Terrible finals series performances by the losing teams best player

[SaintzFury13]

So I think at this point we can all agree that LeBron's 2011 NBA Finals performance against the Mavericks is the worst finals series performance by the best player on a losing team in NBA history, at least for someone who have permanent top 10 all time status (although at this point it's top 5). After that you can pretty much go with any order you want with Wilt in 69 or Curry in 16 or one that no one ever bothers to mention for some reason and that's Ewing in 94. Another I guess you could throw out there is Kobe in 08 (some people are going to mention Kobe in 04 but that technically doesn't count since Shaq was the best player on that team). What are some other truly notable ones though that don't get mentioned enough (or at all for that matter)?

[SouBeachTalents]

Off the top of my head the only other Finals that I'd describe as "terrible" would be LeBron in 2007.

Other Finals where I felt they played below their standards

'81 Moses
'84 Magic
'97 Malone
'06 Dirk
'09 Dwight

And while not quite on that level, Bird's '85 & '87 Finals were kinda bleh for his standards, ditto Magic in '83

[RRR3]

Off the top of my head the only other Finals that I'd describe as "terrible" would be LeBron in 2007.

Other Finals where I felt they played below their standards

'81 Moses
'84 Magic
'97 Malone
'06 Dirk
'09 Dwight

And while not quite on that level, Bird's '85 & '87 Finals were kinda bleh for his standards, ditto Magic in '83
Malone averaged 23.8 PPG on 48.5% in that finals after a regular season of 27.4 PPG on 60.0 TS%. He was terrible.

[MadDog]

Idk if I would call it "terrible" but relative to his regular-season and finals play, Curry's 2016 finals were bad. He averaged a pedestrian 22.6/4.2/3.9 and a weak FG% (.400). But worse than the numbers, he was outplayed by Draymond and completely humiliated by LeBron.

[RRR3]

Idk if I would call it "terrible" but relative to his regular-season and finals play, Curry's 2016 finals were bad. He averaged a pedestrian 22.6/4.2/3.9 and a weak FG% (.400). But worse than the numbers, he was outplayed by Draymond and completely humiliated by LeBron.
Relative to his level of play it was terrible. One of the worst chokes by a superstar ever tbh.

[MadDog]

OP already listed Curry. My bad. Ewing was pretty awful in 94 against Hakeem. In the regular-season, he averaged 25/11/2 on 50% shooting and 23/11/3 on 47% in the playoffs. In the finals though, Ewing put up 19/12/2 on 36% shooting. Huge drop off in scoring & efficiency.


Relative to his level of play it was terrible. One of the worst chokes by a superstar ever tbh.

I can't even sugarcoat it. He was.

[SaintzFury13]

Off the top of my head the only other Finals that I'd describe as "terrible" would be LeBron in 2007.

Other Finals where I felt they played below their standards

'81 Moses
'84 Magic
'97 Malone
'06 Dirk
'09 Dwight

And while not quite on that level, Bird's '85 & '87 Finals were kinda bleh for his standards, ditto Magic in '83

2007 LeBron gets a pass because he was a 22 year old playing against a team stock piled with veterans and great defenders who spent 95% of the series focusing entirely on him. I can't expect someone at his age to do much against a team like that. I'm talking more so players who just straight up shat the bed despite having the tools necessary to impact the game at an elite level.

[SaintzFury13]

Malone averaged 23.8 PPG on 48.5% in that finals after a regular season of 27.4 PPG on 60.0 TS%. He was terrible.

Shit happens when you've got Dennis Rodman guarding you for most of the series.

[coastalmarker99]

11 Lebron

69 Wilt

16 Curry

84 Magic

94 Ewing

97 Malone

85 Bird

[coastalmarker99]

Shit happens when you've got Dennis Rodman guarding you for most of the series.



game 1 - the infamous mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays, missed 2 clutch free throws with 9 seconds left, Jordan game-winner

game 2 - 6/20 shooting

game 3 - great game, 37/13

game 4 - another solid game, 23/10/6

game 5 - 2 point loss, 7/17, 5/9 at the free throw line for 19 points

game 6 - 7/15 from the field and free throw line in a 4 point loss



for the 1997 finals, Malone was 24/10/4 on a 48.5 TS and 60% at the free-throw line. during the regular season he shot 75.5% from the line

[SaintzFury13]

Idk if I would call it "terrible" but relative to his regular-season and finals play, Curry's 2016 finals were bad. He averaged a pedestrian 22.6/4.2/3.9 and a weak FG% (.400). But worse than the numbers, he was outplayed by Draymond and completely humiliated by LeBron.

