SECTION 25 - The Worst Finals Performances of All-Time

After looking at the best playoff runs of all-time in Section 24, it's only fitting that we also take a look at the worst Finals performances of all-time in NBA history. Of course, we will only be looking at performances from star players, and we won't be criticizing players who were well past their prime. Role players can't be criticized too harshly for underperforming in the Finals because they aren't held to a high standard to begin with, and obviously players who are well past their prime can't be held to as high of a standard.

Before looking at the worst Finals performances of all-time, we should first take a look at which performances will not be included on the list.

Larry Bird, 1981 Finals
Most critics of Bird's 1981 Finals point to his sub-par 42% FG, but you can't judge a player's entire performance purely off of FG%. Bird averaged 15-15-7, something that has never been done in any other Finals, (Wilt came close in 1967) along with 2 steals per game. Cedric Maxwell won the Finals MVP only because he scored the most points (17.7 ppg), but Bird was clearly the best player. Bird also did a great job battling Moses Malone, one of the greatest rebounders in history, on the boards as he only averaged 1 less rebound than Moses for the series. 

Magic Johnson, 1984 Finals
Magic had a great statistical series of 18 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 13.6 apg and 2.0 spg on 56%. Magic's performance wasn't great, however, for his standards, because there were a lot of times that he choked in the clutch moments. In Game 2, Magic failed to get off a game-winning shot attempt, which led to the Celtics winning in OT. 

In Game 4 alone, Magic messed up several times in the clutch. At the end of the 4th quarter, Magic turned the ball over to Robert Parish on a bad pass. The Lakers and Celtics would go to OT again. With the game tied 123-123, Magic missed 2 clutch free throws with 34 seconds left in OT. Right after this, Bird nailed the game-winner in Magic's face. Lastly, Magic had 2 big turnovers to Dennis Johnson down the stretch of Game 7. In three of the Laker's four losses, Magic choked in the clutch, and in their Game 5 loss Magic had a sub-par 10-5-13 on 3/9 (33%) FG with 4 turnovers.

In spite of Magic's surprisingly large number of un-clutch moments, I can't put this as one of the worst Finals ever because Magic was the one putting them in a position to win in the first place, and he still averaged 13.6 apg for the Finals, when nobody else besides Magic has surpassed Jordan's 11.4 apg in the 1991 Finals. It was very poor for Magic's standards, but not poor enough to be universally considered one of the worst Finals of all-time.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1988 and 1989 Finals
Kareem was 40 and 41 years old, so you can't fault him for playing so poorly in these series when he was on his last legs.

Kevin Johnson, 1993 Finals
KJ's overall series averages of 17-3-7 on 42% look very sub-par compared to the great playoff averages he usually put up in his best years, but these stats are deceptive, as they were brought down by two outliers in Games 1 and 2 where KJ had 11-2-2 on 31% with 5 TOs and 4-0-6 on 25% with 4 TOs and 6 fouls. After the first 2 games, however, KJ got into a rhythm and averaged 22-4-8 on 46% for the last 4 games. KJ just had a really rough start to the series that brought his numbers down. He still played well for the majority of the series.

Michael Jordan, 1996 Finals
Jordan's 1996 Finals isn't nearly as bad as some people make it out to be. His averages of 27-5-4 on 42% were less compared to his usual output, but it's still far from one of the worst Finals ever. It's just that it's Jordan, so his numbers look much worse when compared to our usual expectations of him. Steph Curry had a very similar 26-5-6 on 44% in the 2015 Finals, but I doubt anyone considers that one of the worst Finals performances ever.

Secondly, Jordan played great in 3 of the 4 Bulls' wins. The only game that he shot poorly and the Bulls won was Game 6, where Jordan still had 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals when his shot wasn't falling. In Games 1-2-3 Jordan averaged 31-5-5-2 on 46%, and he still shot 50% in the Bulls' Game 5 loss. Games 4 and 6 were outliers that brought his overall series averages down.


Next, Jordan played all-time great defense in this series, shutting down the Sonics best player - Gary Payton - in Game 3 and Game 5 with Ron Harper injured. Payton had averaged 22-5-7-2 on 50% through 3 rounds while taking down the 2x defending champion Rockets and Stockton/Malone's Jazz. Lastly, a lot of Jordan's teammates were playing injured, yet he still pulled out the win. Ron Harper had a knee injury and barely played in Games 3-4-5, Toni Kukoc had a back injury and missed most of the ECSF against the Knicks, and Pippen had back and ankle problems which contributed to his 34% FG.

Kobe Bryant, 2000 Finals
Kobe's averages of 15.6 ppg 4.6 rpg, 4.2 apg on 37% in this series look really bad, and even if you take away the Game 2 injury he averaged 19.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.0 apg on 37%. In spite of his poor statistical averages, Kobe's 2000 Finals isn't one of the worst ever mainly because he was still a clear 2nd option behind Shaq, as opposed to 2001-2004 when they were 1A and 1B. Kobe did what a 2nd option was supposed to do in these Finals.

