As good as LeBron James has been in these playoffs, we’ve already seen better from the King. If you look back to 2018, it may have been LeBron’s most dominant stretch ever as he lifted a broken Cavs team, without Kyrie Irving, to the NBA Finals. LeBron would end up losing that year, of course, but not before forcing some drastic changes to his opponents in the East. Out of all the teams, it was the Raptors who got it the worst that year, and LeBron would dominate in a 4-0 series sweep.
The Raptors were favored that year, partly because they finished with the best record in the conference, but Bron was simply too much to handle and it was his play that ultimately ended DeMar DeRozan’s tenure with the franchise. In a recent chat with Paul George on his podcast, DeMar got real on the moment that James broke up the Raptors’ core.
“Game 3, my last year in Toronto, we were full court. He shot the one-legged floater and made it. That was it, that was like the end of my time in Toronto. We was down 3-0 and obviously, we lost Game 4. I was out the game and I just remember him shooting that one-legged floater and it going in and I was just like ‘shit, this is it here.’ That one hurt me for sure.”
Funnily enough, Paul George responded with his own LeBron elimination story.
“We played them first round, got whopped up. And then they played y’all the second round… that was my last time in Indy. He got me up out of there, too.”
DeMar and PG speaking on leaving their teams after getting swept by LeBron ðŸ˜
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— 🎠(@MaskedInLA) May 15, 2023
Was LeBron James’ 2018 Playoff Run One Of The Best In NBA History?
DeRozan and PG shouldn’t feel too bad about losing to LeBron. Over the past 20 years, he has kept many teams from having their moment and continues to break hearts to this day.
That particular year, however, was just special on a whole new level.
“The reality is, we lost to LeBron James before we got there,” said Celtics star Jaylen Brown on losing to LeBron in 2018. “We were a young team. I think we matched up really well if we would’ve had Kyrie. I will say this. That 2018 year when we played LeBron, that was the best form of LeBron that I’ve ever experienced since I’ve been in the league. That 2018 LeBron was special.”
LeBron literally dismantled entire teams during his run to the Finals that year, and it will not be a moment easily forgotten in the NBA textbooks.
While James is not nearly the player he was back then, he’s still effective on the court, and he’s got his current team (the Lakers) in a position to win it all. What more could you possibly ask for?
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