LeBron James Says 2012 ECF vs. Celtics Was His Most 'Exhausting' NBA Playoff Series

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is no stranger to difficult playoff series, but one hard-fought battle stands out above the rest.

During Wednesday's episode of the Mind the Game podcast (2:00 mark), James told his co-host Steve Nash that the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics when he was with the Miami Heat was the most "exhausting" playoff series of his legendary career.

"We go down 3-2 after losing a home game, going into Boston, which is one of the places that you just don't want to be going there for a close-out game," James said. "For us to be able to go in there in Game 6, and we know what happened in Game 6, and for us to be able to come back to South Beach and win a Game 7... they just brought so much out of you, not only from a physical toll, but from a mental standpoint, too, because they had so many guys out there that can do so many things."

James dropped 45 points and 15 rebounds at TD Garden to lead the Heat past the Celtics in Game 6 for one of the defining moments of his career. After Miami won Game 7 at home, the team went on to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in the NBA Finals for James' first career NBA championship.

Still, getting past that Boston squad brings up tough memories for James. The team featured the vaunted Big 3 of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, but James said he considered it a Big 4 because point guard Rajon Rondo "was so damn good as well." The victory was satisfying for James, but the battle scars still remain.

"At the end of that series, you was just like, (deep sigh) I just want to sleep," he said. "And I know I'm not going to be able to. But yeah, it just takes so much out of you mentally."