In Game 1 he only had 14 points, but his defense contributed to Reggie Miller's terrible shooting night. In Game 2 he was injured after 9 minutes, but still scored and assisted on 11 points in a game that was won by 7 points. So even in limited time he made a mark in his injury game. He missed Game 3, which the Lakers lost, and then had his best performance of the series in Game 4 when he held off the Pacers with Shaq on the bench. Game 5 was the only game that Kobe played and didn't contribute anything, with a horrendous 4/20 (20%) shooting night. In Game 6, Kobe shot a terrible 8/27 FG, but contributed outside of scoring with 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. Looking at his series game by game in context, and considering that he did what he was supposed to as a 2nd option, Kobe's 2000 Finals wasn't one of the worst ever - especially when you consider the Lakers lost the game that he didn't play.

Jason Kidd, 2003 Finals
Jason Kidd's statistics don't look good for the 2003 Finals. He had 20-6-8 on a poor 36% FG. However, Kidd's incredible defense cannot be ignored - he is the 2nd best defensive PG after Gary Payton. The 2001 Nets were 26-56 before Kidd got there and a top 10 worst defense in the league. The next year they were top 5 in ppg allowed, and in 2003 were top 2 in ppg allowed, with Kidd being the only notable addition to the team. Once again, there's more to a players' performance than FG%, and Kidd fulfilled all of those other roles to push prime Duncan's Spurs to 6 games. Had the Nets been crushed and swept, you could list this as one of the worst performances of all-time, but the Nets gave them a good fight in spite of Kidd's poor FG%, and his great defense, along with setting up his teammates, was the reason for it.

Tim Duncan, 2005 Finals
I've heard a few people claim that Ginobili should have won Finals MVP in this series which is quite laughable. As usual, critics point to Duncan's low FG% to discredit this performance, without realizing that there are other areas of the game besides efficiency. It is true that Duncan's 41.9% FG in these Finals is the lowest of his career in any playoff series, but like Bird, Jordan and Kidd, Duncan stepped up in the other areas, especially defense. 

Kidd and Duncan's 2003 and 2005 Finals
can't be discredited purely based on FG%

Duncan had well over double the rebounds of anyone else on the Spurs, and kept Ben and Rasheed Wallace off the glass. To emphasize this point, Ben and Rasheed had a combined 21.4 rpg in the 2004 Finals compared to 15.9 rpg in the 2005 Finals. Antonio McDyess was actually the Pistons' 2nd leading rebounder in the 2005 Finals, he and Ben combined for 17.6 rpg. And Duncan was of course the Spurs' best overall defender in this series. 

Lastly, Duncan had a poor shooting performance in Game 7, but stepped it up in the key moments. The Spurs were down 48-39 with 7:44 left in the 3rd quarter, and a 9-point lead was huge in this series considering how great the Pistons defense was. From the 7:44 mark to the 0:53 mark of the 3rd quarter, Duncan outscored the Pistons by himself 12-9, before the Pistons made a buzzer beater to tie it at 57 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Duncan was 4/8 with 3 rebounds and 1 block during that roughly 7 minute stretch, singlehandedly bringing the Spurs back to tie the game entering the 4th quarter.

Shaquille O'Neal, 2006 Finals
Shaq had a mediocre 14-10 on 61% in the Finals, with an atrocious 29% FT. However, he was 34 years old and well past his prime, so it can't be criticized harshly enough to warrant it being labeled as one of the worst Finals in history. He did have 20-10 on 61% through 3 rounds, however, so his Finals performance does deserve some criticism because of a 6 ppg dip compared to the first 3 rounds.

Kobe Bryant, 2008 Finals
Kobe's offensive performance of 26-5-5-3 on 41% was sub-par, but his defense was very good. For the first half of the Finals, he did a solid job on Ray Allen (though not as good in the 2nd half of the series). His defense on Paul Pierce, however, was consistently good throughout the series. Similar to Jason Kidd's 2003 Finals, Kobe's defense was key to pushing the Celtics to 6 games - and with an undermanned supporting cast as Bynum was injured and Ariza, the Lakers only other good perimeter defender, got negligible minutes. It's clear that Kobe's 2008 Finals performance was not as good as his 2010 performance, so there's no need to analyze why the 2010 Finals will not be included as one of the worst Finals performances.

That pretty much covers the Finals performances that should not be considered among the worst of all-time, so now it's time to get down to the real list. The list of worst NBA Finals performances will be in chronological order, they will not be ranked in order of the least bad performance to the worst performance, or vice-versa.

Wilt Chamberlain, 1969 Finals

Wilt Chamberlain had a great 25 rpg in the 1969 Finals, but it was also much easier to get rebounds in the 60s, so it's not nearly as impressive as someone doing it in today's game. Oscar Robertson, for example, averaged 12.5 rpg in 1961/62, yet Patrick Ewing never averaged 12.5 rpg in any season of his career. As another example, Elgin Baylor as a 6-5 SF has 5 seasons of 14+ rpg, yet Shaq and David Robinson don't have even one season of 14 rpg.

