[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

LeBron has now completed 10 trips to the NBA Finals, has a 4-6 record, so at Viseland my brother and I decided to rank his Finals appearances from worst to best. You will see how his rosters were constructed at the time, great or disappointing moments he had in the play-offs and a look into what his greatest NBA Finals games were. Plus, where does 2020 rank among his Finals performances when taken into context of his career?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrDMaF-ba60

Where would you all rank 2020 among LeBron’s NBA Finals or play-off performances? It certainly is top half. Did this year do anything to change your mind about where LeBron is ranked among the NBA’s all-time best?

Also, wanted to shoutout a podcast that I shoutout in Vineland, and it is called “IT’S ABOUT JOY”. P.D. Web has become a must follow for NBA Draft heads (https://twitter.com/abovethebreak3) and I had the chance to talk with him for the latest episode of his podcast, which delves into players that bring us joy. The player I chose was indeed, LeBron James. The episode itself has two other players that are incredibly fun to watch, plus highly recommend you listen to his premier episode. Listen all the way through, his outro gives a very powerful message.

IT’S ABOUT JOY EPISODE 2: https://twitter.com/abovethebreak3/status/1313958477216329729?s=20

P.D. Web’s Patreon/Articles: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=24373441&fan_landing=true

As for the rest of Viseland’s links

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/viseland/id1513844765

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3XuEMytfKYoqXm8l9LqFTv?si=MwNgY3YUSre1KYyyG2HOJw

Viseland: https://twitter.com/Viseland

[sniperParticipant]

Because of the quality of the opposition he beat, LeBron’s 2013 and 2016 finals have to stand at the top, no question. This one was #3 or 4.

IMO LeBron became the GOAT when he led an otherwise awful Cleveland team to the finals in 2018. Who cares if they got swept, that was like a 30-35-win team without LeBron, but with him they beat two very good teams (Raptors and Celtics) on their way to the Finals. (Fun fact: Cleveland’s regular-season point differential in 2017-18 was 1.0. Toronto’s was 7.8.) That was one of the more incredible achievements I’ve ever seen in the NBA.

This season just put some distance between LBJ and anyone else with a claim to being the GOAT.

[cpsisson7Participant]

Awesome man I think you should do a ranking of the best LeBron from every season he’s played in the NBA. I know it’s a tough task but I think it be really cool; you can give your reasons why etc.

[cpsisson7Participant]

would love to be apart of something like that 🤙🤙

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

10. 2011-Clearly his worst. This was clearly a case of him letting pressure and expectations get to him. He was probably the 4 or 5th best player in this series if we’re being honest. It’s still hard to figure out what happened.
9. 2007- He was a very young player playing on an extremely overmatched team. The spurs basically built a wall and dared him to beat them from outside, which he couldnt do at that point of his career. Just getting to the finals with that team was a major accomplishment.
8. 2014- While lebrons numbers were still elite and the notion that kawhi somehow “shut him down” is overblown, this was also a series where he looked defeated and couldn’t elevate his teammates.
7. 2018- this was another instance where lebron went in with an extremely overmatched roster with little chance of winning. He almost willed his team to victory single-handed in game one but seemed to check out as the series progressed and the outcome was inevitable.
6. 2012- lebron’s first title but from a numbers perspective not one of his strongest. Which says quite a bit how strong his numbers were in other series.
5. 2013- this was an up and down series where lebron had his struggles at times. But he came through with a huge game 7 and finally put to rest for good the strategy that you could beat him by walling off the paint
4. 2015- lebron doesn’t get enough credit for this run. He actually made it a competitive series against the stacked without love and Irving. While lebrons raw numbers and usage were absolutely ridiculous, his efficiency understandably was not on par with other finals appearances.
3. 2017- from a pure statistical standpoint this may have been lebrons best finals. 33.6 ppg, 12 rpg, 10 apg on very efficient shooting against an absolutely stacked roster. Of course, the result prevents it from being higher.
2. 2020- Insane stats and incredible efficiency. Hard to argue that anyone could really be more dominant than lebron was in this series. But the competition he faced wasn’t what it was in previous years. First finals where he was a clear favorite.
1. 2016- the circumstances of what he was up against and the comeback have to make this number one. He led all players in virtually every statistical category. Absolutely iconic performance on par with any in history.

[Author]

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