“It’s tough to get past this motherf***er”: When DeMar DeRozan gave LeBron James the ultimate compliment by describing how hard it is to play against the Lakers MVP

DeMar DeRozan outlined the reasons as to why it’s incredibly difficult to get past LeBron James in the Playoffs on JJ Redick’s podcast. 

LeBron James had been a foil to quite literally every single Eastern Conference team in the 2010s as he made it to 8 straight NBA Finals while getting past teams like the Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, and of course, the Toronto Raptors. The DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry led squads fell to James’s Cavaliers in three straight postseasons. 

Perhaps the best chance the Raptors had at overthrowing LeBron James and ending his reign over the East was during the 2018 Playoffs. The Kyrie Irving-less Cavs faced off against the strongest version of the Raptors to date in the ECSF and shockingly, fell in merely 4 games to James.

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His sweep in 2018 over the Raptors led to the ‘LeBronto’ moniker being chucked towards the 4x FMVP as he singlehandedly carried a well below average Cleveland team to the next round. 

DeMar DeRozan talks about how hard it is getting past LeBron James in the Playoffs. 

During the 2020 NBA finals, DeMar DeRozan made an appearance on JJ Redick’s podcast to talk about the San Antonio Spurs but more importantly, the continuous postseason disappointment he faced when in the Eastern Conference along with LeBron James. 

DeRozan outlined the simple fact that it is incredibly difficult to get past James in the postseason due to his IQ. Sure, the Akron native has the body to physically bully quite nearly every single player in the NBA and take it to the cup. However, it’s his basketball intelligence that sets him apart from the rest.

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The former Spur even recalled a time during the 2018 series when James actually reminded one of the Toronto players on what play they were running. This factoid is a great example of the mental gymnastics it takes to beat LeBron James in a Playoff series. 

Thankfully for Demar DeRozan, he’s once again escaped being in the same conference as the Lakers superstar as he’s now a Chicago Bull.