Wilt's scoring on the other hand, sharply declined in this Finals compared to his season average. Wilt had 20.5 ppg on 58% in the 1968/69 season, but only 11.7 ppg on 50% in the Finals and never cracked 20 points in any of the 7 games, including 3 games in single digits. Wilt also shot 38% from the FT line, which was costly in a series where the Lakers lost by an average of 4.5 points in their 4 losses. 

Next, the 1969 Celtics squad was their weakest squad amongst all of their Russell-era championship teams. Russell and Sam Jones were literally on their last legs, as they retired following this series. Even with Russell at the end of his run and far past his prime, Wilt's scoring still decreased sharply in both volume and efficiency and he failed to get the ring. Wilt also had a great amount of help from Jerry West. West was so good in this Finals, that he became the only Finals MVP on a losing team, averaging 38-5-7 on 49%. So you can't make the excuse that Wilt didn't have help, as his teammate had perhaps the best performance in history for a player on a losing Finals team.

The Lakers had homecourt advantage, but still blew a 2-0 and 3-2 lead. In Game 4, Wilt only had 8 points in 1 point loss, and shot an incredibly bad 2/11 (18%) from the FT line which proved costly. In Game 6, Wilt only had 8 points, while Baylor and West had 26 apiece, as the Celtics won by 9. Wilt had a better Game 7 performance with 18 points, but shot a very poor 4/13 (31%) from the FT line, costing his team 9 free points in a game that was decided by 2 points. The Lakers coach, Butch Van Breda Koff, refused to let Wilt back in the game after a knee injury in the 4th quarter, but this wouldn't have been an issue had Wilt not missed 9 free throws. West, on the other hand, had an all-time great Game 7 performance of 42-13-12, but it still wasn't enough help for Wilt. 

Given that Russell and Jones, the 2 biggest pieces of the Celtics dynasty, retired right after this series and that Wilt had a large amount of help from Jerry West, especially in Game 7, there is no excuse for Wilt to not have gotten the job done, especially factoring in his poor FT% in such a closely contested series, and with his regular season scoring production nearly cut in half during the Finals against Russell on his last legs.

Jerry West, 1972 Finals

Ironically, Jerry West may have had the greatest Finals performance in history on a losing team in 1969, but he also had arguably the worst Finals performance on a winning team in 1972. West was at the end of his prime at age 33 in 1971/72, but he still averaged a great 26-4-10 on 48% in the regular season and led the league in assists per game. In the 1972 Finals, however West put up a much worse 20-4-9 on a very inefficient 33%, which definitely can't be given a pass considering how well West played in the regular season. He was thoroughly outplayed by Clyde Frazier in the 1972 Finals, who put up 23-8-8 on 59%.

On top of that, the Knicks' best player, Willis Reed, did not play in the 1972 Finals due to injury, so it should have been easier for West to have a good performance. Ironically, when Reed did play, West put up a very good 31-3-8 on 45% in the 1970 Finals and a solid 21-3-5 on 44% in the 1973 Finals, the last playoff series of his career, and he outplayed Frazier in both of those Finals.

This makes it even more strange that West had such a sharp decline in his production, because he did show that he could play well against the Knicks' full lineup. But to be fair, West does deserve some sympathy, as he played great in all of his previous 7 losses in the Finals, including 1965 in which Elgin Baylor did not play due to injury. So it's only fair that Wilt and the Lakers stepped up for West in 1972 after he had so many great Finals performances in the past, only for his team to fall short.

Patrick Ewing, 1994 Finals

Patrick Ewing had a very poor offensive performance in the 1994 Finals, he averaged 19-12 on a terrible 36% FG, especially for a center. Granted, he was going against Hakeem Olajuwon, perhaps the best defender of all-time, but Ewing only had one good offensive performance in the entire series in Game 5, when he had 25-12 on 52% with 8 blocks. Even with Ewing going against a defender of Hakeem's caliber, I would at the very least expect Ewing to have 2 or 3 good offensive games. Instead, he shot under 40% in 5 of 7 games and under 42% in 6 of 7 games. There's no excuse for that type of performance, even with Ewing having to go against Hakeem's amazing defense.

To Ewing's credit, he did have a very good defensive series. He led both teams in rebounding and blocks with 12.4 rpg and 4.3 bpg. This still doesn't excuse his terrible offensive output, especially considering the Knicks supporting cast was good enough to push the Rockets to 7 games, with all games decided by single digits, even with Hakeem crushing Ewing on both ends. Ewing definitely should have won this series considering how his team was still able to put him in good position for a championship in spite of his atrocious offense. For him to still not be able to win with that kind of help is a testament to Hakeem's greatness and ability to carry a team, but it also lands Ewing the dubious distinction of having one of the worst Finals performances in NBA history.

