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

• "Lebron is the only one who could carry the 2007 Cavs to the Finals"
• "Lebron had no help in CLE, or the 2014 Finals"
• "Nobody else could win in LeBron's shoes in Cleveland or in 2014" 

Sorry, those excuses do not hold water. LeBron has done some amazing job of carrying his team, but other people have done it in better fashion. He has not done anything special. Some people think his 2007 Finals appearance was something unheard of, but this is not the case, especially considering that he had a top 5 defense in the league that year. On top of that, LeBron in 2007 played in the weakest Eastern conference in recent memory. 

He beat two .500 teams, the Wizards, with Arenas and Butler injured, and the Nets, and the Pistons with no 4x DPOY Ben Wallace. There are several players I could replace LeBron with who would still make it to the Finals with that team in that weak conference, and quite a few who could have beaten the Spurs in the Finals with that 2007 Cavs squad. The fact that the Pistons made it to the ECF shows how weak the East was post-2006. The Pistons got rid of their best rebounder, rim protector, and overall defender (4x DPOY - tied for an NBA Record) and still had the Number 1 seed in the 2007 East and made the Conference Finals in 2008 while beating no notable teams. 

The 2007 Pistons were still top 2 in ppg allowed after losing Ben Wallace, but the 2006 Pistons allowed 1.6 less ppg than the 2007 team. However, this was due to the fact that the East had much weaker offensive teams than the West, with the East only having 1 team average 100+ ppg (Wizards) compared to the West's 8 teams with 100+ ppg. Only 20 of the Pistons' 82 games came against teams that averaged 100+ ppg for the season, so their defensive numbers post-Wallace don't accurately reflect the quality of their defense as they were playing sub-par offensive teams for over 3/4 of the season. 

On top of that, the 2007 East was weaker than the 2006 East as well, which is why LeBron was able to beat two 0.500 teams to make the ECF. Playing in a much weaker conference than the 2006 Pistons on top of playing the weakest teams in the league far more often allowed the 2007 Pistons to not suffer as big of a statistical drop-off in their defense following Ben Wallace's departure, though they fell from 64 to 53 wins. It is clear that the Pistons clearly missed Ben Wallace's presence when LeBron was waltzing down the lane at will in the 2007 ECF.

The East post-2006 was incredibly weak, and
especially in 2007. Several players
could replace LeBron on the 2007 Cavs
and make the Finals, and quite a few would
have been able to win the title

Not to mention they never made the Finals after their Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown left. It's not a coincidence that as soon as Brown left, the Pistons never made the Finals again after winning the title in 2004 and losing a close Game 7 in 2005 against the Spurs. The first year after Brown left, the Pistons went from shutting down Kobe to 38% in the 2004 Finals and Wade to 48% shooting in the 2005 ECF (pre-Game 5 injury) to allowing 62% shooting from Wade in the 2006 ECF under Flip Saunders. Add the departure of 4x DPOY Ben Wallace after 2006 and it's not that big of a deal to have beaten that washed up 2007 team.

2007 - Lebron has a top 5 Cavs defense that held down Duncan to 45% in Finals after 55% in regular season

• Lebron beat bum 41-41 Wiz with no Arenas/Butler - injuries
• LeBron beat bum 41-41 Nets with post-injuries Vince Carter
• LeBron beat washed up Pistons who lost their best defensive player
• They got rid of 4x DPOY Ben Wallace before the season started, and who LeBron couldn't beat in 2006 when he was still on the team. 
• The Pistons had the best record in the league in 2006, at 64-18. When Ben Wallace left and was replaced with post-ACL tear Chris Webber, they fell to 53-29. Talk about weak competition
• There's a reason the Pistons never made the Finals as soon as Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown left after 2005, or without 4x DPOY Ben Wallace after 2006.

Then LeBron got exposed by the only real team he played, the 2007 Spurs - 36% shooting, 6 turnovers a game, missed game-tying shot in Game 3, and 2/6 FT in Game 4 as the Spurs only won by 1 point. The surprising thing is that 3 of the 4 games were decided by only single digits despite LeBron's poor play - thanks to the Cavs defense. Even Deron Williams averaged 26-4-8-2 on 53% against the same Spurs defense in the 2007 WCF, so there's no excuse for LeBron to have played as poorly. The only player who showed up for Deron Williams in that series was Carlos Boozer, and Boozer was only good because Williams created his offense for him. Boozer has only once averaged over 15 ppg in a playoff series without Williams, when he had 17 ppg against the 2013 Nets in the first round.

LeBron wasn't really carrying 2003-2010 Cleveland when he led them in the playoffs. He just feasted on the weakest playoff teams while playing in Cleveland. When he played good playoff teams, he couldn't carry Cleveland anywhere. LeBron only beat one 50-win team in the playoffs during his time in Cleveland from 2003 to 2010, and that was against the 2007 Pistons with no 4x DPOY Ben Wallace and no HoF coach Larry Brown. Every other team he beat had less than 50 wins. LeBron's supposed ability to carry Cleveland only lasted in the regular season. 

As you can see, LeBron never was able to carry 2003-2010 Cleveland past any notable teams in the playoffs. This puts a HUGE asterisk next to the perception that he "carried" Cleveland, as he beat ZERO elite teams in the playoffs with Cleveland. He didn't carry them past anyone notable. People complained about how weak his 2003-10 Cavs team was, but the only competition that LeBron beat from 2003-10 was even worse bum competition. Even in Miami, his East competition was very weak, in 2013 for example he beat 0 50-win teams before making the Finals. LeBron has had it laughably easy in his era.

For comparison
- 27 of Jordan's 37 playoff opponents had 50+ wins (73% of them).
- Kobe had to play four 50-win teams in each of the 2001, 2008, 2010 Playoffs
- Hakeem had to play four 57-win teams in the 1995 Playoffs and 3 50-win teams in 1994 with 0 all stars / 0 Hall of Famers helping him in the 1994 run.

Seeing as LeBron only beat one 50-win team with 2003-2010 Cleveland, and a very weak 50-win team as the Pistons had no 4x DPOY Ben Wallace and no Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, it's very safe to say that he would have never been able to carry Cleveland anywhere against real competition where the majority of playoff opponents had 50+ wins. On the other hand, it's safe to say that legends like Hakeem, Jordan, etc. would have had a much easier time carrying Cleveland against the weak playoff opponents LeBron faced.

Moses Malone probably took the weakest team in history to the Finals, and he actually beat real competition. He was far better at putting a team on his back than LeBron. In 1981, he took a 40-42 Rockets team (not top 10 offense or defense) to the 1981 Finals past defending champ Magic/Kareem, George Gervin Spurs, and pushed Larry Bird's Celtics to 6 games in the Finals. He had nobody on that team besides Calvin Murphy, who was at the tail end of his career and no-longer the Hall of Fame quality player he was in his prime. He took Del Harris as a coach to the NBA Finals, and with 0 all-stars. Much more impressive than the 2007 bum competition Lebron went through with a top 5 defense.

Moses Malone's carrying of
a 40-42 Rocket team in 1981
past Magic/Kareem and Gervin
and pushing Bird's Celtics to 6
games in the FIals is far more
impressive than any of LeBron's playoff
runs against mostly bum competition

Moses outrebounded and outscored Kareem in the 1981 First rd. LeBron never had to outplay anyone close to that level in 2007, and Moses did it with a weaker cast. He also dropped 22-16-1-1-2 in the 1981 Finals as he pushed Bird's Celtics to 6 games, he didn't lay an egg like LeBron in the 2007 Finals.

Moses shot poorly in the Finals, but he shot higher than his team. Moses shot 40% while his team as a whole shot 38%, whereas LeBron shot a lower 36% while his team as a whole shot 40%. LeBron had more help shooting wise from his teammates;

• Gooden - 50%
• Gibson - 44%
• Varejao - 67%

None of Moses' teammates that played 15+ mpg shot 42%, and all but 2 shot under 40%. He had much less help shooting wise, but still pushed his team to 6 games against a better Celtics team.

Jordan's 1989 ECF run was also way more impressive than any of LeBron's playoff runs. Jordan led the 6 seed Bulls past the Cavs and Knicks, leading the Bulls in 5/5 categories vs the Knicks and taking over the 4th quarter of Game 6 without Pippen, who was ejected, dropping 12-2-3-1-2 and the game-winning free throws. Jordan then carried the Bulls to 6 games against the 1989 Pistons, who were undefeated in the playoffs aside from the Bulls. 

The 1989 Pistons are one of only a handful of teams with 2 or less losses in a playoff run, the other most recent ones being the 1991 Bulls, 1999 Spurs, and 2001 Lakers. LeBron has never faced a team that dominant in the playoffs, and Jordan took them to 6 games with Pippen averaging 10-7-3 on 40%. Jordan also shut down Isiah Thomas in this series (guarding him consistently throughout every game), making him take 118 shots to score 124 points and a terrible 39% FG. Jordan throughout the 80s was used to carrying an equally bad, if not worse team, against better competition. 

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

1988 ECSF, Jordan's best teammates
13-2-3 on 41%
11-6-2 on 60%
9-12-3 on 41%

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

1990 ECF, Jordan's best teammates
17-6-4 on 43%
12-12-2 on 41%
7-4-1 on 40%

1990 ECF Game 7
Jordan's teammates shot 15/63 (24%) and 6/54 (11%) on shots not taken or assisted by Jordan. Unfortunately for Jordan, he didn't have the luxury of facing two 0.500 teams or a weak Pistons team without their best defender Ben Wallace, or their Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown like LeBron did in his laughably weak era.

Some use the 2014 Finals as proof that LeBron had no help. His excuse for losing because of no help would make sense, except for the fact that LeBron did not help his team at all after the series was tied 1-1, he only padded his stats. He was not helping his team win games at all, and was completely outplayed in Games 3-4-5 by Kahwi Leonard.

