LeBron James has left a long trail of victims in his NBA career, many of whom were great players in their own right. Still going strong at the age of 40, LeBron has four NBA titles and 10 Finals appearances, eight of which came over the 2011-2018 season. He’s won rings for three different franchises and came back from a 3-1 deficit to knock off the 73-9 Warriors. He’s been the model of basketball excellence for over two decades now and it makes sense why he’s widely considered to be a top two player all time.
Advertisement
That’s why from an objective perspective, it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense for most players to get super upset about being beaten by one of the greatest players of all-time. These are the best, most hyper-competitive athletes in the world we’re talking about, though, so acceptance doesn’t often come until years after retirement, if it ever comes at all.
DeMar DeRozan has always been one of the most thoughtful athletes in the NBA, and he proved it once again in his recent appearance on the Run Your Race podcast.
Host Theo Pinson set DeRozan up perfectly when he said, “Getting to that season when y’all were the No. 1 seed [when DeRozan was on the Toronto Raptors], you lose to Bron three straight years.” He waited a beat to let that indignity set in before delivering a masterful punchline in the form of a question. “Do you like that n****?”
DeRozan nearly fell off the couch laughing before composing himself and giving an answer that showed rare self-awareness. “Bron my podnah, bro,” the six-time All-Star said. “The mutual respect that we have for one another, competing at a high level. If I had lost to Joe Schmo, if it was anybody else [it would be different].”
Any player that called the Eastern Conference home between 2011 and 2018 knew what it was like to lose to LeBron. DeRozan just happened to be a major part of one of the better teams LeBron went up against in that period.
DeRozan’s Raptors were really good. They had a core of Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valančiūnas, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby and won over 50 games three years in a row. In 2016, they won 56 games and were the two-seed, finishing one game behind LeBron and the Cavs. They were tied in the Conference Finals before Cleveland destroyed them by a combined 64 points in Games 5 and 6 to finish it up.
One year later, they won 51 games, the same number as the Cavs, but were easily swept in the East Conference semis. In 2018 they had the best regular season in franchise history, clinching the East’s No. 1 seed with 59 wins. Nevertheless, the Cavs swept them in the second round once again, making it 10 straight postseason games that LeBron won over DeRozan.
Pinson asked DeRozan in hindsight, which one of those three years he thought he could have actually beaten LeBron. DeRozan said the Raptors thought they had a chance the last two years for sure, “but like I said, s*** is Bron at the end of the f***** day, man.”
It would be understandable if DeRozan was salty about the way things went down, not only because he lost to LeBron so often, but because the Raptors won a title the year after they traded him to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard. He’s not, though, and it’s actually a refreshing perspective to have.
Even now, DeRozan can’t help but give LeBron his flowers when people try to say how he can’t get it done. “Most of these motherf****** wouldn’t stand a chance against 2016 Bron. People forget, the man been doing this 22 years, something we never seen in no sport to be able to dominate as long as he has … To still do that at that level…”
DeRozan has had a great career, and he’s not done yet, as he just wrapped his first season back home in California after being traded to the Sacramento Kings last summer. He’s still one of the game’s most reliably consistent scorers. He’s no LeBron, but who is?
