This is what LeBron calls the ‘greatest achievement’ of his career. It came with Heat

Eventful is one way to describe LeBron James’ legendary NBA career.

From spending his first seven seasons in the league with the Cleveland Cavaliers to winning two NBA championships with the Miami Heat and then returning to Cleveland to win another title, James has experienced and achieved a lot.

But there’s one challenge James had to overcome that he calls the “greatest achievement” of his career.

“It was 2011,” James said on his HBO show “The Shop,” pointing to his first season with the Heat. “Yeah, I mean, I had seven great seasons, eight great seasons. Went to Miami my first year and thought it would be easy, you know what I’m saying? I knew I had to still work hard. But I thought it would be easy because I was teaming up with some guys that was, you know, some real players.”

The Heat did make it all the way to the NBA Finals that season, but lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the championship series.

By James’ high standards, his Finals performance was subpar. He averaged 17.8 points on 47.8 percent shooting to go with 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists in the six-game series.

“You know, you go down there and that first year we lose that Finals and I was like ... it felt like the world had caved in,” James said. “You know, first of all, I was wearing a hat that I wasn’t accustomed to. And I bought into it because I, at that point of time in my life I was still caring about what other people thought. But that moment right there, that moment shaped me for who I am today. Like that moment, without that moment I wouldn’t be here.”

James, who is entering his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers, believes that disappointing series helped propel him to the incredible streak he’s on. The three-time NBA champion has made it to eight consecutive NBA Finals.

“I’m not happy that I lost,” James said of that 2011 series against the Mavericks. “You know, I left that Finals like, yo, Bron, what the f— was you on, man? Like you was overthinking everything. You didn’t show up. You didn’t do what you were supposed to do. You know? And now you can’t even sleep at night because you didn’t give it all that you had.

“In the sense of you know you could have done better. And, you know, after that Finals, man, I was just like, that’s never happening again. I may lose again. I may not win everything. But I will never, I will never fail at anything.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2018 at 11:53 AM.