Just about every step of the way in LeBron James’ illustrious career, he has been a thorn in the side of the Boston Celtics. Whether it was failing to get over the hump of the Big 3 Cs in his first stint in Cleveland, finally slaying that dragon with Miami, keeping Boston under his thumb during his second stint in Cleveland, or leading the hated Lakers, James and the Celtics have been arch nemeses forever.
But over 23 years of going to battle, a mutual respect has been built, and though he may not necessarily like them, James has certainly gained a level of respect and admiration for the Celtics as a franchise.
On a recent episode of his Mind the Game Podcast, LeBron and Steve Nash discussed the surprising season the Celtics are having, and both co-hosts referred to this Boston team as “sneaky dangerous”, talking about how the addition of Nikola Vucevic has given them another element on offense and how even with their offseason losses and the injury to Tatum, the team still has championship DNA.
James also raved about the Boston crowd, saying, “When you gotta go to Boston for a playoff game, you know how hard it is to win in that building. The crowd is… there’s not many crowds in our game that kind of (strikes) fear into you. They have that mentality…That crowd is definitely a factor.”
James has gained respect for Boston fans over the years
There aren’t many opposing players who know the wrath of the Boston faithful and a raucous TD Garden crowd better than James. He has faced the Celtics a whopping seven different times in the playoffs during his long career, holding a 5-2 series lead as he won the last five.
Still, it’s clear he has learned to appreciate the crowd as he talks about striking fear into opponents and being an actual factor in the playoffs. LeBron has faced almost every hostile environment you can imagine around the NBA, and even in the podcast segment with Nash, he seemed to suggest that there aren’t many home crowds that truly can make a difference. But Boston is one.
It’s just one more thing the Celtics have working in their favor, and one more reason why these last couple of months of the regular season are so important. The Celtics are currently sittin gin the two seed in the Eastern Conference, which would afford them homecourt advantage in rounds one and two of the playoffs.
As it stands, the only East team that would have the hammer in game seven against Boston would be the Pistons. But things are incredibly static as they lead the third-seeded Knicks by just half a game, and the sixth-seeded 76ers by only 5 games.
It’s all up in the air, but with the conference as wide open as ever and the margins so slim between these contending teams, something like homecourt advantage can make a world of difference. Being one of the few teams that truly has that advantage, the Celtics would benefit greatly from securing one of the top two seeds.