Rank LeBron James' 6 Finals Performances

[RagaZ]

1. 2012
2. 2015
Gap
3. 2013
4. 2014
5. 2011
6. 2007

Thought he was mediocre in 2013. Almost cost them in Game 6 with two silly turnovers. But I guess his Game 7 saved his overall series. 2014 was mostly empty stats. 2011 and 2007 a toss-up, but a sweep in the Finals clinches it for me.

[DMAVS41]

1. 2012
2. 2015
Gap
3. 2013
4. 2014
5. 2011
6. 2007

Thought he was mediocre in 2013. Almost cost them in Game 6 with two silly turnovers. But I guess his Game 7 saved his overall series. 2014 was mostly empty stats. 2011 and 2007 a toss-up, but a sweep in the Finals clinches it for me.

I think that is what I'd have it as.

Hard to believe he's had two of the worst finals performances ever....granted one was a pre prime Lebron, but still.

[SouBeachTalents]

2011 is his worst imo, don't care if his stats look better

[nzahir]

1. 2012
2. 2015
Gap
3. 2013
4. 2014
5. 2011
6. 2007

Thought he was mediocre in 2013. Almost cost them in Game 6 with two silly turnovers. But I guess his Game 7 saved his overall series. 2014 was mostly empty stats. 2011 and 2007 a toss-up, but a sweep in the Finals clinches it for me.
25, 11, 7, 2 steals, 1 block 45% isnt mediocre and game 6 he had 15 in the 4th quarter to bring them back

[Indian guy]

1) 2015
2) 2012
3) 2014
4) 2013
5) 2011
6) 2007

[SouBeachTalents]

25, 11, 7, 2 steals, 1 block 45% isnt mediocre and game 6 he had 15 in the 4th quarter to bring them back

That was a Finals of two halves

Games 1-3: 17/12/7 on 39%
Games 4-7: 32/10/7 on 48%

[branslowski]

25, 11, 7, 2 steals, 1 block 45% isnt mediocre and game 6 he had 15 in the 4th quarter to bring them back

The watching vs "The empty stat" strikes once again in this post.

[KobesFinger]

1) 2012
2) 2013
3) 2015
4) 2014
5) 2007
6) 2011

Imo

[Ne 1]

1. 2012
2. 2015
Gap
3. 2013
4. 2014
5. 2011
6. 2007

Thought he was mediocre in 2013. Almost cost them in Game 6 with two silly turnovers. But I guess his Game 7 saved his overall series. 2014 was mostly empty stats. 2011 and 2007 a toss-up, but a sweep in the Finals clinches it for me.

Mostly agree with your list. 2012 is clearly his best by far, excellent all around series and his team won in a back door sweep. I think I'd probably take 2013 over 2015 though because of his excellent Game 7 and he was money in the 4th quarter of game 6, until he turned the ball over twice and bricked a 3, and then he was saved by Chris Bosh and Ray Allen.

His '15 Finals is very overrated though. Other than sheer numbers, which were empty by every definition ever used for the term, 2015 was not an impressive Finals performance at all. I'd also switch 2007 with 2011, 2007 was a terrible series for a player of his caliber, he just got exposed as a poor shooter, but 2011 was just pathetic, he went ghost on both ends of the court after Wade scolded him in game 3. His 2014 Finals were actually a lot like Durant's 2012 Finals. Yeah, his efficiency was great and his stats look pretty good on paper, but the rest of the game just wasn't there. His defense was mediocre, his play-making wasn't the same, and he was a turnover machine. He was inconsistent throughout the series outside of that great game 2. His lack of a killer instinct and passiveness in moments when the team needed him to step up was clearly an issue as well. He was clearly outplayed by Kawahi Leonard in the two biggest games of the series, on Bron's home court too, he was a role player but looked like a perennial All-Star in games 3-5 with LeBron defending him.

[1987_Lakers]

2015 was his best, probably the greatest individual performance in a losing effort.