Curry in 2016 was by every stretch of the imagination terrible. Like, there's no way you can argue he was good. Shooting his team out of game 7, getting locked up by Kevin Love, being outplayed by Irving, and overall being abused on defense, his infamous behind the back turnover, and of course the images and videos and gifs we'll never stop seeing of LeBron constantly wrecking Curry throughout the series, whether it be blocks, scoring right up on him or that time Curry went for a dunk after a foul call just for the hell of it and LeBron still decided to block him.

[Norcaliblunt]

2011 Lebron and 2016 Curry. Worst finals choke jobs ever in my time watching B-Ball. What’s crazy is they are the 2 best players of this era too.

[StrongLurk]

2007 LeBron gets a pass because he was a 22 year old playing against a team stock piled with veterans and great defenders who spent 95% of the series focusing entirely on him. I can't expect someone at his age to do much against a team like that. I'm talking more so players who just straight up shat the bed despite having the tools necessary to impact the game at an elite level.

Im sick of people giving Lebron such a pass in 07...was he a top five player in the league or not? If yes, then he played horrible for a top five player.

If he wasn't a top 5 player, then he only took those Cavs to the finals because the East was atrocious that year and should therefore not really receive much credit for it. Outside of Lebron's insanely amazing game five against the Pistons, he was VERY pedestrian the rest of the playoffs, In fact, I think he was a better player in 2006 than 2007.

Honestly, Lebron not only played terrible, but he got swept on top of that. If he played up to his standards, the Cavs could have got one or two games off those Spurs. Don't say "oh Lebron was only 22" etc. It was his FOURTH year in the league, he wasn't a rookie. Magic had a good finals at age 20, Shaq had a good finals at 22, Tim Duncan had a good finals at 22, etc.

By the way, I'm a big Lebron fan and think he's the second best player ever...and because I think he's that good, I don't believe he deserves a pass for his 2007 Finals. It's one thing to lose to a vastly superior teams...but it's another thing to completely shit the bed at the same time as losing.

[RRR3]

Im sick of people giving Lebron such a pass in 07...was he a top five player in the league or not? If yes, then he played horrible for a top five player.

If he wasn't a top 5 player, then he only took those Cavs to the finals because the East was atrocious that year and should therefore not really receive much credit for it. Outside of Lebron's insanely amazing game five against the Pistons, he was VERY pedestrian the rest of the playoffs, In fact, I think he was a better player in 2006 than 2007.

Honestly, Lebron not only played terrible, but he got swept on top of that. If he played up to his standards, the Cavs could have got one or two games off those Spurs.

By the way, I'm a big Lebron fan and think he's the second best player ever...and because I think he's that good, I don't believe he deserves a pass for his 2007 Finals. It's one thing to lose to a vastly superior teams...but it's another thing to completely shit the bed at the same time as losing.
LeBron wasn’t even first team all-nba that year or in his prime who gives a shit? LeBron is by far the most criticized player of all time LOL at being “sick of him getting a pass” for anything

[RRR3]

Shit happens when you've got Dennis Rodman guarding you for most of the series.
LeBron had Shawn Marion guarding him in 2011. Kobe had Tayshaun Prince in 2004. Ewing had Hakeem in 94. It’s not an excuse. Malone pooped his pants.

[StrongLurk]

LeBron wasn’t even first team all-nba that year or in his prime who gives a shit? LeBron is by far the most criticized player of all time LOL at being “sick of him getting a pass” for anything

Who gives a shit? How about every single Lebron fan/stan who endlessly brags about Lebron CARRYING a crap team to the finals as a TWENTY TWO YEAR OLD...like yeah I watched the whole game 5 against the Pistons and it blew my mind...but he was easily below that level every other game in those playoffs.

It sounds like to me you are in the camp off "Lebron/07 Cavs only made the finals because the East was really bad that year and his "finals" appearance is more just lucky timing than Lebron having a goat level playoff run that year for a 22 year old"

Honestly, other top 10 players (Shaq, Magic, Duncan) had amazing playoff runs at age 22 or younger and played well in the finals.

[RRR3]

Who gives a shit? How about every single Lebron fan/stan who endlessly brags about Lebron CARRYING a crap team to the finals as a TWENTY TWO YEAR OLD...like yeah I watched the whole game 5 against the Pistons and it blew my mind...but he was easily below that level every other game in those playoffs.

