Beating LeBron James in the Eastern Conference in the 2010s was impossible, as James went to eight straight NBA Finals in the decade with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers. There’s a generation of Eastern Conference players who couldn’t have Playoff success because of LeBron. Two of those players, DeMar DeRozan and Jeff Teague broke down how tough it was to beat James during that era.
DeMar DeRozan: “Yeah, that motherf***er was impossible to beat. It’s just what it was, it was no other way around it. At that time, I have arguments with people because they ask me which Bron was the best, that Miami ‘Bron and that second Cleveland Bron… He controlled everything from top to bottom. Once you stepped on that floor, it was stuck, bro. He one of the greats for a reason.”
Teague shared that his Playoff record against James is 0-16.
Jeff Teague: “I’ve never won a Playoff game against him. I have been in four series against him and got swept four times. One time we were up 30, and I was playing for the Pacers. We were up 30, Game 3, and I was like, ‘I’ll finally beat this dude.’ He walks into halftime and says, ‘We good. ‘Everybody keep their head up.’ They were down just 8 in the third quarter and I was like, ‘it’s over.’ I just wanted one win.”
DeMar DeRozan on LeBron James:
"Yeah, that motherf***er was impossible to beat… It was no other way around.” 😅
(via @club520podcast) pic.twitter.com/A3KsDfK91J
— Witness King James (@WITNESSKJ) August 27, 2024
James’ dominance over the 2010s in the East was almost mythical. The only Playoff series he lost in the East for the entire decade came in 2010 against the Boston Celtics before he rattled off eight consecutive Finals appearances (four with the Heat, four with the Cavaliers).
James averaged 26.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 7.4 assists over his Heat and second Cavs stint, arguably one of the greatest primes of any player in NBA history. He was All-NBA First Team and an All-Star in all eight seasons and also made five All-Defense Teams. His crowning achievement of that spell will be the three titles and Finals MVPs he won, along with two regular season MVP awards as well.
DeRozan never got to enjoy a comeuppance over James, as the second LeBron left the East and guaranteed a new team could rise to the NBA Finals, the Raptors traded him away to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard in 2018. The Raptors finally broke through to win a title, with DeMar on an aimless Spurs team that would watch LeBron make another Finals appearance in the West in 2020.
Teague was a rotational player for most of his career, though he did make an All-Star team in 201x. Across stints with the Bucks, Pacers, and Hawks, Teague couldn’t find a way to succeed against James. While Teague retired as an NBA Champion with his second stint on the Bucks in 2021, he never got the opportunity to relish a Playoff victory over LeBron James.
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