“They Make You Pay”: LeBron James Compares Playing Miami Heat to Battling the Golden State Warriors

LeBron James has been there, done that when it comes to giving away a lead or winning back from trailing big. His second term with the Cleveland Cavaliers made his skin thicker because of the losses he had to endure. All that experience is coming in handy when his Lakers are facing the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals 2020.

The Akron Hammer is not having a current post-season as good as he had in his time with the Cavs. The 16-time all-star had only one playoff season where he averaged below 30 ppg in those four back-to-back NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. 

LeBron James measured the Warriors and the Miami Heat on the same scale!

The Los Angeles Lakers had a comfortable lead of 2-0 when they lost two of the following three games. This came as a shocker, not just for fans, but even for the Lakers organization. In a recent interview, Bron drew a parallel between his rivalry against GSW and that against the Heat now.

 “It’s the same as when I was playing against Golden State all those years, you make a mistake, they make you pay. So we have to understand that.”

Perhaps he was pointing towards the NBA Finals 2015, where the Cavaliers were leading by 2-1 before they lost three consecutive games and eventually the trophy. However, the very next year, the Cavs made history as they came back from a 1-3 deficit to stun the star-studded Warriors in the NBA Finals 2016.

Can Jimmy Butler become the King James from 2016?

LeBron was crowned the Finals MVP that year when the Cavs made possible such a miracle. He averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 8.9 assists in the finals. He had multiple 40-point games in that series as well. The L-Train coupled with Kyrie Irving to pull one of the greatest comebacks that the league had ever witnessed.

Now, Jimmy Butler, on the other hand, has averaged 29.0 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 10.2 APG in the five games so far. His Miami Heat too came back from 0-2 down to now stand at 2-3. If the history repeats itself, this will go down as an ever greater, or perhaps the greatest ever upset in the history. 

It’s still too soon to think of that because Game 6 is around the corner to test both the Heat and the Lakers.