It has been 22 years since the iconic movie Training Day, starring Denzel Washington, hit the theatres. The thriller grossed $104 million worldwide and left a mark on the minds of the audience. Even Los Angeles Lakers Superstar LeBron James was mesmerized by the performance of Denzel Washington in the movie. There is a particular scene in the film that has been etched in history because of Denzel’s passionate delivery.

King James bowed down to the Hollywood legend for this historical scene in the 2001 movie that earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor.

LeBron James showers praise on Denzel Washington’s iconic scene

The director of Training Day, Antoine Fuqua revealed in an interview that Denzel Washington’s legendary “King Kong ain’t got s**t on me” line was fully improvised by the legendary actor. “It just came out of him,” Fuqua said. The scene was so passionately performed by Denzel that he knew “that was it”, and did not want to do any more takes. Unfortunately, Fuqua’s shot went out of focus during the scene. But he decided to go ahead with it anyway in the hope that Denzel’s powerful performance would overshadow the director’s mistake. And he was right.

LeBron James was fascinated by the fact that one of the most iconic dialogues in cinema history was not even a part of the script and came from the mind of the genius actor. He shared the story on his Instagram, appreciating the Greatness of Denzel Washington, “So Damn Iconic!” followed by several fire emojis.

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The audience can hardly notice the minor flaw even today, 22 years after the movie took over the box office.

LeBron James broke Kareem’s record in front of his idol

LeBron James was just 16 years old when Training Day came out. He was on course to becoming one of the biggest draft prospects in NBA history while still playing for St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. King James got drafted into the NBA 2 years later and has never looked back. To think that he has been dominating the league for the last two decades, the NBA World can only imagine if Denzel Washington’s iconic speech motivated him in some way.

LeBron has been a fan of Denzel since he was a teenager, and the legendary actor reciprocates the gesture. Denzel is a Lakers fan and can be occasionally spotted in the arena during their games. He was in attendance when King James broke Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s All-time scoring record last season.

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Breaking such a prestigious record in front of his childhood hero would have added some extra happiness to LeBron’s historic moment.