Kobe Bryant, 2004 Finals

Kobe Bryant's 2004 Finals was really bad. Like Ewing in 1994, Kobe only had one good offensive game in the entire series, in Game 2 when he had 33-4-7-2 on 52% and the game-tying shot. Kobe played solid defense on Rip Hamilton for the series, but that doesn't nearly excuse his incredibly poor offensive output. Kobe averaged 22.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.4 apg on 38% and was outplayed by Chauncey Billups, who averaged 21-3-5 on 51%. Billups as a PG even outrebounded Kobe. For Kobe to play 46 minutes per game and still average under 3 rebounds is 100% inexcusable, on top of his terrible offensive output.

Now, it's true that the 2004 Pistons are the best defense ever. They allowed 79.7 ppg after acquiring Rasheed Wallace. For comparison, the 1999 Hawks allowed 83.4 ppg, which is the lowest by any team in the shot-clock era for a season. Even so, that doesn't excuse Kobe for playing as poorly as he did, just like Ewing isn't excused for playing so badly against arguably the best defender ever in Hakeem Olajuwon. The 2004 Spurs led the league in ppg allowed (slightly above the Pistons, because Rasheed wasn't with them the whole season) but Kobe still played well against them with 26-6-6-2 on 46%, so there's no excuse for such a huge dip against the Pistons.

Shaq also had a very good offensive series of 26.6 ppg and 10.8 rpg on 63%. Shaq did have a very poor defensive Finals, but his offense alone made him the best player in these Finals. With Shaq playing so well, that adds another reason as to why Kobe can't be excused for not playing much better than he did. Malone's injury was also a big hindrance to the Lakers, but that still isn't enough of an excuse for such a terrible statistical output. So, like Ewing, Kobe played good defense in this series, but only had one good offensive game, and on top of that his rebounding was especially poor for a guy playing 46 mpg. Adding in that Kobe was outplayed by Chauncey Billups, all of these factors land Kobe a spot as one of the worst NBA Finals performances in history. 

Dirk Nowitzki, 2006 Finals

While Dwyane Wade had one of the best Finals performance of all-time, Dirk was at the opposite end of the spectrum in 2006. Fortunately for Dirk, he was able to lead the Mavs to the title in 2011, because it made people forget about Dirk's 2006 Finals performance. Had the Mavs failed to get it done in 2011, we would be looking much less favorably on Dirk's career, with the 2006 Finals and 2007 1st Round upset being the main reasons. Dirk had a very up and down series in the 2006 Finals, finishing with averages of 23-11 on a poor 39%. Jason Terry nearly outscored Dirk in this series, averaging 22 ppg on 48%. 

Dallas had a 2-0 lead on Miami, and were up 13 with 6:30 left to go in the 4th quarter of Game 3. From there, everything fell apart for Dirk and the Mavs. Wade had 12 points in the last 6:30 of the 4th quarter and singlehandedly carried them back into the game. Dirk had a chance to push the game to OT, but choked and missed the game-tying free throw, and the Mavs blew their chance of taking a 3-0 lead which would have essentially clinched the series. Dirk also didn't contribute much on defense in this series, which has been a consistent theme in his career.

In Games 4 and 5, Dirk played very poorly and let the Heat take a 3-2 lead as a result. He had 16-9 on 2/14 (14%) with 4 turnovers in Game 4, and a still sub-par 20-9 on 8/19 (42%) in Game 5. Dirk did show up in Game 6 with 29-15 on 46%, but it was too late by then, and after Dallas choked away the 4th quarter of Game 3, as well as Game 4 and 5, the Heat took the title from the Mavs in 6. Dirk had put up a phenomenal 27-13-3 on 53% against the Spurs in the 2006 WCSF, so it's very surprising that he played so much worse against a much lesser defensive team like the Heat. The 2006 Spurs were number 2 in ppg allowed, but the Heat were just average at 14th in ppg allowed. There's no excuse whatsoever for Dirk to have such mediocre averages for the series, nearly letting Terry outscore him, and blowing Games 3-4-5 of the series, which let the Heat turn the tables after the Mavs had a commanding 2-0 lead and were on the verge of what would have essentially been a series-clinching 3-0 lead. 

LeBron James, 2007 Finals

LeBron contributed pretty much nothing in these Finals. His offense was atrocious, putting up 22-7-7 on 36% with 5.8 TOpg. His scoring came on terrible efficiency and he averaged almost as many assists as turnovers. On defense, LeBron got schooled and outplayed by Tony Parker, who had 25-5-3 on a much more efficient 57%, and half as many turnovers as LeBron. Regardless of how little help Lebron had, there's no excuse for getting badly outplayed by Tony Parker who isn't even a top 10 PG of all-time. LeBron played so poorly in the 2007 Finals, that he became the only player to shoot under 40% FG (35.6% FG) with over 5 TOpg (5.8 TOpg). He also shot a poor 69% FT. There wasn't a single aspect of the game that LeBron played well in these Finals. In spite of him playing so poorly, the 4 games were only decided by an average of 6 PPG.