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 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.
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 padded his stats. LeBron's 2014 Finals was a repeat of the 2011 Finals after Game 2, the only differences being that LeBron's teammates disappeared along with him, 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. LeBron failed his team over the Final 3 games, and that's why he lost. He did not contribute offensively or defensively. The Spurs did have great offensive execution in this series, but a lot of that had to do with the poor defensive leadership of LeBron, who got exposed by Kawhi Leonard. Remember, this is the same Spurs team that went 7 games against a top 10 worst defense in the league, the 8-seed Mavericks. They were far from an invincible team.

In those last 3 games, Leonard outrebounded, outblocked, outstole Lebron, scored MUCH more efficiently (14% FG higher than Lebron) and Lebron committed more than twice as many turnovers. In Game 3, LeBron had 14 points in the 1st quarter, then 8 points and 7 turnovers in the last 3 quarters. In Game 4, LeBron had 9 points in the first half, and they were blown out by 19 at that point, from where he padded his stats

The reason the Heat lost the 2014 Finals is because
of their pathetic defense. If the defensive leader, who was
supposedly 2nd place in DPOY and "guards 1-5"
isn't playing defense, how do you expect the rest of the
Heat to follow suit? Getting outplayed in the last
3 games by a role player doesn't help your team AT ALL.

Also, whereas Lebron could never guard Leonard, Leonard held Lebron to 1-6 shooting in Game 5 when he guarded him. In Game 5 Lebron had 1 FG in the 2nd quarter (2:30 mark) to bring the Heat within 5, and never scored again until the Spurs were up 21 with 4:40 left in the 3rd - definition of stat padding and not delivering when it mattered. In the 4 combined Heat losses, Lebron scored 48% of his points when the Spurs were up 15+. Definitely not delivering the numbers when he needed to.

Lebron's FG% in 2012 (47%) and 2013 (45%) when he won the NBA Finals were lower than his FG% in 2011 (48%) and 2014 (57%), so pointing at Lebron's high FG% while taking less shots doesn't prove that he was helping his team, unlike Jordan. LeBron only won the NBA Finals in 2012 and 2013 taking 21+ shots a game, not taking 15 and 18 shots a game like in 2011 and 2014.

Bird was also much better at influencing the game beyond his personal stat sheet and carrying his team. As a rookie, he took a top 5 worst defense in the league to a top 10 defense, and the 2nd worst record to the best record with no other major additions to the roster besides bench player M.L. Carr - and before Parish, McHale, or Dennis Johnson joined the team. LeBron in his prime has rejoined the Cavaliers, and they have a top 10 worst defensive rating, and not top 10 in ppg allowed as of the All-star break in the 2014/15 season. 

In only his 2nd season, he carried the Celtics to the title past Dr. J's Sixers and Moses' Rockets while becoming the only player in history to average 15-15-7-2 in the 1981 Finals, and was robbed of MVP. This was after they had the 2nd worst record and top 5 worst defense before Bird joined as a rookie. Bird also nearly out rebounded Moses (15.3 to 16.3 rpg), only grabbing 6 less total rebounds than the 6 time rebounding champion. Talk about carrying the team on your back and overachieving.

The Heat were number 2 in ppg allowed in 2009/10 before Lebron joined them, and as of the All-star break are number 2 in ppg allowed in 2014/15 without LeBron. With Lebron, the Heat were never higher than number 4 in ppg allowed. The Heat's losing record is due to missing LeBron's offense, but his defensive impact is nothing more than solid.

Bird carried the Celtics from the 2nd
worst record in the league and top 5 worst
defense before he arrived, to a top 5 defense
and the 1981 NBA title in his 2nd year, while
nearly outrebounding prime 6x rebounding
champion Moses Malone.

Bird's rebounding was also a key reason for his defensive impact. Defense isn't just about flashy blocks and 1 on 1 matchups. Bird's rebounding did a great job of keeping his opponent's off the glass and limiting their opportunities.

• Bird out rebounded Kareem in 2/3 Finals
• Bird out rebounded 7-4 prime HoF Sampson in 1986 Finals
• Bird averaged 1 less rpg than prime Moses in 1981 (15.3 to 16.3)

• LeBron was out rebounded by Duncan in all 3 Finals - even 35/36 yr old Duncan in 2013 and 2014
• Out rebounded by 6-7 Kahwi Leonard in 2013
• Out rebounded by Dirk, Chandler, and Bosh in 2011
• The only time LeBron was the leading rebounder in a Finals (2012), Bosh out rebounded everyone on the OKC team as well, so even that isn't very impressive.

Without Lebron, the Heat in 2014/15 were number 2 in ppg allowed at the all-star break, before injuries slowed them down. It's not even a debate as to who has the higher defensive impact. Put Bird on the 2014 Heat, and he seals up all the rotations that LeBron blew, and provides the rebounding and interior presence that LeBron can't while keeping Duncan and the rest of the Spurs off the boards.

With the exception of his rookie season, Bird was undefeated in playoff series when his team was healthy. LeBron had a prime and healthy 2011 Heat team and was showed up by Jason Terry in the Finals, costing Wade a 2nd Finals MVP. Enough said.

They say Larry Bird had a better team than LeBron, and that's true. Because Bird was on the team.

• McHale never led a team out of the first round. The only time he made it out the first round without Bird in 1992, Reggie Lewis was the Celtics' leader

• Dwyane Wade won Finals MVP without LeBron. And you can't use the Shaq excuse. Shaq averaged 14-10 (35 mpg) in the 2006 Finals while Drew Gooden averaged 13-8 (28 mpg) in the 2007 Finals.
• All of Wade's 2006 Finals teammates scored less than Wade + Bosh in 2014 Finals, his number 1 scorer being 39% FG Antoine Walker. Wade scored/assisted 46% of his team points in the 2006 Finals and carried them to the title, WITHOUT LeBron.

• Robert Parish never led a team to the playoffs in his entire career. He never made the playoffs without Bird, unless he was a bench rider playing under 20 minutes a game

• Chris Bosh led the Raptors to back to back playoffs, something Parish never came close to doing.

• Cedric Maxwell never made the playoffs without Bird. 1988 while averaging 4 mpg in the first round with Hakeem's Rockets is the only exception. Bird was clearly robbed of 1981 Finals MVP in favor of Maxwell when Bird became the only player to drop 15-15-7-2 in an NBA Finals 

• Tiny Archibald was way past his prime and dropped 10-1-6 on 36% in the 1981 Finals. McHale dropped 5-3-1 on 39% in the 1981 Finals. So much for Bird needing a stacked team of Hall of Famers to carry him, just another myth made up by LeBron fans to downgrade far superior players.

• Dennis Johnson won 1979 Finals MVP, but this award is misleading because Johnson was not even the best player on his team for the regular season or playoffs - behind Gus Williams. 

Bird turned losers into champions. On the other hand, Wade had to turn the loser LeBron into a champion. But not before LeBron ruined Wade's chance at a 2nd Finals MVP in 2011 while getting showed up by Jason Terry. Looks like Michael Cooper was right when he said this

Michael Cooper was absolutely right when he said
LeBron wasn't on Bird or Magic's level when
it comes to making teammates better

"I think LeBron is the type of person who can definitely win you a championship, get you there, but the key to those other two players is they made other players around them better. I don't think LeBron is at that stage yet because if he was those two games [Games 3 and 4] he would have made [Mario] Chalmers a better player. He would have made [Chris] Bosh a better player."

LeBron supposedly makes his teammates better, but why didn't that happen in 2014? Why did he need players that led teams to the playoffs without him and won Finals MVP without him before he could win anything?

Hakeem is probably the greatest of all-time at having to carry a team. Yes, possibly even better than Jordan. Had Hakeem been gifted with a better supporting cast, or had Sampson stayed healthy, he could have had a chance to become the greatest of all time. Unfortunately for him, his weak supporting casts from 1987-1993 and injuries after his 2 championships prevented us from seeing his full potential, which is crazy to think about.

Hakeem carried the Rockets from the very first moment he stepped in the league. For 9 seasons, Hakeem led his team in 4/5 categories, Kevin Garnett is the next closest with 7, nobody else has done it more than three times. Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson was his best teammate, but he never made the playoffs without Hakeem, except for 1989 as a bench player for the Warriors. Sampson didn't even play a minute in the 1st round, but the Warriors still made it to the 2nd round without him. 

The first year Hakeem came as a rookie, they made the playoffs, which they hadn't done since Moses left for the Sixers in 1983, and he carried the 1986 Rockets to the Finals with his starting guard John Lucas not playing due to cocaine issues. 

Hakeem also had to beat REAL competition in 1986, unlike LeBron, like Magic/Kareem's defending champion Lakers, and actually outplayed the reigning Finals MVP Kareem. In the Finals, his best teammate Sampson struggled and was outrebounded by Larry Bird, yet Hakeem led his team to 6 games against a top 5 team of all time even with Sampson ejected in Game 5. Oh, and his starting guard John Lucas was kicked off the team for cocaine prior to the 1986 playoffs.

1993 is another example of Hakeem having to carry everyone. He led his team in all 5 categories for the 1993 playoffs. LeBron did this for 2 rounds in 2008 (but it was built off his first round numbers, not in the 2nd round), but Hakeem actually played defense unlike LeBron who got lit up by Pierce. Hakeem had to shut down Shawn Kemp in 6 out of 7 games, leading his team in every category for the series, and his supporting cast still couldn't get the job done.

Hakeem won with less help compared to LeBron
in 2007, and against better overall competition 

In 1994, Hakeem became the only player in history to lead a team with 0 All stars and 0 Hall of Famers though 4 rounds and win an NBA Finals, and the only player to lead a title team in 5/5 categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks). As further proof of how much of a load Hakeem had to carry, look at the 1994 Finals specifically. Hakeem shut down Ewing to 36% shooting and almost a 2:1 turnover/assist ratio, and Game 5 was the only good game for Ewing out of 7 games in the entire series. With Hakeem shutting down the other team's best player so badly, you would expect an easy sweep or 5 game series.

