Nobody, not even the most vitriolic LeBron James haters, can deny that what the world witnessed on June 7, 2012, was special. Facing elimination and the prospect of his Miami dream ending in bitter disappointment, James scored 45 points on 26 shots at TD Garden, extending the Eastern Conference Finals series to Game 7. It was a ruthless display of hoops, and it also brings to mind a famous quote from lifelong Celtics fan Bill Simmons:
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“It was like watching surveillance video of a serial killer coldly dismembering a body and sticking the parts in the fridge,” Simmons once said. Tyronn Lue also remembers that game, and like Simmons, he was on the Celtics’ side at the time. As an assistant coach for Boston, Lue was closely involved with Doc Rivers and the rest of the coaching staff in preparing the players for the series. When he saw what James did that night, he was in awe.
Lue has always been a shrewd basketball mind, and alongside Rivers in 2012, the Celtics had a solid coaching unit. He revealed to Shannon Sharpe on his podcast that Rivers was hesitant to double-team James throughout the series because of his unlimited passing range, and that Game 6 was when the Heat forward finally capitalized on the single coverage.
“We were always scared, and Doc was always scared to trap and double-team him, because of his passing ability,” the Clippers’ head coach said. “I figured like he’s gonna get everybody involved, everybody’s gonna get going. He’s gonna get his anyway, but we didn’t think he was gonna get 45.”
Lue went on to add that James was always going to be special, but his heroics in that Game 6 were when he finally ascended to the next level, star-power-wise. “And like that game, what he was able to do that game, that’s what really took him to the next level,” he said. “That game was… I still have nightmares about that game.”
Lue isn’t the only one. Multiple Celtics fans to this day will swear up and down that James‘ demeanor during that game was enough to give them goosebumps, and they were on the opposing side, too.
James’ career really took off after that. He led the Heat to back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013, then went on to win two more rings with Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers, respectively. History may have played out very differently if James hadn’t shown up the way he did at TD Garden that night.
