LeBron is by far the greatest close out game player in NBA history

[Ballerhogger]

LeBron is 38-10 in closeout games, the best in NBA history.

LeBron, 38-10
Duncan, 35-14
Wade, 22-9
Shaq, 33-14
Jordan, 30-13
Kareem, 37-16
Magic, 32-14
Durant, 21-10
Kobe, 33-16
Bill Russell 25-16
Bird, 22-17
Dr. J, 24-21

Others without 20+ closeout wins:

Curry, 19-9
Kawhi 17-10
Hakeem, 16-10
Wilt, 18-17
K. Malone, 19-24

GOAT

[Homer38]

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[bellabiyel]

It's weird that he also had finals where his team got completely destroyed in 4 or 5 games. Like completely anihilated.

Oh we're just giving him all the credit for all of his wins, not his losses. That's right, sorry.

cry

[A_Biased_Fan]

There’s no player in NBA history that I’d rather have come playoff time than LeBron James. 10 trip to the NBA finals, 9th trip in the past 10 years.

Not that hard when you regularly play with multiple stars every year.

All the guys in the OP's post played with great teams too. Stop hating!

[bellabiyel]

It's weird that he also had finals where his team got completely destroyed in 4 or 5 games. Like completely anihilated.

Oh we're just giving him all the credit for all of his wins, not his losses. That's right, sorry.

Jordan's been swept and lost in 5 too. Does it not count if it's before the Finals? LeBron should get a goddamn medal just for taking that crap in 2007 and 2018 to the Finals

Jordan only played with Pippen.

wow its 2 vs 5 on the court

[Shanghai Kid]

Jordan's been swept and lost in 5 too. Does it not count if it's before the Finals? LeBron should get a goddamn medal just for taking that crap in 2007 and 2018 to the Finals

In 2007 he was on a top 5 defense, and they didn't even beat one 50 win team on the way to the finals. He also was a top 3 seed. Oh and in the first round he played a Wizards team missing its two best players. That run isn't as impressive for me.

And in 2018 he still had Kevin Love, another all-star, in the East, against Derozoan/Lowry/Oladipo/Young Tatum.

In 2007 he was the only reason that team was a top 3 seed. You are using circular logic. That team was total garbage outside of LeBron and they did beat the Pistons, who won 53 games. That was the game LeBron scored like 25 straight points at the end. Talk about carrying a team.

That 2018 team was terrible and had no business beating Boston. LeBron had one of the greatest playoff runs in history and willed them to victory. Would have won game 1 of the Finals too and maybe turned that series a bit if not for bonehead JR Smith and a seriously questionable last minute call for Durant.

For some reason I was thinking Detroit won 49, but I'll take an L on that. I still don't see a 53 win team losing to a 50 win team as any big upset.

My logic isn't circular because my point was Cleveland was a top 5 defense and that is a TEAM effort, not one player. If your saying they made the finals because of Lebron, but then got destroyed in the finals, then you have to acknowledge that it suggests the eastern conference was extremely weak. We can't have it both ways, that he willed them through a tough conference but then got absolutely destroyed in the finals. There is a disconnect if we are placing an amazing value of making it through the conference to the finals, but then in the finals saying "nope, had no chance to win a game even."

And Lebron DID not play good in the 2007 finals either. It wasn't him being let down by his supporting cast en route to sweep. He played a role in that also.

[Tor_Raps]

LeBron is 38-10 in closeout games, the best in NBA history.

LeBron, 38-10
Duncan, 35-14
Wade, 22-9
Shaq, 33-14
Jordan, 30-13
Kareem, 37-16
Magic, 32-14
Durant, 21-10
Kobe, 33-16
Bill Russell 25-16
Bird, 22-17
Dr. J, 24-21

Others without 20+ closeout wins:

Curry, 19-9
Kawhi 17-10
Hakeem, 16-10
Wilt, 18-17
K. Malone, 19-24

This may be the dumbest takes ever. Lebron has been on better teams than almost everyone on that list of course he'll have good numbers. I'd take Jordan/Kobe over him anyday to close out a game.

I was right with you until you mentioned kobe lol.

[JoeyLightYears]

In 2007 he was on a top 5 defense, and they didn't even beat one 50 win team on the way to the finals. He also was a top 3 seed. Oh and in the first round he played a Wizards team missing its two best players. That run isn't as impressive for me.

And in 2018 he still had Kevin Love, another all-star, in the East, against Derozoan/Lowry/Oladipo/Young Tatum.

In 2007 he was the only reason that team was a top 3 seed. You are using circular logic. That team was total garbage outside of LeBron and they did beat the Pistons, who won 53 games. That was the game LeBron scored like 25 straight points at the end. Talk about carrying a team.

That 2018 team was terrible and had no business beating Boston. LeBron had one of the greatest playoff runs in history and willed them to victory. Would have won game 1 of the Finals too and maybe turned that series a bit if not for bonehead JR Smith and a seriously questionable last minute call for Durant.

For some reason I was thinking Detroit won 49, but I'll take an L on that. I still don't see a 53 win team losing to a 50 win team as any big upset.

My logic isn't circular because my point was Cleveland was a top 5 defense and that is a TEAM effort, not one player. If your saying they made the finals because of Lebron, but then got destroyed in the finals, then you have to acknowledge that it suggests the eastern conference was extremely weak. We can't have it both ways, that he willed them through a tough conference but then got absolutely destroyed in the finals. There is a disconnect there.