It sounds like to me you are in the camp off "Lebron/07 Cavs only made the finals because the East was really bad that year and his "finals" appearance is more just lucky timing than Lebron having a goat level playoff run that year for a 22 year old"

Honestly, other top 10 players (Shaq, Magic, Duncan) had amazing playoff runs at age 22 or younger and played well in the finals.
Meltdown. What a weird thing to get worked up about.

[StrongLurk]

Meltdown. What a weird thing to get worked up about.

I mean...you acted like no one gives Lebron a pass for his 2007 finals when literally the OP of this thread is giving Lebron a pass, when Lebron in 2007 fits the exact criteria OP is posting about lol.

[Norcaliblunt]

Lebron and the Cavs were not beating the Spurs that year. I don’t care how well he could’ve played. They wouldn’t have beat Phoenix or Dallas either. That was a lucky to get to the finals team. He himself overachieved and Detroit choked for them to get there.

[MadDog]

I mean...you acted like no one gives Lebron a pass for his 2007 finals when literally the OP of this thread is giving Lebron a pass, when Lebron in 2007 fits the exact criteria OP is posting about lol.

Yeah we can't give LeBron a "pass" for 2007. If you're going to hype him taking a team to the finals, then he should be held to that exact standard. The superstar one. LeBron shot in the 30 percentile, and was terrible in I think every 4th quarter. Doesn't get worse than your opposition DARING you to shoot lol.

[ScottieQuitting]

2011 LeBron
2008 Kobe
2007 LeBron
2006 Dirk

Spring to mind

[SouBeachTalents]

Yeah we can't give LeBron a "pass" for 2007. If you're going to hype him taking a team to the finals, then he should be held to that exact standard. The superstar one. LeBron shot in the 30 percentile, and was terrible in I think every 4th quarter. Doesn't get worse than your opposition DARING you to shoot lol.
Nah, he actually played by far his best ball in the 4th quarter that series. Maybe you're thinking of 2011 :lol

[Axe]

Curry in 2016 was the most embarrassing lmfao. Coming into the finals, he declared "i'm here, i'm back" only for him to lost hca to that scrub matthew dellavedova after game 4 in which they took a 3-1 lead with a 70 plus win team. Otoh, kawhit last year sits not too far from that, being heavily favored over 7'1 brian windhorst in the 2020 semifinals but in the end, a hallway series between the lakers and the clippers was scrapped due to their incompetence after taking a 3-1 lead also. What a shame.

[MadDog]

Nah, he actually played by far his best ball in the 4th quarter that series. Maybe you're thinking of 2011 :lol

Yeah probably. I haven't watched that series since it happened. I do remember the Spurs daring LeBron's ass to shoot though lol. His jumper was awful that year!

[Sportal]

Curry in 2016 was the most embarrassing lmfao. Coming into the finals, he declared "i'm here, i'm back" only for him to lost hca to that scrub matthew dellavedova after game 4 in which they took a 3-1 lead with a 70 plus win team. Otoh, kawhit last year sits not too far from that, being heavily favored over 7'1 brian windhorst in the 2020 semifinals but in the end, a hallway series between the lakers and the clippers was scrapped due to their incompetence after taking a 3-1 lead also. What a shame.

2011 LeBron... The hype, and the no-show. I mean, shit... That was embarrassing.

[Axe]

2011 LeBron... The hype, and the no-show. I mean, shit... That was embarrassing.
Kong in 2011 was embarrassing too but at least the miami heat didn't win around 70 games and lead 3-1 over the mavs in the finals rt to make it seem they're unbeatable. Gs had those feats but their defeat after losing three games in a row was nothing short of legendary in terms of a choke.

[Sportal]

Kong in 2011 was embarrassing too but at least the miami heat didn't win around 70 games and lead 3-1 over the mavs in the finals rt to make it seem they're unbeatable. Gs had those feats but their defeat after losing three games in a row was nothing short of legendary in terms of a choke.

Yeah, that is true. And I can also get behind that. But shit, that Miami team was meant to win AT LEAST 3 titles man. That team is seen different compared to teams like the Nets and Lakers today... If that Miami team happened today, they sure as hell don't have MARIO CHALMERS as their starting PG... lmao.

[Axe]

Yeah, that is true. And I can also get behind that. But shit, that Miami team was meant to win AT LEAST 3 titles man. That team is seen different compared to teams like the Nets and Lakers today... If that Miami team happened today, they sure as hell don't have MARIO CHALMERS as their starting PG... lmao.
Hahaha yeah, i can see why it's a bit sad that they lost because the purpose of forming their triumvirate was to dominate over the league after all but in their four seasons together, many people could say that they somewhat underachieved.

