Kendrick Perkinswho was the teammate of LeBron James in 2014/2015 and 2018 at the Cavaliers and who is one of his most fervent admirers, did not always have this feeling against the King. At first it was more fear, even fear. He actually made a confession about it on JJ Redick’s podcast, The Old Man and The Tree.
“I have a confession to make. We played the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008 and there was Game 7,” explained Kendrick Perkins. “We had just lost Game 6, and I’m not going to lie, I was totally scared of playing Game 7 against LeBron James. In fact, it was the only time in my career that I prayed for something to happen to him in training. I was there, drop us some breaking news that LeBron crossed over or something. I’m not lying, I’m not even exaggerating. It’s true. That’s how terrified I was of LeBron. We beat the Hawks, and I remember Game 6 in Cleveland, at one point he attacked the circle and I think he dunked on KG and James Posey, and I saw his look – because I was sitting on the bench, I was having a horrible game – I kept thinking to myself, ‘We’re not going to be able to beat.’ He’s going to come over there and beat us. I saw him and I was scared. I was like, ‘This guy is different’ and I was scared. I was really praying that when I woke up they would announce that he wasn’t going to play.
[…] I tell LeBron this all the time: he really is the chosen one. Everything he touches turns to gold. He wins at cards, he wins in everything. But that year, I was praying for his downfall. That’s how badly I wanted to win the title. I never told him that, but he’ll hear it, and I hope he doesn’t think I’m crazy.
That evening we were treated to a legendary Game 7 with a LeBron James at 45 points at 14/29 and 6 assists, but opposite Paul Pierce had been just as monstrous with 41 points at 13/23 including 4/6 from away to carry the Celtics to victory, and then to the title. As for Perk, he had signed 8 points and 1 rebound in 20 minutes.
As for the dunk he refers to, it was actually during Game 4:
