Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon put LeBron James’ playoff triumph of the 2011-12 Boston Celtics as the #3 playoff accomplishment for the “king”.
While the Boston Celtics hope to fend off elimination against the Toronto Raptors, Bleacher Report recently brought up some past playoff wounds courtesy of LeBron James’ dominance. David Kenyon put together a ranked list of his playoff accomplishments and #3 on his countdown was our beloved Cs…or at least memories of when the 2011-12 “Big 3 final stand” era team saw James put on the performance of his life in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals:
"Nine years into his career, LeBron still hadn’t won a title. And after losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals, the Heat trailed the Boston Celtics 3-2 in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals with the series headed back to the Northeast. Despite averaging 31.8 points and 10.0 rebounds against the Celtics to this point, his reputation was called into question.James emphatically quieted his critics in Game 6.While leading Miami to a 98-79 victory, he scored 45 points on a brilliant and near-unstoppable 19-of-26 shooting mark. He also grabbed 15 rebounds and dished four assists."
While not the kind of list you’d typically want to be on, it does show how much of an accomplishment taking down that era of Boston Celtics basketball was. With four All-Stars on the roster, those Celtics were the biggest roadblocks to James’ early postseason career, bouncing him in both 2008 and 2010.
Now, James did best Boston in 2011 with the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs that season, but the Celtics did regroup that offseason, trading for Brandon Bass and Keyon Dooling while signing veteran hands like Mickaël Piétrus and Ryan Hollins.
What do you think Celtics fans? Was defeating the 2011-12 Boston Celtics the third-highest crowning achievement in the postseason career of LeBron James?
Let us know if you agree in the comments section!