Some may make the excuse that nobody else in LeBron's position would have put up a good performance, but this is a farcical claim. One needs to look no further than the 2007 WCF to lay this theory to rest. Deron Williams, at age 22 and in only his 2nd year (first year as a full-time starter) played much better against the same Spurs team with an even worse supporting cast, and managed to get one win. Deron Williams averaged 26-4-8-2 on 53% and outplayed Tony Parker who had 20-3-7 on 48% in the 2007 WCF.

Box score fans will immediately point to Carlos Boozer's 21-12 on 53% in this series to claim that Williams had much more help than Lebron, but the reality is that Boozer only played well as a result of Williams setting him up with his passing. There is only one series in Boozer's career where he had over 15 ppg without Deron Williams, in the 2013 1st Round against a weak Nets team when he had 17.4 ppg. So the only help Williams had in this series was because of Williams himself. Outside of Boozer, nobody else on the Jazz averaged double figures in scoring during the 2007 WCF. The Cavs leading rebounder in the Finals, Varejao, wasn't far behind Boozer with 10 rpg. After Boozer, none of the Jazz reached 5 rpg whereas the Cavs still had 8.3 rpg from Gooden.

Williams' offensive help was equally as bad as LeBron's; the Jazz shot 33% on shots not taken or assisted by Williams whereas the Cavs shot 32% on shots not taken or assisted by LeBron. On defense, however, LeBron had far more help, as the Cavs held the Spurs to 85 or less in 3 out of 4 games. The Jazz, on the other hand, allowed 100+ points in 3 out of 5 games in the 2007 WCF, and only held the Spurs under 90 once. The Jazz defenders couldn't handle Duncan, either, as he had 22-10-3 on 58%, compared to 18-12-4 on 45% in the 2007 Finals against the Cavs.

So there is no excuse at all for LeBron to have such a poor performance on both ends regardless of how little help he had. Deron Williams had equally bad help on offense and worse help on defense, but still played much better against the same team and with the same defender (Bowen) guarding him. Based on how well a young and inexperienced Deron Williams did under tougher circumstances, there's no reason to believe that several NBA greats wouldn't have vastly outperformed LeBron's 2007 Finals on the same Cavs team, and there are a few that would have won as well.

Jordan himself did, in fact, carry an equally bad, if not worse, team as the 2007 Cavs to 6 games against a much better opponent in the 1989 Pistons. 

2007 Finals, LeBron's best teammates
13-8 on 50%
11-2-3 on 40%
10-3-1 on 36%

1989 ECF, Jordan's best teammates
12-2-3 on 45%
11-6-1 on 42%
10-7-3 on 40%

The 2007 Cavs were also top 2 in rebounding, whereas the 1989 Bulls were ranked 22 of 25 in rebounding. The Cavs also had the better defensive supporting cast, as Duncan had 18-12-4 on 45% against them in the Finals. The Pistons were also a much better team than the 2007 Spurs, sweeping every team in the playoffs besides Jordan's Bulls. The Spurs had lost 4 playoff games before sweeping the Cavs in the Finals. Had you replaced LeBron with Jordan in the 2007 Finals, the Cavs would have won with Jordan shutting down Tony Parker like he did to Isiah Thomas being the difference. Keep in mind that 3 of 4 games in the 2007 Finals were in single digits with LeBron having a negligible contribution on either end. 

LeBron's supposed ability to "carry" the 2007 Cavs to the Finals was in reality just a matter of having the fortune of playing incredibly easy opponents in the East - two 0.500 teams and a watered down Pistons team without 4x DPOY Ben Wallace or Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown. The Spurs were the only good team he played in the 2007 Playoffs, and by no coincidence LeBron put up one of the worst Finals performances of all-time against them. If LeBron is going to be praised for beating up 3 weak teams with his supporting cast, you can't backtrack and use his supporting cast as an excuse when he got crushed against the only legit team he played.

LeBron James, 2011 Finals

LeBron's 2011 Finals performance was also one of the worst in history. First, you have to consider the large amount of help LeBron received in these Finals. Dwayne Wade averaged a great 27-7-5 on 55% wth 1.5 spg and 1.5 bpg and was by far the best player on the Heat. The Heat defense also did a great job of slowing down Dirk, who shot 42% for the series, though some of those misses were open shots. LeBron had 18-7-7 on 48% for the series, with a terrible 60% FT to go with 4 TOpg. These numbers look pretty pedestrian, but by themselves they don't tell you how bad this performance was.