[Young X]

'12
'15
'14
'13



'11

'07

[houston]

13
12
14
15
07
11

[ArbitraryWater]

1) 2015

2) 2014
3) 2012

4) 2013


5) 2011
6) 2007

^ this is the correct one, lads.


2015 was his best, probably the greatest individual performance in a losing effort.

cemented his top 5 all-time spot

[catch24]

I think that is what I'd have it as.

Hard to believe he's had two of the worst finals performances ever....granted one was a pre prime Lebron, but still.

Same here, and yeah it's crazy. To think had Shuttlesworth not hit the miracle 3, LeBron's possessions down the stretch would've been regarded as one of THE greatest meltdowns in history... Turnovers, airballs, bricks. Ray Allen in some ways saved his legacy, as we got to see a game 7.

History is funny that way.

[Magic 32]

That was a Finals of two halves

Games 1-3: 17/12/7 on 39%
Games 4-7: 32/10/7 on 48%

I remember game 5 being dreadful. And game 4 was about 30% statpadding.

And game 6 was almost as wastefull as any of the 2015 games.

Not a pretty series.

[SouBeachTalents]

Same here, and yeah it's crazy. To think had Shuttlesworth not hit the miracle 3, LeBron's possessions down the stretch would've been regarded as one of THE greatest meltdowns in history... Turnovers, airballs, bricks. Ray Allen in some ways saved his legacy, as we got to see a game 7.

History is funny that way.

Same argument could be made for Kobe's 6/24. If the Lakers lose with him shooting like that that would have changed his legacy dramatically, as would LeBron's had Ray not made that 3

[SexSymbol]

1.12 obviously
gap
2.13
gap
3.15
4.07
5.14
6.11

[nba_55]

12/15
14
13
11
07

[catch24]

Same argument could be made for Kobe's 6/24. If the Lakers lose with him shooting like that that would have changed his legacy dramatically, as would LeBron's had Ray not made that 3

That's true, but at least Kobe had some titles to fall back on. You know?

LeBron's title during the lockout and 2 historic meltdowns (not including 2007 where he just played awful in) would have left him in a precarious spot.

[nba_55]

1.12 obviously
gap
2.13
gap
3.15
4.07
5.14
6.11

you are dumb

[SexSymbol]

you are dumb
nikka you have 15 being his 1a performance in the finals. Either you hate him, or you didn't watch any game of the finals.

[Suguru101]

1) 2015

2) 2014
3) 2012

4) 2013


5) 2011
6) 2007

^ this is the correct one, lads.



cemented his top 5 all-time spot

You have 2014 over 2012.

You have 2014 over 2013.

That's it, i'm not discussing basketball with you anymore. God damn. :facepalm

[nba_55]

You have 2014 over 2012.

You have 2014 over 2013.

That's it, i'm not discussing basketball with you anymore. God damn. :facepalm

14 was better than 13, the only reason why you think 13 was better is because his teammates played better in 13. You guys always mix up team rankings with player rankings.

[nba_55]

nikka you have 15 being his 1a performance in the finals. Either you hate him, or you didn't watch any game of the finals.

Again, you are mixing up team ranking with player ranking. Lebron played as well as anyone could have played with that team.

[SexSymbol]

14 was better than 13, the only reason why you think 13 was better is because his teammates played better in 13. You guys always mix up team rankings with player rankings.
not true.
LeBron scored a ****ton of points in garbage time in 14, a role player that he was guarding won fmvp, his real stats were reminiscent of his 11 stats as was his whole performance and approach.
START WATCHING GAMES, you're making a fool out of yourself.

