LeBron James is in his 16th NBA season, and every year he is supposed to regress but manages to be number one year after year. LeBron has a really good chance to win his fourth title. But what about his other 8 times he's been in the finals what do those wins and losses really mean.
This previous year, he was ranked third behind Giannis and Kawhi. Where are they now? Kawhi is in Cancun with Lillard and McCollum, and Giannis is with family in Greece.Let me list all the players that were supposed to take LeBron's throne. Derrick Rose, Kevin Durrant, Kawhi Lenord, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Paul George. Now, let's take an in-depth on why LeBron is inevitable.
I'll begin by talking about LeBron's 3-6 Championship record. LeBron lost in 2007 to the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs had a +450 odds to win the 2007 finals (BasketballRefernce.com.) That was second in the league behind the Dallas Mavericks. The 2000s was the league didn't have many great players, non the less any good role players, but the Spurs had it all. A team led by Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili then having influential role players in Burce Bowen, Michael Finley, and Robert Horry was a great start.
The Clevland Cavaliers, on the other hand, was not scary what so ever. The Clevland Lebron's had third-year superstar LeBron James, 40.1 minutes a game, and after him is a massive drop-off in talent. Larry Hughes had 14.9 points per game in 37.1 minutes. The next player who was supposed to be relevant on the team was Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and he only averaged 11.9 points per game (Basketballreferecnce.com). Rookies Daniel Gibson and Shannon Brown and third-year player Anderson Varejáo played a combined 49.2 out of 240 minutes a game.
Long story short, LeBron even making to the championship should give him some love; he played 40 minutes. Who today would play 40 minutes and put a team on their shoulders to the NBA Finals?
But ultimately, LeBron is 0-1 in the Finals.
Let's move onto the Miami Heat days. Not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, but 6+ championships are on their way to Miami, per LeBron. Shoot, the NBA changed significantly because of this move. LeBron and his new superteam were favored to win their first championship in 2011. They were up against a Dallas Mavericks team filled with great role players and only one superstar. The Heat was favored to win the Larry O'Brien trophy +150, and the Mavericks were sitting seventh at +2000. LeBron was second in MVP voting behind Derrick Rose. LeBron was three rebounds and three assists short of averaging a triple-double. He had 38.8 minutes a game and finished first in the league in win shares. Then he loses in six games. When he is at the peak of his career, this series should give him two losses in his playoff record.
LeBron 0-2 in the NBA Finals.
After losing to the Mavericks, LeBron goes on a seven-year run of making it to the finals. His physical record may be deceiving. He plays The Oklahoma City Thunder, who is a very talented team. Kevin Durant, back-to-back scoring champ. Russell Westbrook, a freak athlete. James Harden, reliable scorer off the bench. Serge Ibaka, solid interior defender. The problem was they were way too young, and LeBron was a hungry man. The Miami Heat gentlemen sweep the Thunder to win LeBron his NBA Title.
LeBron 1-2 in the NBA Finals.
The following year the Heat make it to the finals again. They dominate the league in the regular season, finishing 68-16. They swept the Bucks, beat the Bulls in five, then beat it out in seven in the Conference Finals against the Pacers. That Pacer series was terrific, by the way. Then they have to face the Spurs in the NBA finals. Kawhi Lenard took that next step in becoming the great defender he is, but it wasn't enough to stop LeBron. Chris Bosh grabs that rebound kicks it out to Ray Allen to tie the game, send it into overtime and win the game and series. The argument in this series is LeBron's role players saved him. But LeBron scored the most points by a large margin, played 43 minutes, and almost averaged a triple-double!
LeBron 2-2 in the NBA Finals.
The next two-series are acceptable losses. San Antonio was on a bounce-back year, and man Kawhi again took another great leap. He was then facing the Golden State Warriors, an up and coming dynasty. The sheer power from the Warriors was one of a kind. Not to make excuses, but Kyrie didn't play in this NBA finals. Jordan could never win a ring without Pippen. No one had seen the type of shooting, playmaking, flexibility on one team before, and got away with it. The 95' Bulls could mix it up and play Kukoč at five, Pippen at the four, and play small ball. But no way would that work. It was something different, and it got them to their first championship in the 2000s
LeBron 2-4 in the NBA Finals
The 2016 NBA finals are a different subject. We all know what happens. LeBron makes the greatest block in NBA history. The block to get a statue of him blocking Iggy outside of the QuickenLoans Arena. "This one for you, Clevland" LeBron James. They did it, a 3-1 comeback in the NBA Finals. Other than the 3-1 rally, they beat that team with the MVP—the team with the best record in NBA history.
LeBron 3-4 In the NBA Finals
The next two Finals were rediculous and ultimately shouldn't count against Lebron. Kyrie, or should we call him Kylie, because of how he acted and proceeded to play or not to play. Kevin Love only got older, and old, slow, veterans surrounded King James. Not much he could do. Oh, and did I mention MVP, three-time scoring champ, signed with the Golden State Warriors. Imagine if Pippen left Rodmen and Kukoč with Jordan and went to play with the Jazz or the Supersonics in 97.' I'm not saying Pippen is Kyrie or Kyrie is Pippen, but Kyrie was the second-best player on his team the year before
LeBron 3-6 in the NBA Finals.
If I did some advanced metric system for LeBron's Finals wins and losses, it'd go two points for the 2016 Finals. Two points from the back-to-back titles in Miami, giving him four wins. Two points total from the 2007, 2017, 2018 Finals. Plus, two points for the 2011 Finals and one point from the 2014 Finals. Long story short, his Finals record would be 4-5.
In two and a half weeks, he'll be 4-6 officially, if you know what I mean.
Comments