All I said was that team had no business being in the Finals and LeBron deserves huge praise getting them there. The team was terrible. LeBron was their entire offense. No other player in history could have done more with less-- I challenge you to find even a single example of a worse supporting cast for any Finals team. But somehow the Finals loss is used against him.

People think the 2018 team was good also because they got to the Finals but that's another team that would have been deep lotto without LeBron (witness the following season or this season). So just getting there is phenomenal. 10 Finals in 17 years, sheesh.

[KrazyP]

It's weird that he also had finals where his team got completely destroyed in 4 or 5 games. Like completely anihilated.

Oh we're just giving him all the credit for all of his wins, not his losses. That's right, sorry.

Jordan's been swept and lost in 5 too. Does it not count if it's before the Finals? LeBron should get a goddamn medal just for taking that crap in 2007 and 2018 to the Finals

Jordan didn't ring chase and form superteams in his early 20s. He helped build a dynasty from the ground up. If he didnt choose to retire early, the Bulls could have quite easily won 8 championships in a row.

[JoeyLightYears]

It's weird that he also had finals where his team got completely destroyed in 4 or 5 games. Like completely anihilated.

Oh we're just giving him all the credit for all of his wins, not his losses. That's right, sorry.

Jordan's been swept and lost in 5 too. Does it not count if it's before the Finals? LeBron should get a goddamn medal just for taking that crap in 2007 and 2018 to the Finals

Jordan didn't ring chase and form superteams in his early 20s. He helped build a dynasty from the ground up. If he didnt choose to retire early, the Bulls could have quite easily won 8 championships in a row.

Neither of the LeBron's swept teams were superteams. Good for MJ, he was great.

[Pelly24]

Honestly, I think there has been fair reason to be skeptical of LeBron. But all of this success and he’s the only common variable. We all have to never, ever suggest that anyone is better than him for a while. He just has like three or so trump cards no one else can be mentioned in the same breath. I won’t do it anymore. I knew better but I still did

[PistolPeteJR]

He would never be doing this in the west.

Must be nice to have the best big man in the league.

Has a similar ring to that guy in the 90s having the best coach and supporting cast in the league...hm...

[VanWest82]

Doesn’t matter if you lose the last one

[SpaceCenter]

LeBron is 38-10 in closeout games, the best in NBA history.

LeBron, 38-10
Duncan, 35-14
Wade, 22-9
Shaq, 33-14
Jordan, 30-13
Kareem, 37-16
Magic, 32-14
Durant, 21-10
Kobe, 33-16
Bill Russell 25-16
Bird, 22-17
Dr. J, 24-21

Others without 20+ closeout wins:

Curry, 19-9
Kawhi 17-10
Hakeem, 16-10
Wilt, 18-17
K. Malone, 19-24

This may be the dumbest takes ever. Lebron has been on better teams than almost everyone on that list of course he'll have good numbers. I'd take Jordan/Kobe over him anyday to close out a game.

I was right with you until you mentioned kobe lol.

Have you ever watch Kobe score while getting quadruple teamed? That video shows him getting blocked and missing too but it important to see the type of defense this guy had to deal with compared to Lebron.

Watch on YouTube

[sssssoniccccc]

It's weird that he also had finals where his team got completely destroyed in 4 or 5 games. Like completely anihilated.

Oh we're just giving him all the credit for all of his wins, not his losses. That's right, sorry.

Jordan's been swept and lost in 5 too. Does it not count if it's before the Finals? LeBron should get a goddamn medal just for taking that crap in 2007 and 2018 to the Finals

Jordan only played with Pippen.

Comments like this show your poor knowledge in basketball as a team sport. Jordan played on one of the best defensive teams in NBA history, coached by one of the best coaches the NBA has ever seen. To say, it was only him and Pippen winning those games is ridiculous.

[trickshot]

This may be the dumbest takes ever. Lebron has been on better teams than almost everyone on that list of course he'll have good numbers. I'd take Jordan/Kobe over him anyday to close out a game.

I was right with you until you mentioned kobe lol.

Have you ever watch Kobe score while getting quadruple teamed?

Watch on YouTube

Let's not even treat the foolishness of trying to shoot over a triple/quadruple team when there must be like 3 people wide open

[SpaceCenter]

I was right with you until you mentioned kobe lol.

Have you ever watch Kobe score while getting quadruple teamed?

Watch on YouTube

Let's not even treat the foolishness of trying to shoot over a triple/quadruple team when there must be like 3 people wide open

I'm more pointing out the type of defensive attention he drew. Lebron never got that type of respect from oppositions mainly because he was always on super teams.

[Sedale Threatt]

This may be the dumbest takes ever. Lebron has been on better teams than almost everyone on that list of course he'll have good numbers. I'd take Jordan/Kobe over him anyday to close out a game.

I was right with you until you mentioned kobe lol.

Have you ever watch Kobe score while getting quadruple teamed? That video shows him getting blocked and missing too but it important to see the type of defense this guy had to deal with compared to Lebron.

Watch on YouTube

I have. I also saw him shoot us out of more games than I could count. Give me a choice of Kobe or LeBron to build around, I take LeBron 100 times out of 100 times without a single second thought.

[infinite11285]

He would never be doing this in the west.

Must be nice to have the best big man in the league.

He’s been his teammate for one year.

[Benedict_Boozer]

Kudos to you OP but don’t expect to see rationale responses on here. Lebron haters are in shambles at the moment and would rather be bitter than acknowledge a great player doing his thing.