Jordan's Finals Record vs. James' Finals Record

[KPT1867]

I just shared this post in the Player Comparison's page and it was immediately met with hatred, which is what was expected, but maybe this forum maybe a little better for it.

While I was stuck inside during COVID for most of last year and part of this year, I decided to do a little research. I first, estimate how much they mean to their team's Net Rtg, then secondly I subtract that subtrahend from the Net rating to get a differenced Net Rtg. Lastly, I estimate the probability of a team with the differenced Net Rtg can win the observed number of games or more games, given they play the same number of games.

What's interesting, I found that it was slightly more impressive that LeBron James led the 2015 Cavaliers to 2 wins against the Warriors than Michael Jordan leading the 96 Bulls to 4 wins in 6 games against the Seattle Supersonics. This added to the fact, that James had more Final's appearances made it so that they were equally as impressive.

I'd love to share my slide-deck with anyone who is interested. Private message me, so I can email them to you.

[conrad510]

The odds were pretty much even heading into the 2014 FInals, yet Lebron lost by record amount.

"B-b-but the Spurs just got hot!!!"

Yeah, so did the Magic, Mavs and Warriors...

Ball-domination lets the defense rest, so they have more capacity to go off offensively.. That's why ball-domination is inferior strategy to ball movement, which wears the defense down more and wins the battle of attrition - the best defense is a good offense - a tenet of all competition.

Ultimately, Lebron should've been favored heading into the 14' Finals, but his ball-dominant brand of ball was inferior strategy and yielded weaker teammate fits, so they couldn't 3-peat or live up to expectation ("not 6, not 7")..

[OGMacgyver]

If LeBron had played most of his career in the West instead of the East, he probably would have only 2 or 3 Finals appearances on his resumé. There's no way in hell he get to 14 from the West. One of the wins against Golden State, he only won because Draymond Green was Suspended for game 7.

[oaktownwarriors87]

I don't like this approach because you're letting LeBron play against his handicap. I can beat Tiger Woods if we play against our own handicaps. Am I as good as Tiger Woods now?

LeBron has hand picked his own star studded team multiple times. His teams have never been as good as the Warriors, the Bulls, the Lakers etc. Should we really be giving him a handicap, or should we hold him accountable for never having a truly great team?

Best SRS with Wade = 73rd all time
Best SRS with Irving = 175th all time
Best SRS with Davis = 120th all time

Honestly, he has failed to bring his teams to the same level as Curry, Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, Magic, Kareem etc. and has won opertunistic championships.

Karl Malone has a better record and more wins against elite teams in the playoffs than LeBron. LeBron was just lucky enough to have faced little resistance throughout his career.