On the OGs podcast show with former Miami Heat players Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, a story was told about their former teammate, LeBron James, seeking revenge on the Boston Celtics, after they purposely sent a late bus to pick up the Heat ahead of their 2012 Eastern Conference Finals playoff matchup.
Miller started off saying, "Still to me, LeBron James Game 6 in Boston was the most amazing [individual] basketball game I've ever witnessed with my own two eyes."
Haslem responded, "They pissed him [LeBron] off with the bus. We literally showed up to game with like 40 minutes on the clock. The bus [from] the Boston hotel, to the game, which is right around the corner, took us like 45 minutes, near hour. And the bus was maybe already like 10 minutes late... Then we got to the game late, I don't know what route [the driver] took."
"We got to the game... We walk in there and we look at the time, and Dwyane [Wade] says. 'we got 40 minutes.' And Bron has this look on his face, says, 'don't worry about it.'"
Haslem and Miller both laughed reminiscing on that moment, saying after the leader gave them that look and said not to worry, the whole team all of the sudden gained an unshakeable confidence.
Going into the game, the Heat were down 3-2 against the Celtics in the ECF, and at this time the "Big 3" with James, Wade, and Chris Bosh (DNP Game 6) had yet to win a championship.
Miller still remembers the exact quote, that LeBron told him before they took the court for the infamous Game 6 in Boston.
"He's like 'Killer, we're gonna be fine. I'm shooting every bullet in my gun. I'm taking the clip out, and I'm throwing that. And then, I'm throwing the gun I have at them too.'"
In this potential season elimination game, LeBron's teammates described what they remembered as the greatest individual performance ever; the 27-year-old [at the time] scored 45 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, dished out five assists, while shooting 19-of-26 from the field, on the way to leading the Heat to a 98-79 victory.
A Celtics fan poured beer on LeBron after Game 6 of the 2012 ECF.
At that moment, Boston lost Game 7. pic.twitter.com/akux89LNH0
— LeBron History 🏀 (@bronhistory) May 28, 2022
The Heat went on to win the following Game 7 in Miami (101-88), before going on to be victors in the 2011-12 NBA Finals vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder (4-1), which was LeBron's first ever championship.
Notably, throughout the conference finals series vs. the Celtics, LeBron averaged 33.6 points (52.5% FG), 11.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists.
