What is the most impressive carry job by a star?

[SlimShady83]

Hakeem Easy ... With out Hakeem Rockets wouldn't even be close. Nor would they win those 2chips, lucky MJ wasn't there though also

[John Murdoch]

Ohhh..read op wrong...was prepared to post a compilation of Giannis carrying the basketball

[Rishkar]

Russell 64

[SlimShady83]

Ohhh..read op wrong...was prepared to post a compilation of Giannis carrying the basketball

I actually thought that at first too haha.

[benhillboy]

LeBron has the highest all time single season playoff WS/48 (.399, 2009). Go look at that roster and there’s no argument from me.

Players who appear twice in Top 25 seasons:
Frank Ramsay
Kareem
Jordan
Cliff Hagan
Dirk

Jimmy Butlers 22-23 run was epic. Nobody else is willingly taking a roster with 5 undrafted rotation players within a shot of the Finals one season then into it the next.

His Finals counterpart Jokic’s carry job was legendary as well. Gordon, Murray, and MPJ wouldn’t even exist to casual fans without Jokic.

Steph in 22 most definitely. Carrying a team with Wiggins, Poole, and Looney to a ‘ship they should’ve started on his statue the next day.

[floppymoose]

No Curry? GSW has a trash record without him. I’m still amazed he dragged them to the ship in ‘22.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/warriors-record-without-steph-curry-career

[Los_29]

Kawhi 2019 not being here feels criminal.

The way he willed his team against Embiid-Butler Sixers and Giannis Bucks were exceptional, and then going up 3-1 against the Warriors core trio with Cousins.

He was exceptional but the team was incredibly deep. Pascal, Lowry, Gasol, Ibaka, Fred, Green and Norm.

[One_and_Done]

No Curry? GSW has a trash record without him. I’m still amazed he dragged them to the ship in ‘22.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/warriors-record-without-steph-curry-career

I can only add 9 options. The competition is fierce. Curry did great, but he did not have a bad team that year.

[CodeBreaker]

Kawhi 2019 not being here feels criminal.

The way he willed his team against Embiid-Butler Sixers and Giannis Bucks were exceptional, and then going up 3-1 against the Warriors core trio with Cousins.

He was exceptional but the team was incredibly deep. Pascal, Lowry, Gasol, Ibaka, Fred, Green and Norm.

Dirk also had a solid supporting cast and still winning this poll, no?

[One_and_Done]

Kawhi 2019 not being here feels criminal.

The way he willed his team against Embiid-Butler Sixers and Giannis Bucks were exceptional, and then going up 3-1 against the Warriors core trio with Cousins.

He was exceptional but the team was incredibly deep. Pascal, Lowry, Gasol, Ibaka, Fred, Green and Norm.

Dirk also had a solid supporting cast and still winning this poll, no?

Dirk had a solid support cast. Kawhi had a superb one. They're not comparable at all. Kawhi's support cast could have won 50+ games without him. That's not my opinion, they actually won 53 games the next year... and that was in a shortened season, AND their team wasn't even healthy!

[Los_29]

Kawhi 2019 not being here feels criminal.

The way he willed his team against Embiid-Butler Sixers and Giannis Bucks were exceptional, and then going up 3-1 against the Warriors core trio with Cousins.

He was exceptional but the team was incredibly deep. Pascal, Lowry, Gasol, Ibaka, Fred, Green and Norm.

Dirk also had a solid supporting cast and still winning this poll, no?

Jason Terry was his 2nd option and averaged 17ppg in the playoffs. Then you had Marion and Kidd who were well past their prime and Tyson Chandler. Thats not a great supporting cast. The pieces fit well though. I think there were much better examples of a player carrying a team than Dirk though.

Kawhi was unbelievable against the Sixers. He carried the team in the 2nd round. His defense in the ECF also was critical. He was a monster in the playoffs. But his percentages went down considerably in the ECF and finals. The team defense as a whole was stifling, they had excellent point guard play, great contributions from their big men, big games from their 2nd option in Pascal and they could roll out an 8 man rotation quite comfortably. There were no weak links.

[Rust_Cohle]

06 Kobe was a legit statement.
Lebron his entire time on the early cavs.
Jokic in 2022 was just absurd!
KG in 2004 needs mention.


The old classic obvious Duncan, Hakeem, and Dirk rings are all of course up there, but lets talk about some more interesting ones.