[Fork]

1. 2015
2. 2012
3. 2013
4. 2014
5. 2011
6. 2007

[SexSymbol]

Again, you are mixing up team ranking with player ranking. Lebron played as well as anyone could have played with that team.
not true again, against pathetic single coverage that prime MJ or Kobe used to feast upon, he shot measly 39 percent, was dreadful from three while mainly being open from there, shot horribly from mid too. His all around play was good to great, but his defense was non-existent, and a role player that he was supposed to guard won fmvp over him.
He also gave up in g6 when the game was not over yet, played horribly in the deciding g4

[nba_55]

not true.
LeBron scored a ****ton of points in garbage time in 14, a role player that he was guarding won fmvp, his real stats were reminiscent of his 11 stats as was his whole performance and approach.
START WATCHING GAMES, you're making a fool out of yourself.

Prove it. You can't make up shit like that and expect me to believe it. And you should actually watch the games and stop repeating what other Kobe stans want to believe.

[ArbitraryWater]

That's true, but at least Kobe had some titles to fall back on. You know?

LeBron's title during the lockout and 2 historic meltdowns (not including 2007 where he just played awful in) would have left him in a precarious spot.

meh, how many guys can win while piggybacking off Shaq? top 30 all-time? (Remember, thats around Ewing's standing..).. so those titles wouldnt really say too much as 2nd fiddle. Luckily being LA, you had those refs to fall back on.

[1987_Lakers]

Again, you are mixing up team ranking with player ranking. Lebron played as well as anyone could have played with that team.
:applause:

Anyone who thinks his 2013 performance is better than his 2015 performance doesn't know shit about the sport.

[nba_55]

not true again, against pathetic single coverage that prime MJ or Kobe used to feast upon, he shot measly 39 percent, was dreadful from three while mainly being open from there, shot horribly from mid too. His all around play was good to great, but his defense was non-existent, and a role player that he was supposed to guard won fmvp over him.
He also gave up in g6 when the game was not over yet, played horribly in the deciding g4

Wrong it wasn't single converage, that's a lie again. He didn't shot well, but he still dominated the game with his scoring, rebounds, passing, control of pace. He did as good as he could have done without 3 of the best players on the team injured against the #1 defense of the league. And he wasn't guarding Iggy.

[ArbitraryWater]

LeBron just shot 40% against the #1 defense with no offensive help.... how the **** is this Kobe's goddamn finals career average :crazysam: :crazysam:

[J Shuttlesworth]

:applause:

Anyone who thinks his 2013 performance is better than his 2015 performance doesn't know shit about the sport.
If you combined all of the games from 2015 and 2013, game 7 2013 would be the best, but the next 3 would all be from 2015.

[SexSymbol]

Wrong it wasn't single converage, that's a lie again. He didn't shot well, but he still dominated the game with his scoring, rebounds, passing, control of pace. He did as good as he could have done without 3 of the best players on the team injured against the #1 defense of the league. And he wasn't guarding Iggy.
:wtf:
and no shit he wasn't guarding Iggy, true dat.
If he had any post game whatsoever Cavs take this series easily. Cavs supporting cast was at least equal to what curry had, I've broken it down recently like a week ago, search for the thread, you'll find your truth.

And to the earlier point of proving 14 was a shit performance:
Games 3-4-5 of 2014 Finals
- 51 of LeBron's 81 points (63%) came after being down 15+
Game 3
- 14 points 0 turnovers in first 8 minutes
- 8 points and 7 turnovers in last 40 minutes
- The Heat also cut the lead from 15 to 10 without LeBron on the floor from the 5:00 to 1:00 mark of the 3rd quarter, so no excuse about not having help

Game 4
- 9 points in first half, down 19 at half time
- Then the Spurs let him pad his stats with 19 points in the 3rd quarter since they were already getting blown out and it was too late to make a difference.

