The 2011 NBA Finals seems like a lifetime ago, but it’s still the greatest moment in the history of the Dallas Mavericks. They took down the Miami Heat “Big Three” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh on a road that some people call the “heaviest” ring of all time due to the competition the team faced in each round.
It is also one of the few blemishes on the career of LeBron James, who is at worst one of the two best players in NBA history. He was downright bad in that series, outplayed and outsmarted by JJ Barea, who the Mavericks decided to have guard LeBron James, daring him to beat them with brute force, and he wouldn’t. In games 3-5, he averaged just 14 PPG on 38.6% shooting from the floor.
READ MORE: Mavericks’ projected first pick Cooper Flagg seen wearing Luka Doncic shirt
Now that James is in the latter stages of his career at 40 years old, he’s able to look back and reflect on his legendary path. He most recently reminisced on the 2011 NBA Finals with Steve Nash on Season 2 of the “Mind the Game” podcast.
“My first year with the Heat, I wanted to win so bad that I also had the fear of letting so many people down,” James said. “If it doesn’t happen, I let so many (expletive) people down. The hours that I put into my craft. The commitment that I gave to my craft wasn’t even the thought, which it should have been. It was more like, ‘Oh (expletive), if I go out and I make a mistake, I let them down. If I go out and (expletive) up, I let him down.’ Instead of just going out there and just be like, ‘Who the (expletive) gives a (expletive)? They don’t care. You are in the position because of that and if you do, so be it.”
That was James’ second loss in the NBA Finals to that point in his career, but his first loss came in 2007 when his Cleveland Cavaliers were outmatched by the San Antonio Spurs. But the loss to the Mavs in 2011 was a big turning point in his career, as he was able to win the next two championships, one back in Cleveland in 2016, and one with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. Had he beaten the Mavs in 2011, more people would consider him the greatest of all time.
READ MORE: Mavericks’ Jason Kidd reveals final conversation with Luka Doncic after Lakers trade
Stick with MavericksGameday for more FREE coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the offseason
Follow MavericksGameday on Twitter and Austin Veazey on Twitter