Instead, the Knicks defense shut down the Rockets to under 95 points in every game, and all 7 games were decided by single digits. Part of the explanation is that the Knicks were just that good, and far from a 1-dimensional team that centered on Ewing. The other part is the lack of production from Hakeem's teammates. These are the numbers for Hakeem's 3 best scorers in the series, who were the only double digit scoring teammates

• Vernon Maxwell - 13 ppg on 37%
• Sam Cassell - 10 ppg on 32%
• Robert Horry - 10 ppg on 42%
• Not since 1961 has a team won the NBA Finals with their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th scoring option shooting under 43%

All of Hakeem's teammates scored less than Wade and Bosh in the 2014 Finals, and all of his double digit scorers shot a worse FG% than 2014 Wade and Bosh. In spite of his team's lack of offensive production, Hakeem took over on defense, while LeBron got destroyed by Leonard in the deciding last 3 games. LeBron never played any defense in any NBA Finals outside of 2013 against Tony Parker, and a 35 year old Payton did a better job on Parker anyway. Hakeem had to score + assist 40% of his team's points in the 1994 Finals, which LeBron also did in 2014. 

Unlike LeBron, however, Hakeem was playing defense and shut down Ewing in 6 out of 7 games, and he wasn't padding his stats like LeBron - who scored 63% of his points in Games 3-4-5 after the Spurs were up 15+. Hakeem blocked Starks to win Game 6 and went on to shut down Ewing in Game 7 to win the title, after leading his team in all 5 categories for 4 playoff rounds with 0 Hall of Famers or All-stars. THAT'S called carrying a team. And he wasn't playing bum competition like the Bobcats, washed up Nets, and Paul George with 0-0 Roy Hibbert. He was playing against Hall of Famers like Drexler, Barkley and KJ (who will soon be there), Stockton and Malone, and Ewing.

It's interesting to note than in the 1994 Finals, the Knicks outperformed almost all the Spurs teams in the majority of their Finals appearances. The 2014 Spurs were playing a very weak defense led by LeBron's poor defense, which made their numbers look great after going 7 games with a top 10 worst defense Mavericks. The 1999 and 2003 Spurs had David Robinson, so that's a different team compared to what LeBron faced. And the 1999 8-seed Knicks and 2003 Nets that the Spurs faced do not compare defensively to the 1994 Rockets with arguably the best defender ever on the team in Hakeem Olajuwon. 

Hakeem's 1994 title run with 0 Hall of Famers/All-stars is
far more impressive than any playoff run of Lebron's career.
And when his teammates didn't step up, Hakeem's defense did.
With LeBron it's the opposite (2008 ECSF Game 7, 2014 Finals)

Let's see more examples of how to carry a team when they struggle. It's not impossible to win under the circumstances LeBron had in 2014, not at all.

1980 NBA Finals - regular season MVP Kareem is injured in Game 5 and does not play in Game 6.  Magic is going against a stacked 1980 Sixers team that might as well be called the All-NBA Defensive team with legendary defenders like Bobby Jones, Caldwell Jones and Mo Cheeks along with another good defender Lionel Hollins and not to mention Dr. J.

Even without the MVP by his side, Magic still drops 42-15-7 against that legendary and stacked team, as a ROOKIE, and wins Finals MVP and the championship. Jamaal Wilkes dropped 37 in that game, but he never dropped more than 20 in any of the previous 5 games.

That's because Magic actually makes his teammates better when he has to. Lebron fanboys have this great double standard - he makes his teammates supposedly better, but its always his teammates' fault when he loses. But nobody needed to make those double standard excuses for Magic in 1980, because he was good enough to win anyway. People use Kareem to bring down Magic's rings, but Kareem did not have success without Oscar or Magic, the 2 best PG of all-time. Wade, however, won Finals MVP without LeBron, and with all his teammates scoring less than Wade/Bosh in the 2014 Finals (number 1 scorer - 39% FG Antoine Walker)

In the 6 seasons without Oscar or Magic, he had 0 Finals, 0 scoring titles, and never won consecutive playoff series. The first season Magic came, Kareem averaged the only 60% FG season of his career and won his first title since 1971 with Oscar, which was also the first season Oscar joined Kareem and immediately turned him into a scoring champ and NBA champ. When has LeBron ever turned any other player into an all-time great like Oscar or Magic? Wade and Allen had already established themselves long before joining LeBron.

D-Wade was able to carry his team to the 2006 title with
all of his teammates scoring less than Wade and Bosh
in the 2014 Finals. Too bad he couldn't teach LeBron on how
to do the same with the Heat struggling in 2014.

The 2006 NBA Finals is another example as Wade carried his team. All of Wade's teammates scored less than Lebron's teammates Wade and Bosh in the 2014 Finals Wade's best scoring option, Antoine Walker (nope, Shaq was not even the number 2 scoring option in the Finals) shot a garbage 39%. Instead of being passive and not taking over the game like LeBron in 2014 shooting only 18 shots a game (when he shot 21+ shots a game in 2012 and 2013 they won the Finals, what a surprise)

DWade dropped 35 ppg to bring the Heat back from down 0-2 to win the series. Wade scored and assisted 46% of his team's points in the NBA Finals (assuming assist = 2 pts). After going down 2-0, Wade dropped 39 - 8.3 - 3.5 - 2.5 - 1 on 51% in the next 4 games to win the title. Wade shot at a lower FG% than LeBron in 2014, but we saw earlier that taking more shots, and at a lower FG% were necessary for LeBron to win in 2012 and 2013 compared to 2011 and 2014 Finals. D-Wade also made big defensive plays, unlike LeBron, when he made a game-saving deflection at the end of Game 3, forcing Terry to miss a game winner at the end of Game 5, and coming up with a clutch steal with under 20 seconds left in Game 6.

Dwade 2006 - 35-8-4-3-1 on 47%
Lebron 2014 - 28-8-4-2-0.5 on 57%

• Again, we saw that Lebron won the Finals in 2012 and 2013 with 47% and 45% FG, not in 2011 and 2014 with 48% and 57% FG, so his high FG% doesn't prove he was helping his team win.

Tim Duncan also carried the 2003 Spurs to the Finals with less help than LeBron. Duncan led the Spurs in 4/5 categories and only had 2 double digit scorers in Parker (15 ppg on 40%) and Stephen Jackson (13 ppg on 41%). Duncan's 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th scoring options all shot under 42% for the 2003 playoffs. David Robinson provided good defense but played a limited 23 mpg off the bench and was nowhere near prime Robinson. Duncan carried this team past the 3peat Lakers and beat Dirk's Mavs (Spurs were up 2-1 before Dirk's injury put him out of commission) before beating an easy Nets team in the Finals, as they never cracked 90 points in any of the 6 games. 

But even against an easy Nets team, Duncan's teammates struggled as his top 3 teammates had 14 ppg on 39%, 11 ppg on 61%, and 10 ppg on 38%. It says a lot that Duncan's teammates struggled so badly in what should have been an easy Finals, yet he still carried them past the 3peat Lakers and Dirk's Mavs. Duncan dropped a beastly 24-17-5-1-5 on 50% in the 2003 Finals and carried them to the ring with a near quadruple double 21-20-10 and 8 blocks in Game 6. Much more impressive than any instance in which LeBron carried a team, especially factoring in the West competition. If Duncan was beating up on sub-50 teams in the 2012 and 2013 ECF or half his playoff career like LeBron he'd have way more rings and trips to the Finals.

2014 Finals LeBron's top 3 teammates - 15 ppg on 44% - 14 ppg on 55% - 10 ppg on 42%

1994 Finals Hakeem's top 3 teammates - 13 ppg on 37% - 10 ppg on 32% - 10 ppg on 42% LeBron's top 2 options outscored all of Hakeem's options on much better shooting. This is the only time since 1961 that a team won the Finals with the 2nd 3rd 4th options all shooting under 43%. Hakeem also led the team in 5/5 categories for the entire 1994 Playoffs, the only player to do so in a title run. Hakeem had a far higher load to carry, and he did it while beating 3 50+ win teams with 0 all stars or Hall of Famers helping him in 1994. Adjusting 2012 lockout teams win% for an 82 game season, LeBron beat 3 50-win teams in his 2 title seasons combined (Pacers, Thunder, Spurs) 1997 Finals Jordan's top 3 teammates - 20 ppg on 42% - 8 ppg on 41% - 7 ppg on 47% he had one inefficient 20 ppg scorer and nothing offensively after that. Jordan had to score/assist 50% of his team points in this Finals assuming all assists = 2 points and score/assist 55% of team points over the last 2 clinching games

In the 1997 title run, Jordan became the only player to lead a team to the title with only one double digit scorer, Pippen at 19 ppg on 42%. Every other Jordan teammate averaged under 8 ppg. LeBron never carried a team with such little offensive help to the title. Jordan was 10 rebounds (0.53 rpg) and 1 block (0.05 bpg) shy of joining Hakeem as the only players to lead a title team in 5/5 categories in this run, at age 34 no less. 

LeBron never came this close to leading a title team in 5/5, as he was 14 blocks (0.61 bpg) and 18 blocks (0.78 bpg) shy of doing so in the 2012 and 2013 title runs. and Jordan did this against much better overall competition, beating 3 50-win teams in the 1997 run alone, and 2 60-win teams. LeBron beat 0 60-win teams in his 2 title seasons, and adjusting the 2012 lockout teams for 82 games, LeBron only beat 3 50-win teams in his 2 title seasons combined. LeBron also beat 0 50-win teams in the 2013 East, a luxury Jordan never had.

As mentioned earlier, Jordan only had Pippen in double figures with 19 ppg on a mediocre 42%, and outside of that everyone else had under 8 ppg. For comparison

2007 Cavaliers

• LeBron had 3 other players in double figures and 5 others with 8+ ppg. 
• Rodman was the 1997 Bulls leading rebounder with 8.4 rpg, Ilgauskus had 9.7 rpg and Gooden had 8.0 rpg 
• Jordan also beat way better competition, (44-win Bullets, 56-win Hawks, 61-win Heat, 64-win Jazz) as opposed to Lebron beating two 0.500 teams (41-win Wizards and Nets) and a 53-win Pistons team with no Ben Wallace or Larry Brown).

