The great players get calmer when the crowd gets louder and the lights get brighter. And if there’s one player who’s defined that over the last two decades, it’s LeBron James. Back when he used to make trips to the Finals look like a cakewalk, LeBron was a different player in the playoffs. Former Indiana Pacers forward David West knows that feeling all too well.
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On his appearance on The OGs podcast, West opened up about just how terrifying it was to face LeBron when he entered ‘desperation mode.’
He specifically recalled the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Miami Heat, a time when LeBron was on a mission and simply refused to be denied. West explained that once LeBron sensed the momentum shifting or felt his team was on the brink, he would flip a mental switch. Suddenly, it wasn’t just about making the right plays, it was about completely taking over.
West said, “If he feels like he’s really threatened, that mother***er. The energy that you got to put to stop…He’s just driving, just downhill…The ability to break. Like, we get to Miami and there’d be a point where we’re like, yo, if they start running in here, we’re done.”
LeBron entered a zone that was impossible to contain. Lobs, threes, dunks, and everything else one could imagine, LeBron did all that in the series. His numbers speak for themselves. In four games in the series, LeBron averaged 26.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 2.8 steals per game.
The Pacers were a force to be reckoned with. After losing 2-4 to the Heat in 2012, they made back-to-back Conference Finals appearances, but ended up losing to the same team on both runs. Year after year, it was LeBron and the Heat standing in their way.
West said that the Heat were “one of the all-time great” teams and despite their attempt to find a chink in their armor, something they could use to break them, the Pacers failed. After defeating the Pacers in six games, they beat the Celtics in seven games in the Conference Finals and registered a 4-1 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.
Heat’s dream run continued the following year with another title win over the Spurs. They lost the Finals in 2014, which marked the end of a dominant run by the superteam, and James went back to his hometown Cavaliers.
