LeBron Seeking Revenge Against Spurs: 'I Won't Forget' '07 Finals Loss

Miami Heat superstar LeBron James has not forgotten the beating the San Antonio Spurs gave his Cleveland Cavaliers when they swept James’s squad in the 2007 NBA finals.

When the game’s best player suits up to lead his Heat to back-to-back titles Thursday night in Miami against San Antonio, James will look at San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili and know they made James the player he is today by beating him in 2007.

“I have something in me that they took in ’07. Beat us on our home floor. Celebrated on our home floor,” James said Wednesday. “I won’t forget that. You shouldn’t as a competitor. You should never forget that.”

That loss, and his loss against Dallas while a member of the Heat, fueled the basketball prodigy.

I’ve lost enough,” James said. “I don’t need anymore fuel from losing. I’ve lost two Finals, so I don’t need anymore fuel from losing the Finals.”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, one of the best basketball minds in the game, said while James was “basically a neophyte” in 2007, James now “knows basketball better than everybody put together in this room. He goes and plays the game and does what’s necessary. So he’ll be a lot more of a problem than he was in ’07. That’s for sure.”

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