 points per game against the Toronto Raptors.

Of course, scoring isn’t everything. James can put the ball in the hole “a little bit” but his dominance as a floor general and rebounder has led to James being the only player to amass more than 240 points, 50 rebounds and 50 assists through the first seven games of the playoffs.

This is the best we’ve seen from James yet.

Get your popcorn if you haven’t already. The show has already started.

Related Story: Cavs accomplish feat that hasn't been done in 67 years

What did you think of LeBron James’ performance in Game 3? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.

*All stats not referenced courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com