LeBron averaged 8.9 less ppg compared to his season average, which is the largest regular season to Finals drop-off in history. Next, LeBron disappeared in the 4th quarter repeatedly throughout this series - similar to what Magic did in the 1984 Finals, but LeBron did it with much less impressive averages and against a much lesser team

- Game 2 - Lebron 2 pts, 0/4 FG in 4th quarter and Heat only lose by 2
- Game 3 - Lebron 2 pts, 1/3 FG in 4th quarter and Heat still win
- Game 4 - Lebron 0 pts, 0/1 FG in 4th quarter and Mavs only win by 3. LeBron had 8 pts the whole game
- Game 5 - Lebron 2 pts, 1/4 FG in 4th quarter, and Heat were only down 4 with 35 secs left, before Terry nailed the 3 in the face of LeBron's overrated defense to seal the game

Lastly, LeBron contributed nothing on defense in these Finals (a recurring theme, as the 2013 Finals is the only time in 6 appearances that he played elite defense). Shawn Marion and Jason Terry both exposed his defense. Terry outscored LeBron 18.0 ppg on 49% to 17.8 ppg on 48% while playing 11 less minutes per game. Even with a huge amount of help from Dwyane Wade, LeBron still couldn't get it done in the 4th quarter or on defense, got outscored by Jason Terry even with Terry playing under a huge minutes handicap, and lost to a Mavericks team without Caron Butler who was injured, even though the Heat had the superior supporting cast.

LeBron James, 2014 Finals

LeBron's box score stats look good for the 2014 Finals, as he put up 28-8-4-2 on 57%, although he only had 1 more assist than turnovers in the series. However, as we should know by now, box score stats don't tell the whole story. Now to analyze LeBron's 2014 Finals in full context. LeBron was only productive for the first 2 games of the series. In the final 3 games, LeBron didn't show up on offense or defense, and was completely outplayed by 13 ppg Kawhi Leonard across the board. The majority of LeBron's stats over the last 3 games were padded in blowout situations (being down 15+). LeBron by no means was "carrying" his team in these Finals. And he got outplayed by Kawhi Leonard over the last 3 games

2014 Finals

Games 3-4-5 Lebron scored 51 of his 81 points (63%) being down 15+  Leonard scored 27 of his 71 points (38%) being up 15+ Leonard outscored Lebron 44-30 in non-blowout situations  Leonard 23.7 ppg on 69% LeBron 27.0 ppg on 55% (Leonard 14% more efficient) And again, Lebron stats were heavily padded in garbage time, in non blowout situations Leonard outscored him  Leonard 9.3 rpg LeBron 7.7 rpg Leonard 2.0 spg LeBron 1.7 spg Leonard 2.0 bpg LeBron 0.7 bpg
Leonard 2.3 apg with 1.7 TOpg LeBron 4.7 apg with 3.7 TOpg Leonard had a slightly better ast:TO ratio  Through games 3-4-5, Leonard scored much more efficiently (and more in non blowout situations) and outrebounded, outstole, and outblocked Lebron with a better ast:TO ratio. He outplayed LeBron in all aspects for the last 3 games. Game 3 Lebron had 14 points and 0 TO in first quarter, then 8 points and 7 TOs for the last 3 quarters. LeBron had 22-5-7-5 with 7 TOs on 64%, Wade had 22-4-2-2 with 5 TOs on 67%. But over the last 3 quarters, LeBron had 8 points and 7 TOs to Wade's 20 points and 3 TOs. The Heat cut the lead from 15 to 9 without LeBron, after Wade subbed in for him, from the 5:00 to 1:00 mark of the 3rd quarter, but even with that help LeBron still lost. Game 4 Lebron had 9 points in first half and the Heat were blown out by 19 at halftime. He padded his stats from there, and he did not score on Leonard in the first half. Game 5 Lebron had 1 FG in 2nd quarter (2:30 mark) to bring the Heat within 5. Then he did not score again until the Heat were down 21 with 4:40 in the 3rd. LeBron shot 1-6 against Leonard this game, according to the article "MVP Leonard Does it All," and the same article states that Leonard shot 65% when guarded by LeBron throughout the series. 

Leonard clearly outplayed Lebron over the final 3 games, even with Lebron padding his stats, and Lebron failed to score consistently until after his teams were getting blown out. LeBron did not play well in the 2014 Finals after Game 2, he only built his stats in blowout situations with little chance of putting his team in a position to win. LeBron's 2014 Finals was a repeat of the 2011 Finals after Game 2, the only differences being that LeBron's teammates didn't play that well (though this was in large part due to LeBron's lack of helping the team outside of blowout situations), and LeBron padded his stats to save face. So any notion that LeBron had an "amazing" series, and still lost because of his teammates is false.

Some will claim that nobody could have replaced LeBron and stopped the Spurs offense, but that's false. The Spurs went 7 games with the top 10 worst defense 8-seed Mavericks in the first round, so there were definitely holes to be exploited. Next, there are multiple instances where one player singlehandedly has changed one of the worst defenses in the league to one of the best - like Jason Kidd on the 2002 and 2003 Nets and a hobbled Jordan at age 38 with the 2002 Wizards, before his knee injury. And regardless, there's no excuse for getting outplayed by a 13 ppg player in the last 3 games of the Finals in all aspects, and letting him shoot 65% on you for the series as a whole.