Oh and where's 75 Rick Barry for you rangz only guys? Nobody on that team had a 1 BPM just for context. That's pretty darn good carry job.

kobe averaged 35.4 of his teams 99 ppg and they only had 90 possessions per game. middle of the pack teams average 10 percent more, had more spacing from teammates and put the ball in the superstars hands less than they do now. adjusting for inflation, that would likely be a 40+ppg season right now.

I don't think you can do this "adjusted for inflation" or a better way is to say "adjusted for that era's deflation". Then again 2006 was an outlier year in big single season scoring in that era due to the league transitioning with rules/rule enforcement changes to open the game up for guys like Kobe with hope they'd be more like Nash.

If we do a bit of a fun look, cause why not? 2006 vs 2024 % of team's points, ordered by PPG leaders, using basketball reference to filter guys not qualifying. PLayer PPG/team PPG. No adjustment for missed games.

1. 35.6% 28.8%
2. 31.85% 25.7%
3. 32.2% 25.2%
4. 28.8% 24.7%
5. 27.2% 24.0%

So this inflation thing doesn't really work 1:1 like people want. Scoring is much better distributed at the top today.

What made Kobe impressive was that while doing that his team was 8th in offensive rating off his offensive work. Not the points per game alone. That part isn't that meaningful, the offensive impact is what drives why that was an amazing carry job.

The carry job will unfortunately be tarnished by that pathetic display from Kobe in game 7 of that series. Just quit on the entire team inexplicably.

[Lockdown504090]

Kawhi 2019 not being here feels criminal.

The way he willed his team against Embiid-Butler Sixers and Giannis Bucks were exceptional, and then going up 3-1 against the Warriors core trio with Cousins.

He was exceptional but the team was incredibly deep. Pascal, Lowry, Gasol, Ibaka, Fred, Green and Norm.

They didn’t do anything. Kawhi put up 39 shots in game seven. The rest of our team looked like they were on crack from game 1- game7

[Homer38]

Kawhi 2019 not being here feels criminal.

The way he willed his team against Embiid-Butler Sixers and Giannis Bucks were exceptional, and then going up 3-1 against the Warriors core trio with Cousins.

He was exceptional but the team was incredibly deep. Pascal, Lowry, Gasol, Ibaka, Fred, Green and Norm.

They didn’t do anything. Kawhi put up 39 shots in game seven. The rest of our team looked like they were on crack from game 1- game7

Kawhi had a great carry job vs 76ers but some other in this poll had to carry their team in the entire season and playoffs like Duncan in 2003

[Bergmaniac]

The Kawhi mentions are laughable. The Raptors supporting cast was way stronger than that of pretty much every option in the poll. The year after Kawhi left, the Raptors, without adding anyone of note, went 53-19 and were very close to reaching the Conference finals. The 2018 Cavs or the 2003 Spurs wouldn't have sniffed the playoff without their superstars.

[dhsilv2]

kobe averaged 35.4 of his teams 99 ppg and they only had 90 possessions per game. middle of the pack teams average 10 percent more, had more spacing from teammates and put the ball in the superstars hands less than they do now. adjusting for inflation, that would likely be a 40+ppg season right now.

I don't think you can do this "adjusted for inflation" or a better way is to say "adjusted for that era's deflation". Then again 2006 was an outlier year in big single season scoring in that era due to the league transitioning with rules/rule enforcement changes to open the game up for guys like Kobe with hope they'd be more like Nash.

If we do a bit of a fun look, cause why not? 2006 vs 2024 % of team's points, ordered by PPG leaders, using basketball reference to filter guys not qualifying. PLayer PPG/team PPG. No adjustment for missed games.

1. 35.6% 28.8%
2. 31.85% 25.7%
3. 32.2% 25.2%
4. 28.8% 24.7%
5. 27.2% 24.0%

So this inflation thing doesn't really work 1:1 like people want. Scoring is much better distributed at the top today.

What made Kobe impressive was that while doing that his team was 8th in offensive rating off his offensive work. Not the points per game alone. That part isn't that meaningful, the offensive impact is what drives why that was an amazing carry job.

The carry job will unfortunately be tarnished by that pathetic display from Kobe in game 7 of that series. Just quit on the entire team inexplicably.

Nah, thankfully nobody of any value is going to argue the playoffs negate the regular season. If someone does you can just punch them or something.

[KMartsCrew]

If non-championship seasons count, it's '07 LeBron. They had no business beating the Pistons with that roster. Even the Nets in the previous round had a better roster overall.

