Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that Jerry West's Los Angeles Lakers lost to Bill Russell's Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals seven times.

Few could have a better appreciation for the situation LeBron James finds himself in than Jerry West.

James, now in his seventh trip to the NBA Finals, has been criticized for his 2-4 record in the postseason’s championship round — a mark in danger of growing worse as his Cavaliers prepare for Game 2 at Golden State on Sunday night trailing 1-0 in this best-of-seven series.

But West, who won only once in nine trips to the Finals during his Hall of Fame playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers, was incredulous at the thought of anyone criticizing James for reaching the pinnacle of his sport and falling short year after year.

[With these Cavs, LeBron James may finally have what he needs]

“That’s the most ridiculous thing,” West, who is a member of Golden State’s executive board, said Saturday at Oracle Arena. “If I were him, I’d probably want to strangle you guys.

“He’s carried teams on his shoulders. He’s been to the Finals six straight times. How many times has he been the favorite? None. Zero. Grossly unfair to him.

“I don’t want to sound like Donald Trump, but it’s hard for me to believe someone doesn’t recognize his greatness. This guy does everything. And he’s competitive as hell.

“Frankly, I wish people would leave him alone.”

That won’t be happening to James anytime soon. It certainly won’t for the next two weeks as he tries to win the third championship of his career and first for the city of Cleveland in more than 50 years. And while it isn’t entirely accurate to say James has never been favored in the Finals — he and the Miami Heat were heavy favorites against the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 — that also was the only time he entered the Finals with a team widely expected to win the series.

It is one of the many ways the careers of West and James mirror each other. West spent the 1960s repeatedly running into Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics, losing six times to them before he finally managed to win a championship by beating the New York Knicks in 1972.

Despite all the success West has had throughout his remarkable career — not only becoming universally hailed as one of the best shooting guards of all time and a first-ballot Hall of Famer but also becoming arguably the greatest executive in NBA history — he remains haunted by his Finals failures.

[Golden State bench delivers decisive verdict in Game 1 of NBA Finals]

“Sure it bothers me,” West said. “Even today it bothers me. It’s no fun to get there that many times and not get the results you want, regardless of how you played.

“In the playoffs, the best players are supposed to play better. I did. It made no difference. We weren’t good enough.”

James could be headed toward the same fate. This season he became the first player not part of those dynastic Celtics teams from the 1960s to make it to six straight Finals, and he has been the fulcrum of each and every one of those teams. Last season, he carried the Cavaliers to the Finals despite Cleveland losing Kevin Love to a shoulder injury in the first round and Kyrie Irving to a knee injury in Game 1 against the Warriors.

Still, he managed almost single-handedly to push the Warriors to six games, earning himself votes for Finals MVP. The award, however, went to Andre Iguodala, meaning West — in 1969 against the Celtics — remains the only player to be named Finals MVP for a losing team.

It’s not a fond memory for West.

“Miserable,” he said when asked for his feelings upon winning the award. “I don’t like to lose. I hate to lose. I’m not a good loser. I’m not. I was sort of born that way, and that’s never going to change.”

During the first round of the playoffs, James was reading West’s bestselling memoir, which West said flattered him. And while he wouldn’t get into specifics about conversations he has had with James, he did think there was something James — and others in his position — could gain from reading it.

[Cavs stronger and healthier in this year’s NBA Finals, but so are the Warriors]

“Just how hard it is,” West said. “Regardless of what you do as an individual, just how hard it is.

“For me, [after losing] three times, I didn’t want to play anymore. I just didn’t want to do it. It took so much out of you. And, again, I’m a lot different than most athletes. I’m much more serious about everything. I’m wired completely differently, and when you’re like that it hurts more.

“It’s just like being . . . here’s this store window, okay? And when you’re little, there’s candy behind that window. You can almost touch it, but you can’t get there.

“I’ve often said there’s more great stories in losing locker rooms than winning locker rooms. Great stories. And no one cares to go there because this country relishes, as everyone does, they relish winners. But, I mean, there’s some devastated people in that other locker room. Devastated. And, unfortunately, that was the case for me many years.”

The same already can be said about LeBron James. And if he fails again against the Warriors, the comparisons only will grow.