Leonard was the Spurs best offensive player in the last 3 games of the series, and his offensive explosion was mainly because of LeBron's overrated defense allowing him to shoot so efficiently on him. As the biggest contributor to the Spurs' offensive success in the last 3 games, Leonard heavily benefited from LeBron's overrated defense, and because of that LeBron deserves most of the blame in the Spurs overall offensive success. It wasn't until the Spurs used Leonard to exploit LeBron's overrated defense that they began their offensive explosion. If he could actually guard Leonard, instead of letting him shoot 65% on LeBron, then it would have been much harder for the Spurs to execute their offense with their best offensive player in that series struggling.

There are quite a few all-time great players who could have replaced LeBron and won this Finals, especially if they were to score when the games were in reach, rather than waiting until blowout situations to deliver. This would have greatly opened up the game for LeBron's teammates. Putting up almost 2/3 of your points in 3 straight games after getting blown out by 15+ isn't going to open up the game for your teammates or take defensive pressure off them, so any lack of help LeBron had was due to his lack of willingness to help them in the first place. 

And even when Lebron did have great help from Wade in Game 3 - when the Heat cut the lead from 15 to 9 late in the 3rd quarter after Wade subbed in for LeBron, he still couldn't get it done and the Heat still got blown out when LeBron returned. So even when LeBron had help in this series, he still couldn't take advantage. Next, LeBron only had minimal offensive help in the last 2 games of the series, through 3 games Wade had a solid 18-5-3 on 54%. His production declined in Games 4 and 5 as a result of LeBron not taking any defensive pressure off his teammates until after the Heat were getting blown out, as has been explained above.

Either way, the main points to remember are LeBron's extreme amount of stat-padding in blowout situations and getting outplayed by 13 ppg Kawhi Leonard in all aspects for the last 3 games of the series - having an extremely negative contribution on defense throughout the series, and a negligible offensive contribution in the last 3 games. That alone qualifies LeBron's 2014 Finals as one of the worst Finals performances of all-time.

Stephen Curry, 2016 Finals

Steph Curry played poorly on both ends of the floor in the 2016 NBA Finals. After becoming the first ever unanimous MVP and having the most efficient offensive season ever, he was lit up on defense in the Finals and outplayed by Kyrie Irving, the Cavs' 2nd best player. Kyrie Irving averaged 27-4-4 on 47% and became the highest 2nd-leading scorer on a Finals team. On offense, Curry also disappeared and only averaged 23-5-4 on 40% after having 30-5-7 on 50% in the regular season. In fact, Curry only had 1 good performance in the entire Finals, during Game 4 when he had 38-5-6 on 11/25 FG.

Game 1 - Curry had a horrendous 11-5-6 on 4/15 (27%) FG. 

Game 2 - Curry followed up with a half-decent, but not great 18-9-4 on 7/11 (64%). 

Game 3 - He had a poor 19-3-2 on 36% with 6 turnovers. 

Game 4 - His only good performance, putting up 38-5-6 on 11/25 FG (44%)

Game 5 - Curry followed up his only good performance with a mediocre 25-7-4 on 38%.

Game 6 - Although he had 30 points in Game 6, 18 of them came after the Warriors were already losing by 15+, so this was a stat-padding performance like LeBron in the 2014 NBA Finals. 

Game 7 - With everything on the line, Curry only had 17-5-2 on 32% with 4 turnovers, with 3 points on 1/6 FG in the 4th quarter, including missing the game-tying three with 30 seconds left.

As we all know, the Warriors became the only team to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals, making Curry's disappearing even worse, especially over the last 3 games. Curry was not even the best player on his own team, as Draymond Green averaged 17-10-6 on 49% with much better defense than Curry. So, to recap the main areas in which Curry failed to perform.

1. Curry disappeared offensively after winning the scoring title, having the most efficient regular season ever and hitting over 400 three-pointers. He only had 23-5-4 on 40% with 30 turnovers to 26 assists (4.2 TOpg to 3.7 apg) after averaging 30-5-7 on 50% FG and 45% 3PT in the regular season.

2. Curry was lit up on defense and outplayed by the Cavs' 2nd option Kyrie Irving, and also outplayed by his teammate Draymond Green.

3. Curry especially failed to step up in any of the Warriors' closeout games, did nothing to prevent his team from blowing the only 3-1 Finals lead in history, and only had 3 points on 1/6 FG in the 4th quarter of Game 7, and missing the game-tying shot.

