LeBron James isn't just trouncing his opponents - he's crushing their fan bases
Larry Luk moved to Atlanta in 2003. During the day, he is the director of brand and partnerships at Localeur, a travel app that helps locals find the best places to eat, drink, and hang out in cities around the world. When he’s not working, Luk is one of the most passionate voices of the Atlanta Hawks' fan base.
In 2015, the Hawks finished with 60 wins and the No. 1 seed in the East. For Luk, it was a high-water mark in Atlanta's fandom; after all, memories of a 13-win season in 2005 weren’t far away. The Hawks won the first two series of the playoffs against the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, setting up an Eastern Conference finals showdown with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
What was supposed to be a heavyweight matchup turned into a one-sided series. The Cavs won the first two games in Atlanta en route to a four-game sweep; LeBron James averaged 30.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 9.3 assists. The following season, James and the Cavs swept the Hawks again, this time in the second round.
Luk learned a valuable lesson in watching his team go up against James in the postseason.
“When you go into a series against him, you try to convince yourself of the possibility of winning four times in seven games," Luk told theScore. "Once the series starts and you take that first loss, the optimism disappears completely. You start thinking about the draft, about summer league, about your own summer vacation, about taking a break from basketball to work on yourself, about cutting beer from your life for a few months. Basically, anything else to distract yourself from the reality your team is getting embarrassed by LeBron in front of the entire world.”
Through parts of eight straight postseasons, James has evoked these feelings in opposing fan bases. Since joining the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010, he has gone to seven consecutive NBA Finals - four with Miami and three with Cleveland. When the Eastern Conference finals begin this Sunday, James will be taking a streak of 23 consecutive playoff series wins against Eastern Conference opponents into Boston.
James has an overall postseason record of 92-24 against East opponents during the streak. A whopping 16 of the 23 series have ended in five or six games, with nine of them being sweeps - including the Cavs' recent evisceration of the Toronto Raptors who, like the Hawks in 2015, entered as the No. 1 seed after setting a franchise record for wins.
Along his path of destroying the hopes and dreams of every other franchise in his conference for nearly a decade, James has led his team to victory in every manner imaginable, from buzzer-beaters to blowout wins.
In Game 5 of his first-round series against the Indiana Pacers this season, James hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to hand the Cavs a 3-2 series lead.
“I will never believe the Pacers have LeBron beat in a game until the literal buzzer sounds,” said Whitney Medworth, who has been a Pacers fan since 2008.
Indiana has lost to James in five different postseasons during his run of dominance, including the last two years in the first round.
“Honestly, I don’t know another way to experience the playoffs at this point,” Medworth said. “Beating LeBron is the only real benchmark in the East. While it is a little frustrating to keep losing to the same guy, every other team does too.”
This gives fan bases solace, knowing they’re part of a collective failure in taking down the best player in the league. But it doesn’t make the losses less heartbreaking. The Raptors are just the latest Eastern Conference contender to learn those tough lessons, after being swept for the second consecutive playoffs by the Cavs.
Ricky O’Donnell’s earliest memories as a Chicago Bulls fan dates back to when John Paxson hit a game-winning three in Game 6 of the 1993 NBA Finals. After Derrick Rose led Chicago to a conference-best 62 wins during the 2010-11 season, it seemed like they were capable of anything, including knocking off James in the playoffs. Instead, the Heat beat the Bulls in five games in the Eastern Conference finals.
“At first, you’re naive enough to think your team can beat him,” O’Donnell said.
In 2015, James, now back with the Cavaliers, faced off against the Bulls once again, this time in the second round. Just as Chicago was poised to take a commanding 3-1 lead on their home floor in Game 4, James hit a buzzer-beater to even the series at two. The Cavs went on to win in six games.
“It really changed the trajectory of the entire franchise,” O’Donnell said.
This is what James has done to every team with aspirations of contending in the East. He has broken their spirits, and more importantly, forced them to consider an alternative plan. If the Pacers had gotten over the hump against James in any one of their playoff matchups, perhaps Paul George is still with Indiana. The Bulls and Hawks have both started to rebuild. The Raptors are picking up the pieces after a streak of 10 straight postseason losses and three consecutive series losses to him, and are trying to figure out whether it’s time to go in a different direction.
Toronto’s 35-point loss in Game 4 was the largest margin of defeat for a No. 1 seed in an elimination game in the Eastern Conference playoffs since 1984. But the Raptors have plenty of company in this regard, too. Last season, James eliminated the No. 1 seeded Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals with a 33-point win. In 2015, the Hawks lost by 30 in an elimination game; In 2014, the Pacers lost by 25 points when they were dispatched.
Jordan Zirm is a freelance writer who grew up on the east side of Cleveland and has been rooting for the Cavs for years.
“I feel for the contingents who talk themselves into reasons why their team will beat LeBron ahead of each series, only to watch their hopes and dreams burn to ash,” he said.
Erik Gundersen is the lead writer at USA Today’s LeBronWire, where he writes, assigns, and edits stories all related to James. This immersive experience of covering James on a daily basis has given Gundersen a new perspective on what his remarkable run against the Eastern Conference means.
“There’s just a level of appreciation of the greatness that is in front of you,” Gundersen said. “I feel like most of the Eastern Conference is on to the acceptance phase at this point.”
James’ streak against Eastern Conference opponents might only end when, and if, he decides to head to the Western Conference in free agency this summer. If James stays in the East, Sam Packard, who has followed the Celtics since the early 2000s, is optimistic there will be a changing of the guard eventually.
“There has yet to be a team put together to really compete with him,” he said. “But I think the Sixers and Celtics will be formidable opponents in the next couple of years.”
Despite the collective frustration of watching James eliminate your team year after year, fan bases are taking it in stride.
“I feel fortunate to be alive during the same time as him,” O’Donnell said.
“He’s going to go down as the greatest player ever,” Medworth added. “You just have to soak it all in.”
Alex Wong is an NBA freelance writer whose work has appeared in GQ, The New Yorker, Vice Sports, and Complex, among other publications.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)