LoL, this again.

Detroit won only 3 more games than Cleveland in the RS, 53, playing in a putrid east, they weren't even an elite team. Hardly an upset. They had lost Ben Wallace in the offseason and started whatever was left of Chris Webber at center (not only was he cooked, he was also playing out of position and a terrible fit) after he was bought out mid season. And they wouldn't have won anyways if not for scrubs like Boobie's heroics in game 6.

The Nets were literally a .500 team that hardly sneaked in the playoffs. They were playing without their best big (Krstic) and started Mikki Moore and Jason Collins up front. Even when healthy like the year before, they were mere 2nd-round fodder.

If beating a team just a couple wins better than you is some kind of heroic accomplishment, how should beating another one with 10 fewer wins be considered anything but a formality?

All that after a round 1 bye against another injury-ridden .500 team in Washington.

This idea that the Cavs 2007 run was some kind of all-time carry job his fans try to sell to pump up Lebron is laughable, if anything it's a reflection of how inflated and not realistic his finals appearances record is, and of how easy he always had it playing in a joke of a conference where he didn't even have to face a team with a winning record up until the conference finals. To be consequently humiliated in the finals. Even teams Denver and Utah were able to pull off a win against SA that year.

[Bornstellar]

Duncan carrying the Spurs to a ring while being absolutely dominant on both sides of the court in 2003 while his best teammates were a 19 year old TP, rookie Manu, and old/injured Robinson in his last season. Robbed of the only quadruple double in finals history in the closeout game.

Who he played against ? Jason Kidd and rookies plus nobodies?

If anything Kidd deserves more for taking this Nets squad twice to the finals in 2002 and 2003

Nonetheless Dirk is the GOAT in carry job by a landslide

Uh he played against the 3peat Lakers and sent them home crying in dominant fashion on their own floor. Who cares if the Nets weren't a great finals opponent. You can only play who is in front of you

[Los_29]

Kawhi 2019 not being here feels criminal.

The way he willed his team against Embiid-Butler Sixers and Giannis Bucks were exceptional, and then going up 3-1 against the Warriors core trio with Cousins.

He was exceptional but the team was incredibly deep. Pascal, Lowry, Gasol, Ibaka, Fred, Green and Norm.

They didn’t do anything. Kawhi put up 39 shots in game seven. The rest of our team looked like they were on crack from game 1- game7

Game 7 was a scrappy game. No one from either team performed up to their expectations. Other than Kawhi, you can say that nearly everyone underperformed from both teams. Embiid and Simmons were bad. Butler was their best player but even he did not shoot the ball particularly well. But as mentioned earlier, Kawhi carried us in the Sixers series. But after that, his percentages dropped and the rest of the team elevated their games.

[Rust_Cohle]

I don't think you can do this "adjusted for inflation" or a better way is to say "adjusted for that era's deflation". Then again 2006 was an outlier year in big single season scoring in that era due to the league transitioning with rules/rule enforcement changes to open the game up for guys like Kobe with hope they'd be more like Nash.

If we do a bit of a fun look, cause why not? 2006 vs 2024 % of team's points, ordered by PPG leaders, using basketball reference to filter guys not qualifying. PLayer PPG/team PPG. No adjustment for missed games.

1. 35.6% 28.8%
2. 31.85% 25.7%
3. 32.2% 25.2%
4. 28.8% 24.7%
5. 27.2% 24.0%

So this inflation thing doesn't really work 1:1 like people want. Scoring is much better distributed at the top today.

What made Kobe impressive was that while doing that his team was 8th in offensive rating off his offensive work. Not the points per game alone. That part isn't that meaningful, the offensive impact is what drives why that was an amazing carry job.

The carry job will unfortunately be tarnished by that pathetic display from Kobe in game 7 of that series. Just quit on the entire team inexplicably.

Nah, thankfully nobody of any value is going to argue the playoffs negate the regular season. If someone does you can just punch them or something.

It doesn’t negate the whole season but Kobe himself definitely deserves to be punched for quitting in a game 7. One of the most ridiculous childish moments for a big star in a playoff game. A sour note to end on a great personal season for him.

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/on-this-date-kobe-bryant-quit-on-the-lakers-i-was-trying-to-get-the-other-guys-going

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-may-09-sp-simers9-story.html


https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/433184-is-kobe-bryant-not-lebron-james-the-biggest-quitter-in-the-nba.amp.html