INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- LeBron James has shown he's not afraid of Boston's ghosts.
And in fact he's trying to join them.
James' Cavaliers are in the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics, which start on Sunday. When he's standing in attention for the national anthem at TD Garden Arena, he'll look up and see the retired jersey numbers of Bill Russell, Sam Jones, Tom Heinsohn, and Frank Ramsey.
All of them Celtics, they are the only players in NBA history with more consecutive Finals appearances than James' current streak of seven (which makes this his eighth conference finals in a row).
If James and the Cavs dispose of the Celtics in this series, James will tie Ramsey. Jones and Heinsohn went to nine straight Finals and Russell holds the record with 10 consecutive berths, from 1957-66.
"I do know that this is my eighth straight conference finals and I have an opportunity to play for a championship if I'm able to be successful in this conference finals, so I don't take that for granted," James said. "You dream about being able to play in big games in the NBA. Even when I got to the NBA that was one of my only goals -- to be as great as I can be, to play in big games in the NBA and be remembered -- and I think I've done that in my career. Just trying to add onto it while I can."
The Celtics were James' foil early in his career, knocking him and the Cavs out of the playoffs in 2008 and 2010. That all changed, for good, with James' 45-point, 15-rebound explosion for the Heat in Game 6 of the 2012 conference finals at TD Garden -- a series Boston led at the time, 3-2.
James has scored 979 points in the playoffs against Boston over his career in 34 games. It's the most postseason points by one player against a single team in NBA history.
James' teams have won the last six playoff games in Boston. He's averaging 34.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists. For his career, he's 8-9 at TD Garden with averages of 30.5 points, 8.8 boards, and 6.1 assists.
For a little more perspective, there are only four players on the current Celtics team with more playoff wins in Boston than James -- Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier have 14, and Al Horford and Jaylen Brown have 12 to James' eight.
The Cavs beat the Celtics in five games in the 2017 conference finals (three times in Boston), and swept them out of the first round in 2015.
"I relish the opportunity to play the game that I love and be able to compete at the highest level and that's being in the NBA," James said when asked if he relishes the chance to play the Celtics in the playoffs, given his success. "I've been fortunate in my 15-year career so far to play in a lot of big games, and that's what I relish so it doesn't matter the team that I play against, honestly."
James said Friday the Celtics "are one of the most well-coached teams in our league." It's a nod to Boston coach Brad Stevens, whom James has praised publicly time and again over the years.
But, unless the Celtics make history and stop James' Finals streak, Stevens will be in the same boat with former Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer, current Pacers coach Nate McMillan, and the just-fired Toronto coach Dwane Casey. Stevens' team will have been bounced from the playoffs by James in consecutive seasons. The Raptors fired Casey Friday, a few days after the Raptors were swept out of the conference semis by the Cavs for the second straight year.
The Cavs also beat the Raptors in six games in the 2016 Eastern finals. Boston didn't make it out of the first round in 2016.
(For the record, regardless of the outcome in this series, no one thinks Stevens is getting fired.)
"I'm definitely not a one-man army," James said. "I've been fortunate to play with two great franchises in my career and played with some really, really good players. We've just had some success in the postseason. I've had a lot of success in the postseason.
"Probably within the last five years, I bet (Toronto has) improved in winning percentage every single year," James continued. "But I guess their front office wants playoff success. That's what it boils down to, I guess."