Lakers News: Longtime Eastern Conference Rival Speaks on Greatness of LeBron James

The East used to have their hands full with The King.

Even though our Lakes have the pleasure of watching LeBron James suit up in the purple and gold these days, he spent the majority of his career in the opposite conference and certain franchises got very familiar with him.

The Toronto Raptors are known for coming across James multiple times in the postseason and never being able to get the job done. The Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers have also been victims here as well.

However, The King has had a special rivalry with the Boston Celtics since the earliest stages of his time in the NBA. Having to face the squad multiple times when they had Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, James was unable to reach the Finals and he has looked their way when asked why he formed a big three with the Miami Heat.

On This Day in 2007: Kevin Garnett is traded by Minnesota to the Celtics for Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff, and two first-round draft picks.

The trade would unite Garnett with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, forming a Boston "Big Three." pic.twitter.com/T4TWwWSXTB

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 31, 2022

This something that the future of hall of fame forward would never forget and even in his final year with the Cavaliers in 2018, he had to match up against Boston in the conference finals yet again but came out on top this time. Many have regarded this season as one of LeBron's best and in this series specifically, he averaged about 34 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.

The Celtics looked very different this year as they were supposed to be led by Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward but they missed the playoffs due to injury. Instead, rookie Jayson Tatum was a key scorer along with rising star Jaylen Brown and starting big man Al Horford.

Horford is the latest advocator for those who believe that The King was on a different level in 2018 and he hopped on JJ Redick's podcast to describe exactly how it was game-planning for him.

Great episode tomorrow with Al Horford. Here’s Al on going against LeBron 5 TIMES in the Eastern Conference playoffs. pic.twitter.com/UALGmR3tDY

— JJ Redick (@jj_redick) March 29, 2023

"He just had another gear that I feel like individually you know, you couldn't reach that level that he got to," said Horford. "It was Game 7 and I'm looking at my teammates and we're gassed. I look at the other side and he's leaning very casually. He's played every single minute up to that point and he looked unfazed. To me, that was disturbing."

(Via The Old Man & The Three)

It feels like every few weeks, another LeBron James story comes out that further displays his greatness. We are hoping to see even more classic stories get created this postseason involving The King and the Lakers.

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