[RRR3]

Yeah, that is true. And I can also get behind that. But shit, that Miami team was meant to win AT LEAST 3 titles man. That team is seen different compared to teams like the Nets and Lakers today... If that Miami team happened today, they sure as hell don't have MARIO CHALMERS as their starting PG... lmao.
Chalmers was a great role player

[Sportal]

Chalmers was a great role player

Yeah but these days with these teams, you'd get a Rondo, or a Lowry or something..

[Nowitness]

1996 Jordan.

2004 Kobe if you think he took over from Shaq by that point.

[SaintzFury13]

Im sick of people giving Lebron such a pass in 07...was he a top five player in the league or not? If yes, then he played horrible for a top five player.

If he wasn't a top 5 player, then he only took those Cavs to the finals because the East was atrocious that year and should therefore not really receive much credit for it.

Uhh...yeah, no shit. I think pretty much everyone here knows that the East in 2007 was a laughing stock. That doesn't take away from what LeBron did in game 5 of the playoff series we all know about it, but it's a team that didn't even have Ben Wallace on it, nor was Larry Brown coaching. And no, I honestly don't think LeBron was a top 5 player at that point.


Outside of Lebron's insanely amazing game five against the Pistons, he was VERY pedestrian the rest of the playoffs, In fact, I think he was a better player in 2006 than 2007.

[QUOTE=StrongLurk;14436661]Honestly, Lebron not only played terrible, but he got swept on top of that. If he played up to his standards, the Cavs could have got one or two games off those Spurs. Don't say "oh Lebron was only 22" etc. It was his FOURTH year in the league, he wasn't a rookie. Magic had a good finals at age 20, Shaq had a good finals at 22, Tim Duncan had a good finals at 22, etc.

Okay? How many of those guys played against a team that had already been to the finals multiple times and had the players to slow them down? Oh? None of them? Well okay then. Actually, nah, that's not true. Shaq had Hakeem to deal with and he still had a good finals performance. Oh silly me. Oh wait, what's that? Oh right, Shaq also had Penny Hardaway and Horace Grant on his team. Who did LeBron have again?

You brought up Duncan having a good finals series at 22, but let me bring up a finals series that he wasn't good in: 2005, his third finals series at that point. Look at how Duncan performed when he finally got to a finals against a team that had the tools to slow him down (coincidentally, the Pistons). He was atrocious all series long and needed Manu to have an incredible performance just to win. A lot of people tend to give Duncan shit for the way he performed in that series. Me? I choose to look at what he was going up against at the time and understand that having to deal with a front court of Rasheed and Ben Wallace who are doubling you at every chance they get and expecting not to struggle? Yeah, that's asking a lot.

That's my line of thinking when looking at LeBron's 2007 performance.


By the way, I'm a big Lebron fan and think he's the second best player ever...and because I think he's that good, I don't believe he deserves a pass for his 2007 Finals. It's one thing to lose to a vastly superior teams...but it's another thing to completely shit the bed at the same time as losing.

Buddy, LeBron was the teams best leading scorer by 10 points on a per game basis. His second best player statistically was Drew Gooden. I just don't know what else you can expect him to do against a team that was ranked second in defense in the league that season and had a first team all defense member guarding him the entire time.


I mean...you acted like no one gives Lebron a pass for his 2007 finals when literally the OP of this thread is giving Lebron a pass, when Lebron in 2007 fits the exact criteria OP is posting about lol.

Not really. I do say players who are top 10 status, so in what way is 2007 LeBron a top 10 all time player at that point? I think most of us would agree here that putting LeBron at that rank at that point is career is pretty silly. He's not a superstar level talent yet, at least not at that point. Is that reaching? Yeah probably. I'm not afraid to admit that. But that's one of the reasons why I choose not to count it while counting something like 2011. The man was a two time MVP already at that point and would have been a first ballot hall of famer if he retired right there and then.

[SaintzFury13]

1996 Jordan.

2004 Kobe if you think he took over from Shaq by that point.

Jordan's team won the finals that year, so that doesn't count.


Kong in 2011 was embarrassing too but at least the miami heat didn't win around 70 games and lead 3-1 over the mavs in the finals rt to make it seem they're unbeatable. Gs had those feats but their defeat after losing three games in a row was nothing short of legendary in terms of a choke.

LeBron got lit up by Jason Terry. I would say that's more embarrassing than anything that happened to Golden State in 2016.

[Axe]

LeBron got lit up by Jason Terry. I would say that's more embarrassing than anything that happened to Golden State in 2016.
For an individual performance made by an all-star, then yes. I guess that makes sense.