The last time LeBron James lost a game in a first round series, the first Marvel’s The Avengers movie was in theaters. Justin Bieber’s single, “Boyfriend,” was being displaced from it’s spot atop the Hot 100 by Taylor Swift’s, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” James still hadn’t won an NBA championship.
9 things that happened the last time LeBron James lost a first round game
James had won 21 straight first round games, amazingly.
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
It finally happened again. James and the Cleveland Cavaliers lost Game 1 to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. It snapped 21 straight first round wins for James, and it was the first ever opening game loss for a James-led team. Now, James is still 12-0 in first round series, and it’s a big leap to predict that the Cavaliers are actually in trouble. But for a day, Indiana did something to James that he hadn’t experienced since his second season in Miami.
That game they lost, we can note, was a Game 4 against the New York Knicks on May 6, 2012. Cleveland closed out the series in five games, a classic gentleman’s sweep, and went onto win the Finals over the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the six years that have elapsed since then, here are some things that have happened, just for fun.
- Wreck-It Ralph would win best animated movie that year.
- Snoop Dogg was still Snoop Dogg, not Snoop Lion, which really didn’t stick, looking back on it.
- The Chainsmokers were formed as a band in 2012, as was Fifth Harmony and Haim.
- On the other hand, the Beastie Boys were disbanded, sadly, due to the death of one of the founding members, Adam Yauch.
- The food craze was bison. Remember that? Man, everybody got into bison for a minute. Oh, and cake pops.
- Spotify hadn’t even celebrated its one-year anniversary since launching in the United States.
- Victor Oladipo, who dropped 32 points in the win on Sunday, was a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Indiana averaging 11 points.
- James had gone to Miami, but he still hadn’t won after the 2011 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
- And a whole lot more things.
That’s a long time.