Suddenly LeBron's 2007 run doesn't look so impressive, and remember this is a 34 year old Jordan that we're looking at. A prime Jordan easily would have been able to carry sub-par supporting casts against even greater odds if it was necessary.

As we mentioned, Jordan is the only player to lead a team to the title with just one double figure scorer, Pippen at 19 ppg on 42% in the 1997 Playoffs. All other Bulls had under 8 ppg. LeBron had 18 ppg on 50% from Wade and 15 ppg on 51% from Bosh in the 2014 Playoff run, along with 9 ppg on 41% from Ray Allen. Ray Allen in 26 mpg off the bench outscored all of the 1997 Bulls in the playoffs not named Jordan or Pippen. LeBron also averaged the same amount of assists in the 2014 Playoffs that Jordan in 1997 (4.8 apg), despite the fact that Jordan's assists were limited by the triangle offense. Jordan would have an easy time crushing the 2014 Heat's playoff opponents.

2014 Finals LeBron's top 3 teammates - Wade 15 ppg on 44% - Bosh 14 ppg on 55% - Allen 10 ppg on 42%

1996-1998 Finals Jordan's top 3 teammates
- Pippen 17 ppg on 39%
- Kukoc 12 ppg on 45%
- Longley 8 ppg on 55%

Jordan had no problem winning with less offensive help than LeBron in the 2014 Finals.

2003 Finals Duncan's top 3 teammates - 14 ppg on 39% - 10 ppg on 61% - 10 ppg on 38% LeBron's top option outscored all of Duncan's teammates, but Duncan still got the job done. 2006 Finals Wade top 3 teammates - 14 ppg on 39% - 14 ppg on 60% (and 29% FT) - 9 ppg on 36% LeBron's top option outscored all of Wade's teammates and more efficiently  the difference is that all these guys weren't waiting to pad their stats in garbage time and took defensive pressure off their teammates, and in spite of that their teammates still put up the same or worse production as the 2014 Heat. Whereas LeBron wasnt contributing until after getting blown out, obviously making it much harder for his team to deliver any numbers as he wasn't putting any pressure on the defense until it was too late. And they actually played defense while LeBron did nothing on the defensive end

Title teams with sub-70 PPG supporting casts for the overall playoffs
Post-1954 (Shot-Clock Era)
12. 2002 Lakers - 69.4 PPG
11. 2000 Lakers - 69.0 PPG
10. 1994 Rockets - 68.3 PPG
9. 2006 Heat - 67.8 PPG
8. 1993 Bulls - 67.3 PPG
7. 2012 Heat - 67.0 PPG
6. 1996 Bulls - 66.7 PPG

Title teams with sub-66 PPG supporting casts for the overall playoffs
Post-1954 (Shot Clock Era)
5. 1992 Bulls - 65.9 PPG
4. 2004 Pistons - 65.6 PPG
3. 1999 Spurs - 65.2 PPG
2. 1997 Bulls - 61.5 PPG
1. 1998 Bulls - 60.8 PPG

In the shot-clock era, Jordan has
- 5 of the 8 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams
- 4 of the 6 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams
- 3 of the 5 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams
- The 2 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams

- Jordan is the only player to lead multiple top 10 lowest-scoring playoff supporting casts among title teams

The only player to lead a lesser scoring supporting cast to the NBA Finals than the 1997 or 1998 Bulls is Allen Iverson on the 2001 Sixers. The 2001 Sixers' teammates outside of Iverson scored 60.3 PPG in the 22 playoff games Iverson played. Game 3 against the Bucks in which Iverson did not play is excluded from this calculation.

The 1997 and 1998 Bulls also have the two lowest scoring supporting casts of any post-1954 NBA Finals team to win the championship.

All Sub-60 ppg supporting casts in the NBA Finals for Championship Teams Post-1954

1994 Rockets - 59.3 ppg
2006 Heat - 58.2 ppg
1999 Spurs - 57.4 ppg
1997 Bulls - 55.5 ppg
1998 Bulls - 54.5 ppg

The only sub-56 ppg supporting casts to win an NBA Finals since 1954 were led by Jordan at 34 and 35 years old. Jordan is the only player to win multiple NBA Finals in the shot-clock era with sub-60 PPG supporting casts.

Kevin Johnson's 1990 WCF run with the Suns was also more impressive than LeBron "carrying" the 2007 Cavs past a bunch of easy teams. Kevin Johnson is not better than LeBron all-time, but he did have a much more impressive run than LeBron in 2007 even though he didn't make the Finals. Kevin Johnson's best teammates were Tom Chambers, Eddie Johnson, Jeff Hornacek, Mark West and Dan Majerle (this was before Barkley was in Phoenix). Chambers and Eddie Johnson had good season averages, but in the 2 playoff games that Kevin Johnson was injured, they were exposed as they had terrible performances without KJ to create their offense for them.

KJ is the only player to average at least 23 ppg 11 apg in 2 playoff runs that went past the first round (1989 and 1992), and he would have done it in the 1990 Playoffs when they made a 2nd straight WCF, but KJ only averaged 21.3 ppg and 10.6 apg in that run. The problem is that KJ had two games in those 1990 Playoffs where he played limited minutes due to injury Game 1 vs 1990 Jazz (First round) K.J. had the flu, but started and tried to play. He only played 9 minutes, posting 0 points and 5 assists, before head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons sent him back to the hotel. 

Game 6 vs 1990 Blazers (WCF) Then in what turned out to be Phoenix's final playoff game, K.J. posted 16 points and 6 assists in 14 minutes of action. His final field goal, however, came late in the second quarter while KJ slid backwards off Kevin Duckworth's torso, causing K.J.'s left leg to snap up into the air. The result was a pulled hamstring that forced K.J. to leave the game a couple of possessions later, unable to return. 

Duncan and even KJ had more impressive
playoff runs than LeBron's weak 2007 run.

Excluding those 2 games with limited minutes, KJ averaged 23.1 ppg and 11.4 apg on 48% in that 1990 playoff run, which would have been a 3rd time that he averaged at least 23 ppg 11 apg past the first round, something no one else has done twice. 

In the 1990 Playoffs, Tom Chambers shot 5/16 (31%) in both of those games that KJ was injured against the Jazz and Blazers, and had 4 and 5 turnovers in those games. proof that Tom Chambers was useless on the Suns unless he was playing alongside KJ. Eddie Johnson only had 5 points on 1/4 (25%) FG in the Jazz game that KJ was injured and 11 points on 3/11 (27%) FG in the Blazers game that KJ was injured, and the Suns were 0-2 in those 2 games without KJ. This is clear proof that KJ's teammates were only putting up good numbers on the Suns if they were playing next to KJ, so bringing up Chambers and Johnson's season averages is a moot point, as KJ was responsible for their great numbers.

Kevin Johnson beat the 55-27 Jazz with Stockton/Malone, the league-best record 63-19 Lakers with MVP Magic Johnson, as well as Cooper, Worthy, and coach Riley, before losing to Drexler's 59-23 Blazers after KJ got injured in Game 6. Both teams that KJ beat in the 1st round and WCSF were better than any of the teams LeBron beat in 2007, and the 1990 Lakers would have definitely beat the 2007 Spurs. It is also very plausible to see the 1990 Jazz beat the 2007 Spurs based on how Duncan struggled against 40-year old Karl Malone in the 2004 WCSF (read about that in Section 7). 

You can definitely say that every team KJ played in the 1990 Playoffs was better than every team LeBron played in the 2007 Playoffs, and definitely all the East teams. So KJ took a team that was at least as bad, probably worse, than the 2007 Cavs, had greater statistical production (23-4-11 on 48% excluding injury compared to 25-8-8 on a sub-par 42%) while playing and beating better teams. Considering how Deron Williams dropped 26-4-8-2 on 53% against the 2007 Spurs, I could easily see a way better PG in KJ playing way better than both D-Will and LeBron against the 2007 Spurs and greatly improving the scoring numbers of the Cavs players like he did with Chambers, Johnson, and Hornacek.

Jason Kidd's 2002 and 2003 Finals runs were also superior to LeBron's 2007 Finals run, especially considering Kidd's vastly superior defense, and the fact that the Cavs were a much better rebounding team. Jason Kidd had to lead the 2002 Nets in rebounds for the whole playoffs as their PG, showing how weak their rebounding cast was. The 2001 Nets were 26-56 with a top 10 worst defense in the league, and the 2nd worst rebounding team. After Kidd joined them, they became top 5 and top 2 in ppg allowed in 2002 and 2003, with Kidd as the only notable addition. They also became a top 8 and top 10 rebounding team in those 2 years. The competition that Kidd beat in the East wasn't that impressive, but it was slightly better than LeBron's 2007 East. Every team Kidd played in 2002 and 2003 had a winning record, unlike the two 0.500 teams LeBron played in 2007. 

Where Kidd truly outperformed LeBron's 2007 run is the 2002 and 2003 Finals, where he played far better than LeBron did in 2003, and against a better Lakers and Spurs team. Kidd had 21-7-10-2-1 on 44% in the 2002 Finals against the Lakers and took the 60-win Spurs to 6 games while putting up 20-6-8, but on a poor 36%. However, Kidd only had 3 TOpg in that series and was far better at making his teammates step up their games in the 2003 Finals. Kenyon Martin never had 13 ppg in a series without Kidd, but had 22 ppg in the 2002 Finals. Richard Jefferson never had 10 ppg in a series without Kidd, but had 21 ppg in the 2004 ECSF against the Pistons.

And as shown above, Kidd singlehandedly turned the Nets into an elite defense. So Kidd also outperformed LeBron's 2007 run when you take that into account. Jason Kidd had taken two teams worse than LeBron's 2007 Cavs to back to back Finals, against slightly better competition (all teams with winning records) and with better Finals performances against better championship teams than the 2007 Spurs. Kidd also took the 2004 Pistons to 7 games, and although his offensive numbers were horrendous, it was his defense, playmaking, and setting up teammates like Richard Jefferson that made it possible. Prior to his 2012 championship, LeBron had not accomplished more than Jason Kidd did on the Nets team-wise. LeBron did nothing unheard of in terms of carrying a weak team during his first Cleveland run.

