LeBron James’ first stint with the Cavaliers was massively disappointing. Sure, the Cavs failed to surround LeBron with appropriate talent, but in his final playoffs with the Cavs, LeBron himself displayed a lack of intent.
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The Cavaliers never fielded a good enough team to give LeBron the championship he deserved. LeBron was easily the best player in the league during his Cavs run, but they couldn’t capitalize on that fact.
The Cavs once made it to the Finals, but they were promptly swept by a dynastic San Antonio Spurs team. However, the problems ran most in the Eastern Conference.
Cleveland’s number one rival was the Boston Celtics, a team LeBron struggled to beat consistently throughout that stint. It was similar to the way Michael Jordan couldn’t get over the hump of unseating the Detroit Pistons.
Of course, he did finally get his redemption when he joined Miami. The Heat were world beaters, and the most prominent team LeBron had his eyes set on was the Celtics. He promptly exacted revenge.
LeBron wasn’t letting Miami lose this one 😤
Heat vs. Celtics, 2012 ECF Game 6 – 9pm ET on NBA TV! pic.twitter.com/AycBIoja3j
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 14, 2020
LeBron James couldn’t beat the Celtics once more
After making the Finals in 2007, the Cavs seemed to have finally trended in the right direction. However, the next few years were disappointment after disappointment.
In 2010, LeBron stormed through the East in the regular season once more. LeBron took the Cavs to the top of the top. They won 61 games, and they were the number one seed in the East.
Cleveland coasted through the first round, beating the Bulls 4-1. In the next round, LeBron faced his arch-nemesis, the Boston Celtics.
With how good LeBron was, the Cavs were never outmatched per-se against Boston. Sure, they were the underdogs on paper, but LeBron made sure that wasn’t the case on the court.
The Cavs led the series 2-1 after a 124-95 destruction at the TD Garden, and things were actually looking up for once. However, Boston tied the series back in game 4, and then, in game 5, they smothered LeBron and the Cavs to the tune of a 120-88 blowout. LeBron shot horrifically from the field, finishing with only 15 points.
Boston would close out game 6 with a win, and take the series after winning 3 straight games after being down 2-1.
Charles Barkley compared LeBron to Michael Jordan after loss
After the terrible game 5, Charles Barkley was very upset with LeBron’s play.
“I gotta tell you something. As a fan – and I’ve said all year that LeBron James was the best basketball player in the world – but I’m 100 percent disappointed. Not the fact that he didn’t have a good game, he clearly didn’t have a good game. But his mentality…I go back, I played against a Michael Jordan, a Karl Malone, a Patrick Ewing, listen, their gun was gonna be empty by the end of the game. And I did not see that tonight…This was clearly the biggest game of the season. I did not see the aggression that I needed from an MVP at home.”
Barkley’s words did speak truth to it, and that’s why when LeBron had that memorable game 6 win against Boston with Miami, fans could clearly tell that he shifted his mentality to overcome his biggest weakness.