Game 5
- 17 points in 1st quarter, up 7 after 1st quarter
- 3 points in 2nd quarter, never scored again until down 21 with 4:40 left in the 3rd
pads his stats in garbage time from there

Games 3-4-5
Leonard 23.7 ppg on 69% (14% more than LeBron)
Leonard 9.3 rpg to LeBron 7.7 rpg
Leonard 2.0 spg to LeBron 1.7 spg
Leonard 2.0 bpg to LeBron 0.7 bpg
LeBron 3.7 TOpg to Leonard's 1.7 TOpg (more than double)

and Leonard was playing 7 less total minutes in Games 3-4-5

[JZ600]

2015
2012
2013
2014
2007
2011

[nba_55]

And to the earlier point of proving 14 was a shit performance:
Games 3-4-5 of 2014 Finals
- 51 of LeBron's 81 points (63%) came after being down 15+
No shit! They were down big early in those blowout game, what did you expect him to do, give up and go sit on the bench? What about the first 2 games? Those game were close, was his points garbage also?


Game 3
- 14 points 0 turnovers in first 8 minutes
- 8 points and 7 turnovers in last 40 minutes
- The Heat also cut the lead from 15 to 10 without LeBron on the floor from the 5:00 to 1:00 mark of the 3rd quarter, so no excuse about not having help

How is scoring points in the first 8 minutes garbage points? Please explain, I'm confused. Actually, by your definition, those 8 points and 7 turnovers came in garbage points because they were down 16 after first quarter in game 3. That's a good argument for Lebron in this case. Most of his good play came in when the game was close ( first 8 minutes) and his bad play came in garbage time ( down 15 by your definition).

And his team cut the lead down in one game without him on the court ( and that only 5 points) and that's all that you need to confirm that he had help?:lol :lol Huge sample :lol :lol


Game 4
- 9 points in first half, down 19 at half time
- Then the Spurs let him pad his stats with 19 points in the 3rd quarter since they were already getting blown out and it was too late to make a difference.
What a poor excuse again! So he should have given up after the half time? :lol :lol And in the 3rd, he still played against Spurs' starting five, doesn't matter if they were leading.


Game 5
- 17 points in 1st quarter, up 7 after 1st quarter
- 3 points in 2nd quarter, never scored again until down 21 with 4:40 left in the 3rd
pads his stats in garbage time from there

Most of his points came in the first quarter, that wasn't garbage again.



Games 3-4-5
Leonard 23.7 ppg on 69% (14% more than LeBron)
Leonard 9.3 rpg to LeBron 7.7 rpg
Leonard 2.0 spg to LeBron 1.7 spg
Leonard 2.0 bpg to LeBron 0.7 bpg
LeBron 3.7 TOpg to Leonard's 1.7 TOpg (more than double)

and Leonard was playing 7 less total minutes in Games 3-4-5
Why are you ignoring some stats? Why did you ignore Lebron's ppg? Why are you ignoring assists?

And why did you completely ignore the first 2 games?

[Ne 1]

:applause:

Anyone who thinks his 2013 performance is better than his 2015 performance doesn't know shit about the sport.

His 2015 finals statistics are overrated. Sure statistically, there is no denying how "wow" his numbers are at first glance. But 28% outside of the restricted area is extremely inefficient basketball. Please just take the time to imagine that. 28%. He had the ball in his hands nearly all the time, therefore had all the time in the world to get into rhythm, and yet still shot 28% from outside 5 feet. 5 feet is literally a gather and layup. And when Iggy was draped all over him on the perimeter, he shot under 38% all the same.

Not only that but his fourth quarter performances. Do I even need to get into that? Even in the games where you can tell he was deliberately saving himself for the final stretch (games 5 and 6), he not only played terribly, he got absolutely outplayed by Curry AND Iggy. And the games were always close at some point in the 4th quarter, so they were always there for the taking IF LeBron took his team home. That fact is especially striking to me.