Kidd took incredibly weak rebounding and defensive
teams to back to back Finals, and Nash's 2006 WCF run
 also exceeds LeBron's vastly overrated 2007 Finals run

There are other more impressive playoff runs like Steve Nash taking the 2006 Suns with no Amare and after losing Joe Johnson to trade in the offseason to the 2006 WCF, after coming back from 3-1 against the Lakers and beating a well-balanced Clippers team in the WCSF with Elton Brand (31-10-4-1-3 on 59%), Sam Cassell (20-5-6 on 46%), and 3 other players in double figures for the series (5 total). Nash then took the Amare-less and Joe Johnson-less Suns to 6 games against the 60-win Mavs, far more impressive than beating two 0.500 teams, a 53-win Pistons team without their best defender or coach, and then getting dominated and swept by the only good team LeBron played in the 2007 Playoffs.

LeBron only beat one 50-win team in the playoffs during his time in Cleveland from 2003 to 2010, and that was the 2007 Pistons with no 4x DPOY Ben Wallace and no HoF coach Larry Brown. So as you can see, LeBron never was able to carry 2003-2010 Cleveland past any notable teams in the playoffs. People complained about how weak his 2003-10 Cavs team was, but the only competition that LeBron beat from 2003-10 was even worse bum competition.

27 of Jordan's 37 playoff opponents (73%) have 50+ wins
10 of Jordan's 37 playoff opponents (27%) have 50+ wins

Adjusting 2012 lockouts for 82 games
19 of LeBron's 37 playoff opponents (51%) have 50+ wins
18 of LeBron's 37 playoff opponents (49%) have under 50 wins

Jordan, Kobe (starter years), Duncan, and LeBron are a combined 48-1 against sub-50 teams, the one loss coming from Duncan at age 34 against the 2011 Grizzlies, so it is an accurate cutoff and shows how much easier LeBron's competition is. Had Jordan had the luxury of beating up on scrub sub-50 teams for half of his playoff career, it's clear he would have had far more team and individual success than he did in the vastly superior 90s.

Clearly LeBron would have never stood a chance in Jordan's era on the 2003-2010 Cavs, seeing as 73% of Jordan's playoff opponents had 50+ wins. LeBron has never beaten 3 50+ win teams in any playoff run (even if you adjust 2012 lockout teams for 82 games), but Jordan beat 3 50+ win teams in each of the 1992, 1993, 1997, and 1998 title runs, as well as 2 60-win teams in each of the 1993, 1996, and 1997 title runs. Hakeem also beat 3 50+ win teams in the 1994 title run and 4 57+ win teams in the 1995 title run. Had KJ and Barkley not missed a combined 49 games on the 59-23 Suns, the 1995 Rockets would have been the only team to beat 3 60+ win teams in a playoff run. LeBron's competition does not begin to compare. Also, in both of LeBron's title seasons, he beat a sub-50 team in the ECF, the 2012 Celtics would have been 48-34 adjusted for 82 games. Jordan, Hakeem, Duncan, Kobe, Bird, and more legends have never had the luxury of facing a sub-50 team in the ECF or WCF like LeBron in both of his title seasons

Let's have Jordan show LeBron how to carry a team when it matters. He was a master of this as Pippen's back injuries caught up to him and slowed him down from 1996-1998. Pippen did play very well for most of the Bulls first 3peat, but the second 3peat wasn't the same story for Pippen. In the 3 regular seasons of the Bulls last 3 championships, Pippen averaged a combined 20-6-6 on 46%. But then look at how drastically his production fell off in the playoffs when it mattered most.

• 1996 ECSF vs Knicks - 15.6 ppg on a terrible 33%, 8.2 rpg, 5.2 apg
• Every single Bulls starter besides Jordan and Rodman shot 37% or worse, but Jordan still got the job done
• 1996 Finals vs Sonics - 15.7 ppg on a poor 34%, 8.2 rpg 5.3 apg 
• Pippen was outscored by Detlef Schrempf in this series, while Jordan locked down Gary Payton in Game 3 and Game 5.
• Jordan made up for his poor FG% by shutting down the other team's best player (not Pippen) twice.
• 1997 ECF vs Heat - 16.8 ppg on 42%, 5.0 rpg, 2.8 apg to 3 turnovers per game
• 1997 Finals vs Jazz - Pippen did not do well in 3 of the 4 wins, including the series-deciding Games 5 and 6. Keep in mind LeBron has never beaten a 64-win team like the 1997 Jazz.
  • In Game 2, Pippen had 10-6-4 on a terrible 31%. Rodman only had 7 rebounds in 25 minutes, and Harper was the only other double digit teammate with 13-2-4 on 50%
  • Jordan carried the team with 38-13-9-2 on 55%, leading them in points, rebounds, and assists by a large margin. He had almost triple the points of his next leading scorer (38 to 13), almost double the rebounds of the next rebounder (13 to 7) and more than double the next-leading player in assists (9 to 4)
  • In the Flu game, Pippen had 17 pts but on a horrible 29% shooting. Pippen also had 5 assists to 3 turnovers and 4 fouls.
  • Kukoc was the only other Jordan teammate in double figures with 12
  • Dennis Rodman fouled out in only 23 minutes during the Flu Game.
  • Greg Ostertag, of all people, outrebounded all of Jordan's teammates with 15. Greg Ostertag.
  • Ostertag and Stockton both outscored all of Jordan's teammates besides Pippen, who needed a shot-jacking and bricking 29% to get his points.
  • Despite having so little help on offense, Jordan singlehandedly brought the Bulls back from 16 down and had the go-ahead 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Jordan finished with 38-7-5-3 on 48%, leading his team in points, assists, and steals
  • In Game 6, Pippen had 23 points, but on a horrible 35% with 2 assists to 5 turnovers and 5 fouls. To his credit, he did force a turnover on the last possession of the game, but that was only possible thanks to Jordan having the game-winning assist one play earlier in spite of Pippen's horrible play.
  • In Game 6, no other player besides Pippen and Jordan had 10 points, and as we saw Pippen was shooting horribly to get those points. Every other teammate of Jordan's got outscored by John Stockton, Bryon Russell, Jeff Hornacek, and Karl Malone.
  • Despite the lack of help, Jordan ended up with 39-11-4, leading his team in points, rebounds, and assists, and set up Steve Kerr for a wide-open shot with his championship-winning assist.
  • In the 1997 Finals, Jordan averaged 32-7-6-1-1 on 46%. If we count assists as 2 points, he scored/assisted 44 of the Bulls 88 ppg in the 1997 Finals - exactly 50% of their points were because of Jordan.
  • After being tied 2-2, Pippen struggled in the clinching games 5 and 6, averaging 20 ppg on 32% shooting with 3.5 apg to 4 turnovers and 4.5 fouls. Yet Jordan made a game-winning play in both Games 5 and 6 to win the title.
  • After having 27-9-2 on 58% in the Game 1 win, Pippen averaged 16.7 - 8.3 - 3.7 on 32% with 3.0 TOpg and 3.7 fouls per game in their last 3 wins during Games 2-5-6. 
  • Including Pippen's good Game 1, he averaged 19.3 - 8.5 - 3.3 on 39% with 3.8 TOpg and 3.3 fouls per game in the 4 wins. Pippen averaged more turnovers than assists and as many fouls as assists in the 4 wins while shooting 35% or worse in 3/4 wins
• 1998 ECF vs Pacers - 16.6 ppg on 39%, 7.7 rpg, 5.3 apg
• Game 4, Pippen misses 2 free throws that would have given the Bulls a 3-point lead. Because of Pippen, Reggie Miller hits the go ahead 3 to tie the series at 2-2 when the Bulls could have been up 3-1
• Game 6, Pippen only had 1 point in the 4th quarter. The Bulls lost by 2, and the series went to Game 7 thanks to Pippen disappearing.
• There were two separate occasions where Pippen could have easily ended the series if he played just a little better, but he failed to step up.
• In Game 7, although MJ shot a poor 36%, he still put up a near triple double of 28-9-8 while also holding Reggie Miller to 0 points in the 4th quarter after lighting up the Bulls for 22 points in 7/12 FG through 3 quarters. It was Jordan who shut down the other team's best player in Game 7, not Pippen.
• Ironically, Jordan shut down Miller in Game 7 after Miller was able to hit a game winner in Game 4 over Jordan, thanks to Pippen's missed free throws.
• 1998 Finals vs Jazz - 15.7 ppg on 41%, 6.8 rpg, 4.8 apg
• In Game 1, Pippen had 21 points on a terrible 37% and 1 assist to 5 turnovers.
  Jordan only had 2 assists in this game, because his teammates shot a combined 40%
  

   - In spite of all that poor play, Jordan sent the Bulls to overtime with his game-tying assist to Luc Longley
  

  - With the Bulls down 3 in overtime, Jordan set up Pippen for a wide-open 3, but Pippen bricked it as the Bulls lost Game 1.
  Even though Jordan lost this game with his team struggling, he at least put his team in a position to win by setting up Longley for the tying-assist, and setting up Pippen for a wide-open 3. Lebron never put his team in any position to win during the 2014 Finals when his teammates struggled, unlike Jordan.
• In Game 6, Pippen injured his back early in the game and only played 26 minutes. He had just 8 points and was ineffective throughout the game.
• Kukoc was the only Jordan teammate in double figures with 15
• Jeff Hornacek with 17 points outscored all of Jordan's teammates. 
• Rodman usually played great defense on Karl Malone in the 1997 and 1998 Finals, but in this particular game Malone had a monster game of 31 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and 58% shooting.
• Instead of passively letting his team get blown out like Lebron in the 2014 Finals, Jordan took over the game with 45 points, and had the series-winning steal and shot - getting it done on both ends of the floor - to win his last championship.

• In 3 of the Bulls' 8 Finals wins against the Jazz, (1997 Game 5 and 6, and 1998 Game 6) Jordan took over with his team struggling badly. He scored/assisted over half of his team's points combined in those 3 games.

