LeBron James has been in the NBA for almost two decades now and therefore he has had several post-season rivalries with different teams. The King has enjoyed his best years with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat and during that period he faced the Boston Celtics many times. They had some great matchups in the past where LeBron James was totally fired up every single time.
James came out on top against his rivals most of the time and he has had several top moments of facing competition from other quality players over the years in the NBA. However, one particular year stands out the most according to NBA Analyst Stephen A. Smith.
Recently in the podcast “I Am Athlete’ Smith shared a lot of stories surrounding the superstars of the NBA. He shared how James defeated the Celtics in the Easter COnference finals before facing his main opponents in Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson representing the Golden State Warriors.
“I often bring this up,” Smith said. “LeBron beats Boston in the conference finals. Doris Burke is interviewing him. … LeBron is smiling, ‘We going back to the finals, and then they said, ‘Now, you got KD and Steph.’ LeBron goes, ‘Oh, lord, I don’t even think about that right now. I’m in a good mood I don’t want to stress myself,” Smith shared.
“It was the first time that I saw a concession speech given on the court of an NBA conference finals.”
LeBron James is here and he is well and truly here to compete in the upcoming years and therefore his fans will be hoping that the King gives them a lot of reason to cheer and plenty more Playoffs memories to cherish. The Lakers would like to forget last season like a bad dream and would like to start afresh with a new coach and a few new players who will look to help LeBron and Anthony Davis in their quest to bring the trophy back to Los Angeles.
Last season was simply poor from the Purple and Gold Army as they failed to qualify for the playoffs as AD got injured and even LeBron did not have the best of his years and lastly Russell Westbrook also had a major dip in his numbers for the first time. So overall with players like Max Bryant and Patrick Beverley in the mix the Lakers will be hoping that they get to the playoffs first before taking it further. There are still rumours of them adding more players to improve the roster which will surely be a welcome move for Lebron and his men.