[dubeta]

LeBron haters:

Lebrons 2014 wasnt good because he statpadded his efficiency


LeBrons 2015 wasnt good because he wasnt efficient enough


Only on ISH :lol

[nba_55]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y-djvCdyN8

OldBe vs 2015 Warriors: 44pts on 56%TS in 3 quarters (LeBron averaged 47%TS) ... :eek:

That translates into a 20 points on 30% FG in the finals for Kobe.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

double post


LeBron just shot 40% against the #1 defense with no offensive help.... how the **** is this Kobe's goddamn finals career average :crazysam: :crazysam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y-djvCdyN8

OldBe vs 2015 Warriors: 44pts on 55%TS in 3 quarters (LeBron averaged 47%TS) ... :eek:

[ArbitraryWater]

double post



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y-djvCdyN8

OldBe vs 2015 Warriors: 44pts on 55%TS in 3 quarters (LeBron averaged 47%TS) ... :eek:

:eek: color me impressed ;)

[1987_Lakers]

His 2015 finals statistics are overrated. Sure statistically, there is no denying how "wow" his numbers are at first glance. But 28% outside of the restricted area is extremely inefficient basketball. Please just take the time to imagine that. 28%. He had the ball in his hands nearly all the time, therefore had all the time in the world to get into rhythm, and yet still shot 28% from outside 5 feet. 5 feet is literally a gather and layup. And when Iggy was draped all over him on the perimeter, he shot under 38% all the same.

Not only that but his fourth quarter performances. Do I even need to get into that? Even in the games where you can tell he was deliberately saving himself for the final stretch (games 5 and 6), he not only played terribly, he got absolutely outplayed by Curry AND Iggy. And the games were always close at some point in the 4th quarter, so they were always there for the taking IF LeBron took his team home. That fact is especially striking to me.

This is nitpicking at its finest.

36 ppg on 40 FG% was his scoring averages vs the #1 defense in the NBA, I don't care how he shot the ball beyond 5 feet. This guy was being asked to do EVERYTHING for the Cavs while receiving very little rest so it's understandable that he got tired near the end of games.

The guy also averaged 13 rpg and 9 apg while controlling the pace of the game for a chunk of the series, he also managed to win 2 games despite having a trash supporting cast and going up against the most dominant team since the '97 Bulls.

2015 will go down as the greatest individual performance in a losing effort in the Finals.

[Ne 1]

36 ppg on 40 FG% was his scoring averages


Exactly the same as Iverson's 2001 Finals.

You give any top 10 player in the league 33 shots at the basket per game, they will average the points LeBron did if not more. Name me a top player in this era or any other who could not do what he did with that amount of opportunity.

LeBron had a 40%+ usage rate with a 5 foot cushion with isolation, 1 on 1 coverage the entire series and he shot 39% from the field and 28% outside 5 feet because his jumper is broken. Not to mention 68% from the FT line. If you play someone like Kobe, Durant or Melo like that, they'll go off for nearly 50+ a night. LeBron's offensive skill set is usually limited to bulldozing and streaky 3 point shooting. If neither one of those is happening then it's going to be a rough night for him.

Also, as usual he's escaping criticism from making his teammates noticeably worse on offense to play up the idea that he had "no help" especially on that side of the ball. But he had a 40+% usage rate in the finals and held the ball for at minimum 10 seconds out of each shot clock when he was on the floor. Tell me exactly who can play consistently offensively under those circumstances? This also goes into inflating his assist numbers too. I am not saying he had great supporting cast, but I am pretty sure if he utilized the bigs on this team (Mozgov and TT), it could've been a different story....

By having the ball in his hands for half the Cavs possessions, he stalls the flow of offense. Shooters like James Jones would normally have knocked down his jumpers. But shooters rely on rhythm, which Jones was obviously NOT in as he missed every single jumper he took in game 6. That's just one example. And anyone who watched his tenure in Miami know that as incredible as he is, his isolation tendency stalls good basketball.

The ball sticks and ends up in his hands. And in the biggest moments, when the ball is in his hands and the game is in his hands, he shrinks into inefficiency. As remarkable as his statistics are numerically, the inefficiency at which he achieves them costs him. We saw that when the ball stalled in Miami plenty of times. Yet, he praised the Spurs for their "Team basketball" after they dismantled the Heat.