In Game 6 of the 1989 ECF, the 6 seed Bulls were without Scottie Pippen as he got ejected at the end of the 3rd quarter. Instead of making excuses about not having help, Jordan led his 6 seed Bulls past the number 2 seed Knicks, dropped 12-2-3-1-2 in the 4th quarter and hit the game-winning free throws in the end, even after Trent Tucker hit a 4-pt play to tie the game. With Pippen ejected, MJ carried the Bulls in the clutch to their first ECF appearance.

Also, in Game 3 of the 1991 Finals, Jordan was forced to take over after Pippen fouled out and put Divac at the line for an And-1. With the Lakers up 2 and only 11 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Jordan led the Bulls to a 14-4 run (scoring 8 points and assisting on 2 baskets to Paxson + Grant) after Pippen fouled out right before OT in Game 3, 1991 Finals. Pippen played very well in that game before fouling out (19-14-5-4), but Jordan still got it done when he had to with Pippen sitting out.

Jordan won regardless, even if his best teammate played horrible in 1997 and 1998. Jordan as a 38 year old man also carried a Wizards team before his injury, and their W-L record after his injury shows that. Even at 38, Jordan had historical impact on the 19-win Wizards before his injury

• At age 38, Jordan averaged 25-6-5 on 42% with 1.5 spg and 0.5 bpg through 46 games right before the all star break.
• This was before Jordan injured his knee in a collision with Etan Thomas during a game against the Kings, the last Wizards game before the All-star break
• The Wizards were 26-20 with Jordan by that point (Jordan missed one game against the Spurs, which the Wizards lost, bringing their record to 26-21 before the All-star break) and in the playoff hunt.
• After Jordan's injury, they went 1-9 in the next 10 games and eventually fell out of the playoff race
• Jordan started in all 46 of those games, but after his injury he only started in 7 more games for the rest of the season post All-star break, with his injury badly bringing down his numbers and team record
• Among the Wizards games without Jordan or with a post-injury Jordan (post-All Star break), they were 11-25 (0.300 win%).
• The Wizards 26-20 (0.565 win%) record with a healthy Jordan through 46 games would have been good enough for 4th place in the Eastern Conference had they maintained that pace
• and that was with Rip Hamilton missing 5 weeks. The Wizards were 15-1 in the last 16 games that Rip and Jordan played together up to the injury, meaning an injury-free Wizards team would have easily gotten the 1 seed over the 52-win Nets and gotten a likely Finals appearance.

When Lebron's teammates failed to step up, 
we saw that he wasn't good enough to singlehandedly 
take over the NBA Finals when it mattered. 
When Jordan was in that same position during the flu game, 
and other instances, he found a way to win regardless.

More examples of how MJ made Pippen into an all-time great.

• The only times that Pippen shot 50% in a season or playoffs were with Jordan as his teammate
• Pippen had his highest apg, spg, bpg, and FG% when MJ was his teammate
• Pippen's highest scoring season with MJ (21 ppg on 50.6%) was only 1 ppg less than his highest season without MJ (22 ppg on 49.1%), 
• With MJ against the Knicks, Pippen went 5-0. Without MJ, Pippen went 0-1
• In the 1994 playoffs, his first year without Jordan, Pippen had his lowest playoffs FG% of his career to that point (43.4%)
• Also in 1994, that was the lowest apg he had in a playoff since his 2nd year in the league
• His best all-around playoff seasons were in 1991, 1992, and 1993 with Jordan as his teammate. 
• With the Bulls, his highest rpg, apg, spg, bpg, and FG% in the playoffs were with Jordan as his teammate
• His highest scoring playoff season without Jordan was 22.8 ppg on 43.4%
• His highest scoring playoff season with Jordan was 21.6 ppg on a much better 50.4%

Jordan made Pippen into an all-time great.
Wade was already in that league before LeBron
needed him to make him into a champion

The 1997 and 1998 Bulls have the two lowest scoring supporting casts by a winning team in the NBA Finals since 1954.

Post-1954 Finals Teams with sub-60 ppg supporting casts
1974 Bucks - 59.4 ppg
1994 Rockets - 59.3 ppg
2007 Cavs - 58.5 ppg
2001 Sixers - 58.2 ppg
2006 Heat - 58.2 ppg
2015 Cavs - 57.7 ppg
1999 Spurs - 57.4 ppg
1997 Bulls - 55.5 ppg
2004 Lakers - 55.2 ppg
1998 Jazz - 55.2 ppg
1998 Bulls - 54.5 ppg
1999 Knicks - 53.8 ppg

Post-1954 Championship Teams with sub-60 ppg supporting casts 
1994 Rockets - 59.3 ppg
2006 Heat - 58.2 ppg
1999 Spurs - 57.4 ppg
1997 Bulls - 55.5 ppg
1998 Bulls - 54.5 ppg


None of LeBron's teams in the Finals have produced as little offensivly as Jordan's Bulls did in 1997 and 1998, yet Jordan still won back to back titles under those circumstances.

Let's take a look at how terrible Cleveland was in LeBron's day, and expose more excuses about not having help.

2007 vs Spurs
- Spurs averaged 98.5 ppg in regular season, Cavs defense held them to 86.5 ppg. Spurs had a 12 ppg decrease against Cavs defense, and were held to 85 or less in 3/4 games
- Cavs were the #1 Playoff Defense in PPG allowed
- Cavs defense hold Duncan to 45% shooting after 55% in regular season.
- Game 1 - Lebron 14 pts on 25% shooting, 7 rebs and 4 assist to 6 turnovers. Cavs only lose by 9
- Game 3 - Lebron 25 pts on 39%, 7 ast to 5 turnovers. Cavs only lose by 3 as Lebron missed game-tying 3
- Game 4 - 24 pts on 30 shots (33% shooting), 10 ast to 6 turnovers. Cavs only lose by 1 as Lebron goes 2/6 from the FT line.

Deron Williams played much better against the 2007 Spurs in the WCF (26-4-8-2 on 53%) compared to LeBron in the Finals, and got one win. He also was playing with less help than LeBron. They both had the same lack of offensive help, but the Cavs had the way better defense, holding the Spurs to 85 or less in 3 out of 4 games. The Spurs scored 100+ in 3 out of 5 games against the Jazz, and only had one game under 90 points.

The only player who showed up for Deron Williams in that series was Carlos Boozer, and Boozer was only good because Williams created his offense for him. Boozer has only once averaged over 15 ppg in a playoff series without Williams, when he had 17 ppg against the 2013 Nets in the first round. So even Boozer's 21 ppg was only because of Williams running the offense. None of William's other teammates were in double figures

2008 vs Celtics
- Cavs defense shut down Celtics to 84 ppg for the ECSF after they averaged 100 ppg in the regular season. Celtics had a 16 ppg decrease against Cavs defense
- Game 1 - Lebron 2/18 shooting with 10 turnovers. In the 4th quarter, he had 1-8 FG, 0 FT, 2 points, and went 0/4 FG in the final minute including a missed game tying shot attempt with 10 seconds left. Cavs only lose by 4 after being forced to foul. "Never had any help"
- Game 3 - Lebron 21-5-8 on 31% shooting, Delonte West has 21-5-7 on 64% shooting, and Celtics get shut down to 84 points by Cavs defense.
- Game 4 - Lebron 35% shooting and Cavs still get the win because the Cavs defense shuts down Celtics to 77 points on 39% shooting
- Game 6 - Lebron 39% shooting and 6 assists to 8 turnovers. Cavs still win because their defense shut down Boston to 69 points
Boston averaged 100 ppg in the regular season and the Cavs defense never let the Celtics reach 100 points once in the 7 game series. "LeBron did it all by himself"
- Game 7 - Lebron has a great game of 45-5-6-2 on 48%. Too bad his overrated defense got exposed and cost them the game as he allowed Pierce to drop 41-4-5-2 on 57% and send him home. This was the only time that LeBron consistently guarded Pierce in the series, and was lit up as expected.
- In LeBron's 3 wins against the 2008 Celtics he had 24.7 ppg 7.7 rpg 9.0 apg on 35.6% and 4.7 TOpg, a less than 2:1 assist:TO ratio. LeBron pushed the Celtics to 7 games shooting a horrendous 35.5% with 5+ turnovers a game, and shot under 40% in all 3 of the Cavs' wins
- LeBron's teammates collectively shot 43.3%, better than the 2008 Celtics who shot 42.5% in the series and much better than LeBron's 35.5%
- only once in his career did Jordan shoot under 40% in a series, 39% against the 1997 Heat at age 34. And that was due to a Game 4 anomaly when Jordan shot 9/35. In the 4 wins against the Heat, Jordan still had 30-8-4-2-1 on 43%.

It was thanks to Ben Wallace that the Cavs had the best defense in the 2008 Playoffs, better even than the 2008 Celtics.

Before acquiring Ben Wallace
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 98.2 ppg through 55 games
- this would be ranked 11th in the league

In the 22 regular season games that Ben Wallace played with the Cavs
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 91.6 ppg
- this would be ranked 4th in the league

In the 2008 playoffs, with Ben Wallace starting every game
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 87.8 ppg
- this was the lowest ppg allowed by any team in the playoffs

As you can see, Ben Wallace singlehandedly turned the Cavs from a solid, but not great, defense to the best defensive team in the playoffs. So much for LeBron not having enough help. The only 2 double digit losses the Cavs had in the 2008 Playoffs were the 2 games that Ben Wallace played his least amount of minutes, 16 minutes in a 36-point loss to the Wizards in Game 3 and 4 minutes in a 16-point loss to the Celtics in Game 2. Ben Wallace was extremely vital in the 2008 Cavs' Playoff success and a huge reason the Cavs went 7 games with Boston despite LeBron shooting 35.5% FG with 5+ turnovers a game.

2009 vs Magic - Lebron actually played like a beast (39-8-8) and his team didnt step up. Aside from 2006 which should be excused since it was LeBron's first year in the playoffs, this is the only case where LeBron actually had no help.