SECTION 1 - Players From Jordan's Day Against 2000s Defenses

- Looking at how the Jordan Era players had an easier time in the modern era

SECTION 2 - How Washed-up Jordan Did Against the Top Defenders of the "Advanced, More Athletic, Superior" 2000s Era

- Looking at how a 38-40 year old Jordan himself schooled the 2000s defenders

SECTION 3 - Jordan's "Weak" Defensive Competition Compared to Lebron/Kobe's "Advanced" Competition
- Proving the vast superiority of individual defenders of Jordan's era compared to the 2000s

SECTION 4 - The "Jordan Never Faced Zone" Myth

- Destroying the myth that Jordan never played zone defense

SECTION 5 - The Myth That 80s/90s Defenses Can't Contain Modern Players Without the 80s/90s Rules

- Proof that 80s/90s players would still have success guarding 2000s players without the 80s/90s rules

SECTION 6 - The Myth of Jordan's Inability to Deal with 80s Teams, and the Truth About Expansion

- Looking at how Jordan did against the 80s teams and why expansion did not make it easier to win championships

SECTION 7 - "Jordan Played Weak Competition in the 80s/90s"

- Proof that Jordan's Competition was 80s-quality and far better than the 2000s era

SECTION 8 - The Myth that Jordan Was Not As Valuable to His Teams' Success

- Looking at the truth of how the Bulls did without Jordan, and how other great teams did without their stars.

SECTION 9 - "Jordan Got All the Calls"

- Did Jordan really get any more special treatment than other superstars? Nope.

SECTION 10 - Wilt Chamberlain: Great, but Far From the Greatest

- Exposing the myths behind the great, but misunderstood, Wilt Chamberlain

SECTION 11 - The "Lebron is a 6-8 250 Freight Train and too Big/Strong/Fast to be Guarded in the 80s/90s era" Myth

- Looking at how Lebron got locked down by defenders of the 2000s era and comparing them to the vastly superior 80s/90s

SECTION 12 - Lebron: The Most Overrated Defender of All-Time

- Destroying one of the media's biggest misconceptions regarding Lebron's solid but vastly overrated defense

SECTION 13 - "Lebron Doesn't Have Enough Help, and No One Can Carry a Team Like Him"

- Lebron fans think no player in history could succeed if their teammates don't step up, and that Lebron is the only one who has carried a team on his back. Is that really the case?

SECTION 14 - Jordan vs Lebron: The Truth

- The real Jordan vs Lebron comparison

SECTION 15 - Jordan vs Kobe: The Truth

- The real Jordan vs Kobe comparison

SECTION 16 - Jordan (and Hakeem) vs Kareem

- Kareem is great, but he is not even the greatest center of all-time, let alone the greatest of all-time.

SECTION 17 - The Truth about Michael Jordan Without Scottie Pippen

- The full context behind Jordan's struggles without Pippen

SECTION 18 - Michael Jordan's Wizards Years

- A look at how Jordan turned the Wizards around before his knee injury caught up to him

SECTION 19 - The Case for Jordan as the Best Perimeter Defender of All-Time

- Looking at Jordan's defensive impact in detail, both as a team player and 1 on 1 defender

SECTION 20 - Why Jordan Would Accomplish More In Cleveland and Miami than LeBron

- Looking at the strong evidence supporting that Jordan would have achieved more than what LeBron has in Cleveland and Miami 

SECTION 21 - Hakeem Olajuwon: The Greatest Center of All-Time
- Hakeem Olajuwon is the best center of all-time, and there is strong evidence to prove it

SECTION 22 - Chris Paul: The Most Overrated Point Guard Of All-Time

- Chris Paul is an extremely overrated playoff performer and defender, and isn't even a top 5 PG of his own era, let alone all-time

SECTION 23 - Kevin Johnson: The Most Underrated Point Guard Of All-Time

- Kevin Johnson is an extremely underrated and under-appreciated point guard, who should have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer and considered a top-10 point guard of all-time

SECTION 24 - The Three Greatest Playoff Runs of All-Time

- Analyzing the three greatest individual playoff runs in NBA history

SECTION 25 - The Worst Finals Performances of All-Time

- Analyzing the worst performances in NBA Finals history

SECTION 26 - Jordan vs Russell

- Comparing the two players who won the most championships as the best player on their team

SECTION 27 - The Five Greatest Coaches of All-Time

- Taking a look at the greatest coaches in NBA history

SECTION 28 - The Least Deserving Finals MVPs of All-Time
- Taking a look at the players who least deserved to win their Finals MVPs

SECTION 29 - Refuting 10 Myths About Michael Jordan
- Refuting certain myths about Jordan, as well as abridging of some of the main points in earlier sections for easier reference.

SECTION 30 - The 20 Greatest Conference Finals Runs of All-Time
- Ranking the 20 greatest playoff runs in which a player played 3 rounds before losing prior to the NBA Finals

SECTION 31 - The 1970s: The Weakest Decade of the NBA's Post-Infancy
- Why the 1970s was the weakest decade of any era from 1960-present

SECTION 32 - The 10 Worst Supporting Casts on NBA Finals Teams (1960-Present)
- Examining the worst supporting casts on teams that reached the NBA Finals

SECTION 33 - The 10 Greatest Rookie Playoff Runs of All-Time
- The most impressive playoff runs in which rookies led their team to at least one series win