LeBron James helped the Raptors learn their plays in 2017

There are countless challenges that come up when you try to take on LeBron James in the playoffs. Not only do you have to deal with his gifts as a player, but you have to deal with his photographic memory and the knowledge he’s accumulated after 15 years in the league.

On a recent podcast with Bill Simmons, former Cavaliers general manager David Griffin shared a story from 2017, where LeBron helped the Raptors when they weren’t executing a play properly:

There’s literally nothing you can show him that he can’t do. There’s no play you’ll run against him he can’t name, and then go out there and teach your players how to do it better than anyone else,” Griffin said on a recent episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast.

”I was in the gym when I watched him on the floor against Toronto tell Patrick Patterson where he was supposed to go on the play they had called out of a timeout late in the fourth quarter. He was like ‘no Pat, you’re supposed to stand over there and set a pin down for DeMar (DeRozan) over here.

Transcribed by William Lou of The Score

The Cavs are getting ready to take on Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics for the third time in four years. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Stevens will be able to change things up and throw out looks that LeBron hasn’t seen before.

With time off to rest and study, a well prepared LeBron should be a force to contend with in Game 1. Especially if he successfully gets in the opposing playbook.