2010 vs Celtics
- Cavs are up 2-1, then in the next 3 games combined Lebron averages 34% shooting with 8 assists to 6 turnovers a game, and the Cavs go 0-3 and get sent home

"LeBron always showed up in every single game. He is never to blame"

Another misconstrued fact is that the Cavs from 2008 to 2010 were 1-13 without LeBron, but a lot of those losses were because of multiple players resting, including the 2009 Cavs final game in which all of their starters rested and gave up their chance to go 40-1 at home. Also, in 2010 Shaq sat out in each of the Cavs last 4 losses without LeBron (Bulls, Pacers, Magic, Hawks) and Mo Williams played in only 1 of their last 3 losses (Magic). The 2008 Cavs were also 0-7 without LeBron. However, 5 of those losses between November 11, 2007 and December 11, 2007 came before the acquisition of Ben Wallace, who as we saw earlier singlehandedly made the Cavs an elite defense upon joining them and was a huge reason they pushed the Celtics to 7 games. Another one of those losses came on the last night of the season while resting the Cavs starters, as they Cavs were locked into the 4-seed with that game making no difference on their playoff standing. So the 1-13 stat is totally without context.

Yet another misconception is that LeBron's departure from Cleveland in 2010/11 was the sole reason that those teams fell off. It is often mentioned that the Cavs went from 61 to 19 wins after LeBron left, but the injuries to Williams (who also left for the Clippers), Jamison, and Varejao for large portions of the season, as well as Shaq and Ilgauskus leaving are forgotten, And on top of that, the Cavs had to bring in a new coach amidst all these changes. The entire starting lineup was gone or injured, along with their coach. It was a total roster overhaul, not just LeBron's departure, that caused Cleveland to fall apart.

2011 vs Mavs
- D-Wade averaged 27-7-5 on 55% for the series and would have won Finals MVP if it wasn't for Lebron. He also averaged 30-5-7-2 on 53% against the 2011 Celtics. Pippen has never reached these numbers in any playoff series, in any round, ever
- The Heat defense held Dirk under 42% shooting for the series
- Bosh outscored Lebron and outrebounded him
- Terry, a bench player, outscored Lebron 18.0 to 17.8 ppg, and this was while playing 11 less mpg than LeBron. He basically spotted LeBron an entire quarter and still outscored him, and also nailed the sealing shot in his face during Game 5.
- Game 2 - Lebron 2 pts, 0/4 in 4th quarter and Heat only lose by 2
- Game 3 - Lebron 2 pts, 1/3 in 4th quarter and Heat still win
- Game 4 - Lebron 0 pts, 0/1 in 4th quarter and Mavs only win by 3. LeBron had 8 pts the whole game
- Game 5 - Lebron 2pts, 1/4 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

Didn't have enough help? More like he wasn't good enough in the first place.

2012 and 2013 Finals
- LeBron had good help from Wade in both Finals, dropping 23-6-5-1-1 on 44% and 20-4-5-2-1 on 48%. Wade was better than Pippen in the 1996, 1997, and 1998 Finals, and with good help, LeBron won back to back titles.

- Bosh also averaged 9.4 rpg in the 2012 Finals, more than all OKC players, and more than any of Jordan's teammates outside the 1993 and 1996 Finals

- Bosh also averaged 8.9 rpg in the 2013 Finals, more than any of Jordan's teammates in the 1992, 1997, or 1998 Finals

2014 vs Spurs
- everybody blames the Heat defense, but forget that LeBron is on the Heat defense, too. Lebron got outplayed by Kahwi Leonard in Games 3-4-5 of the Finals

Games 3-4-5 Leonard 23.7 ppg on 69% LeBron 27.0 ppg on 55% (Leonard was 14% more efficient) - LeBron scored 51 of his 81 points (63%) in those 3 games after being blown out by 15+, padding his stats to a very high degree Leonard 9.3 rpg LeBron 7.7 rpg Leonard 2.0 spg LeBron 1.7 spg Leonard 2.0 bpg LeBron 0.7 bpg LeBron 4.7 apg, 3.7 TOpg Leonard 2.3 apg, 1.7 TOpg Leonard scored much more efficiently, outrebounded, outstole, out blocked LeBron, and the ast:TO ratio cancels itself out

- After only showing up for Games 1 and 2, LeBron scored 51 of his 81 points (63%) in Games 3-4-5 after already being blown out by 15+

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.

- This proves that Lebron stats don't tell the whole story, since he didnt produce in the key moments were the games were turning in the Spurs favor. Just like he didn't do it in 2011
- Lebron only produced afterwards when the game was already slipping out of reach, and he just padded his stats. In Games 3-4-5, 63% or almost 2/3 of LeBron's points came after being blown out by 15+.
- Lebron - only won the NBA Finals in 2012 and 2013 when he averaged 21+ shots a game. When he took only 15 shots a game in 2011 and only 18 shots a game in 2014, he lost both times. Proof that he should have been more aggressive instead of worrying about padding his FG%.

- Lebron's FG% in 2012 (47%) and 2013 (45%) when he won the NBA Finals were lower than his FG% in 2011 (48%) and 2014 (57%), so pointing at Lebron's high FG% doesn't prove that he was helping his team.

In those last 3 games, Leonard outrebounded, outblocked, outstole Lebron, shot MUCH more efficiently (14% FG higher than Lebron) and Lebron committed more than twice as many turnovers. Also, whereas Lebron could never guard Leonard, Leonard held Lebron to 1-6 shooting in Game 5 when he guarded him

LeBron didn't have enough help? Nope. He's just not good enough to get the job done if his team struggles, unlike the real legends.

After LeBron left, the Heat once again had injuries to their best players and roster changes
- Wade averaged the least minutes per game of his career due to injury
- Bosh played 44 games, by far the least of his career
- Ray Allen left, leaving no one to spread the floor for Miami. James, Wade, and Bosh averaged career high FG% playing alongside Ray Allen
- Shane Battier, a key defender, also left

Once again, LeBron was definitely not the sole reason his teams fell off once he left. The 2 best players on the Heat were injured and they lost 2 of their best role players

2015 vs Warriors
- Tristan Thompson averaged more rebounds (13.0) than any of Wade's teammates in the 2006 Finals, and more than any of Jordan's teammates in an NBA Finals aside from Rodman in 1996 (14.7)
- Mozgov (14.0 ppg on 50%) scored more ppg than any of Wade's teammates in the 2006 Finals
- Shumpert averaged more spg (1.8) than any of Wade's teammates in the 2006 Finals
- Mozgov averaged the same amount of blocks (1.5) as Wade's best shot-blocker in the 2006 Finals - 35-year old Alonzo Mourning
- Even with Kyrie dropping 23-7-6-3-2 on 46% in Game 1, LeBron still lost
- LeBron still had Kyrie through 3 rounds and after Love was injured in the first round, Thompson averaged 12 rebounds from rounds 2-4, which is more than any of Jordan's teammates in his title runs during the playoffs besides Rodman in 1996

There is the stat that says certain Cavs were a combined 0/21 without LeBron on the court, but that's only a sample size of 3.5 shots per game on average, so the results will be skewed in such a small sample. On top of that, LeBron was off the court for only 19 out of 293 minutes in the 2015 Finals, which is only a 3.2 mpg sample size, and a lot of the situations when LeBron was off the court were blowout or garbage time situations like the end of Game 4, 5, and 6. This is an extremely misleading stat. Considering that LeBron 

- dominated the ball on every possession
- put forth literally no effort on defense, allowing Iguodala to more than double his regular season scoring average (7.8 ppg on 47% to 16.3 ppg on 52%), and letting Barnes shoot over 50% on LeBron, despite shooting 37% for the series
- and jacked up 32.7 shots per game, it's no wonder he had such huge offensive numbers

Even then, he failed to deliver in the clutch
- LeBron was 0/3 on game-winners, scored 0 pts in the OT of Game 1 before a garbage time layup, and 0 pts in the 4th quarter of Game 4 at home with a chance to go up 3-1

2016 vs Warriors
LeBron had a great amount of help in this playoff run. Kyrie Irving averaged 25 ppg in the playoffs, whereas Jordan never had 25 ppg from a teammate in any single playoff series. Kyrie also outplayed Steph Curry by far on both ends of the floor, averaging 27-4-4 on 47% in the Finals to Curry's 23-5-4 on 40%.

2017 vs Warriors
Kyrie averaged 29 ppg on 47/41/90. He also had 26 ppg for the 2017 Playoffs. Jordan never had a teammate average 25 ppg in even one single series. Give Jordan that help, and he easily wins the 2017 Finals.

LeBron losing in the Finals proves that he only made the Finals because he was lucky enough to be in the easier conference. Had he played in the West, he would have lost to the Spurs, Mavericks, and Warriors sooner. That has much more to do with LeBron having the luck of the draw by being in the East rather than supposedly "carrying" any team to the Finals. We saw that in his first year in the West, his streak of 8 Finals was immediately ended and he didn't even MAKE THE PLAYOFFS. 

There is also nothing to suggest that a prime, healthy Jordan would not carry LeBron's Cleveland teams farther than LeBron did. An old injured Jordan carried the 2002 Wizards before his knee injury happened, a team that had a worse supporting cast than any of LeBron's teams, aside from LeBron's rookie team which was probably equally as bad as the 2002 Wizards. 

The 2001 Wizards before Jordan's arrival were the 3rd worst team in the league at 19-63, despite playing in the East, and allowed the 2nd most points in the league. This was with Rip Hamilton playing 78 games in that season. Considering that Rip Hamilton missed 5 weeks when Jordan led the 2002 Wizards to a winning record, Jordan's supporting cast in that stretch was even worse than the 19-63 record indicates.

There have only been two instances where a sub-20 win team obtained a winning record the next season, but the leader of both teams had another starter join the team and help them in both cases

2004 Nuggets - Carmelo and Andre Miller

2009 Heat - Wade back from injury and Jermaine O'Neal

Outside of Jordan, the 2002 Wizards' only new additions were 5 bench players, 4 of whom where rookies that played very little minutes  

- Tyronn Lue (20 mpg)

- Rookie Kwame Brown (14 mpg)

- Rookie Brendan Haywood (14 mpg)

- Rookie Etan Thomas (13 mpg)

- Rookie Bobby Simmons (11 mpg)

Jordan was the only new player on the 2002 team that had a significant impact and played significant minutes. So Jordan was on track to become the only player take a sub-20 win team to a winning record without the help of a new starter

2002 Wizards = 26-21 up to the game Jordan had his knee injury against the Kings, and lost 9 of their next 10 games right after the injury.

(26-20 when Jordan played, he missed 1 game vs. the Spurs before the injury)

- this record is even with Rip Hamilton missing 5 weeks from groin injury in the first half of the season. 2002 Wizards = 15-1 in the last 16 games that Jordan and Rip played together before the injury 2002 Wizards = on pace for 45 wins up to Jordan's injury on Feb 7, 2002 against the Kings even with Rip Hamilton missing all that time
(46-47 wins if you consider the 26-20 record when Jordan played) 2002 Nets = the number 1 East seed at 52 wins. With Rip and Jordan playing full time they easily would get 50+ wins, contend for the number 1 seed, and the Eastern Conference championship (and ultimately get crushed by the Lakers) Despite being the 2nd worst team in ppg allowed, Jordan singlehandedly carried the Wizards to becoming an elite defense. LeBron could not make the 2015 Cavs top 10 in ppg allowed at age 30, and the Cavs did not improve on D until adding Mozgov and Shumpert in the paint and on the perimeter

Up to the injury game Wizards = allowed 92.2 ppg through 47 games (Jordan missed 1 game) - would be tied for 6th-best in the league with the Pistons. Wizards = allowed 92.0 ppg in the 46 games Jordan played - would be tied for 5th best in the league with the Nets After Jordan's injury  Wizards = allowed 96.8 ppg in the remaining 35 games - would be ranked 19th in the league - and fell to 11th in ppg allowed for the overall season.

Again, it's worth remembering that Rip Hamilton missed 5 weeks in the first half of the season, but played almost the entire 2nd half of the season. This, along with Jordan playing 14 games after his injury, suggests that Jordan had an even greater defensive impact than the above numbers show.

and Jordan did this while matching LeBron's 2014/15 statistical production outside of assists and efficiency (and pre-2004/05 rule changes)

LeBron in 2014/15 season (Age 30)

25.3 - 6.0 - 7.4 - 1.6 - 0.7

Jordan in 2001/02 season (Age 38) through 46 games pre-injury

25.1 - 6.2 - 5.3 - 1.5 - 0.5

Jordan shot 42% to LeBron's 49%, but Jordan's low efficiency didn't matter since he was still winning games despite his poor shooting, and on a far inferior team, and with Rip Hamilton out for 5 weeks. 

and Jordan's numbers were improving as the season went on before his injury.

In his last 20 games up to the injury he averaged  27.5 - 6.4 - 5.2 - 1.3 - 0.5 on 44% In his last 10 games up to the injury he averaged 29.7 - 6.6 - 6.1 - 1.2 - 0.3 on 47%

Like Jordan's individual numbers, his defensive impact also improved as the season went on prior to his injury

The Wizards started the season off slow with a 2-9 start
- and allowed 98.4 ppg during the 2-9 start
- on pace for 5th worst in the league

In Jordan's last 35 games pre-injury after the 2-9 start

- the Wizards allowed 90.0 ppg
- on pace for 3rd best in the league

When Jordan and Rip Hamilton played together, they were 15-1 in their last 16 games together up to the injury 
- The Wizards allowed 86.3 ppg in that 15-1 stretch
- Easily on pace for the best in the league
- The 2002 Heat were number 1 at 88.7 ppg allowed

Rip played 78 games the previous year and the Wizards were still 2nd worst in ppg allowed. Had Jordan and Hamilton played a full, healthy season together, Jordan could potentially have taken the Wizards from 2nd worst to the best defense in the league in ppg allowed, and with Jordan being the only major addition to the player roster. 

Think about that for a second. A 38 year old hobbled Jordan being the only major addition to a team that went from 2nd worst to number 1 in ppg allowed when Jordan and Rip played together. Can you think of any other perimeter player who could have that type of defensive impact at that late a stage of their career? There are even very few big men or rim protectors who could have done so. On Jordan's incredible defensive impact alone, replacing LeBron with a prime Jordan would result in a win in the 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2015 Finals, especially considering all of LeBron's playoff supporting casts were better than the 2002 Wizards.

Jordan also made the Wizards an elite rebounding team pre-injury.

2002 Wizards = 43.27 rpg through 47 games pre-injury
(MJ missed 1 game)
- on pace for 9th best in the league

2002 Wizards = 43.39 rpg through 46 games that MJ played pre-injury
- on pace for 8th best in the league

2002 Wizards = 40.40 rpg in 35 games post-injury
- on pace for 4th worst in the league
- fell to 18th in rebounding for the overall season

and Jordan's impact on rebounding was also improving as the season went on

Wizards got off to a slow 2-9 start to begin the season
- averaged 40.36 rpg in that stretch 
- on pace for 4th worst in the league

In Jordan's last 35 games pre-injury
- the Wizards averaged 44.34 rpg 
- on pace for 3rd best in the league

Jordan was only 3rd on the team in rpg, but for whatever reason, his presence alone still made the Wizards an elite rebounding team, and they were a poor rebounding team without him

And Jordan was battling multiple injuries even before his aggravated knee injury.

Jordan in 01/02 had far more obstacles to deal with than LeBron has in any of his seasons

- being 38 years old

- having to skip 3 days of practice before the season opener because of fluid buildup in his knee 

- recovering from 2 broken ribs (against Artest) in the offseason, and back spasms

- tendinitis in his knee and wrist

- Having fluid drained from his knee multiple times during the season

- playing on a 19-win team with his 2nd option missing 5 weeks pre-Jordan injury

• the 2011 Cavs won 19 games after a total roster overhaul (no Shaq, no Ilgauskus, a new coach) and multiple injuries (Jamison, Varejao, Williams) after LeBron left, not solely because LeBron left

- playing on a team that was 2nd worst in ppg allowed the previous year

- playing without the benefit of 04/05 rule changes
- having his only other option (Rip Hamilton) miss 5 weeks in the first half of the season

There is nothing to suggest a prime, healthy Jordan in LeBrons weak East wouldn't have easily surpassed LeBron's accomplishments, team and individual-wise, had he replaced LeBron on Cleveland in the weak East. Especially considering an old hobbled Jordan very realistically could have taken an even worse Wizards cast to the 2002 Finals had he and Rip Hamilton stayed healthy the whole season, while matching LeBron's 2014/15 season production (outside of assists and efficiency), and while playing hobbled through 46 games prior to his knee injury in 2001/02.

Jordan would have won more championships in LeBron's position

- The 1988 Bulls have the lowest number 2 scorer of any shot-clock era playoff team at 10.2 PPG, tied with the 1999 Heat. This makes Jordan the only player to make it out the 1st Round with such little help.

- Jordan made it to the 1989 ECF with his best teammate Pippen only averaging 13-8-4 on 46% in the Playoffs. Jordan beat two 50+ win teams before losing 4-2 to the 63-19 Pistons, who were 11-0 against non-Jordan teams in the 1989 Playoffs and 22-2 against non-Jordan teams in the 1989 and 1990 Playoffs combined. If there's any perimeter player you want carrying your team, it's Jordan, not LeBron

- LeBron played way easier East opponents, and that's why he made more Finals. Losing in the Finals proves that you wouldn't have made the Finals if you played in the other team's conference, since you would have lost to the champion sooner. LeBron's first year in the West, he didn't even MAKE THE PLAYOFFS and his 8 straight Finals streak was proven to be overrated

Of course Jordan didn't make so many Finals when he had to play Bird's Celtics, Isiah's Pistons, and the stacked 90s opponents compared to LeBron's easy road

- From 2006 to 2010, 4 of 8 teams LeBron beat in the Playoffs were 0.500 or worse

- 2007 - two 0.500 teams, the Pistons without Ben Wallace (17-13 record vs West)

- 2012 - Celtics had a losing 7-11 record vs West, no Avery Bradley due to injury

- 2013 - 3 teams under 50 wins each, a luxury Jordan never had

- 2014 - Paul George's Pacers in the ECF

- 2015 - Bulls with Gasol injured, Hawks with Korver injured

- 2016 - Raptors with Valanciunas injured

- 2017 - Raptors with Lowry injured, Celtics with Isaiah injured

- 2018 - Celtics without Kyrie or Hayward

- Jordan never lost to a team under 54 wins. The entire 2007 and 2017 East consisted of teams under 54 wins, as well as all of LeBron's 2012 and 2013 Playoff opponents (lockout records adjusted for 82 games). LeBron also lost to the 50-win Celtics in 2010

- The 2007 and 2008 Cavaliers were number 1 in least playoff PPG allowed. Jordan never had this luxury outside of two title seasons in 1991 and 1996.

- The 2008 Celtics went 7 games with an 8-seed 37-win Hawks team. The worst record team to ever push a champion to elimination.

- The 2014 Spurs went 7 games with an 8-seed 49-win Mavericks team. Replacing LeBron with Jordan would surely have guaranteed a win against the Celtics and Spurs.

- Including himself, LeBron had a 3-1 all-star advantage in the 2011 and 2014 Finals and a 3-2 all-star advantage in the 2012 and 2013 Finals. Jordan never lost any series with even a +1 all-star advantage including himself.

- The only time Jordan lost a series with an equal number of all-stars on both teams was the 1988 ECSF (Isiah Thomas and Jordan). The 1988 Bulls have the tied-lowest number 2 scorer on any shot-clock era playoff team.

- Playoff runs with a teammate averaging 22+ PPG

- Jordan - 0

- LeBron - 4 (2011, 2012, 2016, 2017)

- Jordan has 0 playoff SERIES with a teammate averaging 25+ PPG. Kyrie Irving averaged 25+ PPG for the ENTIRE 2016 and 2017 Playoffs.

More

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