Regardless of what happens tonight, this is LeBron James' best career final. And, despite being on a 57 win team that leads the conference, if LeBron gets another ring, it will be a monumental upset. An essential part is LeBron's incredible performance. Now, this sounds like nothing new, as LeBron James is the best player in NBA history (Awake Dre's correction: an all-time great but distance second to Magic Johnson). He has had one weakness, though, and that's the NBA Finals. Let's review!
Using the Wins Per 48 metric (reminder, 0.100 is average, 0.200 to 0.300 is star level)
| Season Time | Wins per 48 |
|---|---|
| Regular Season | 0.250 |
| Playoffs(Non-Finals) | 0.250 |
| Finals | 0.138 |
In the regular season, LeBron James has been a star! And in the playoffs before the Finals, he's played accordingly. But when it comes to the Finals he's looked downright normal. In fact, if we exclude this season's NBA Finals LeBron's Finals WP48 has been 0.108, or as good as an average NBA player! Here's a breakdown of Bron's Finals performances by season.
| Season | Finals Wins per 48 |
|---|---|
| 2007 | -0.129 |
| 2011 | 0.107 |
| 2012 | 0.166 |
| 2013 | 0.178 |
| 2014 | 0.230 |
| 2015 | 0.050 |
| 2016 | 0.310 |
LeBron James has only played star level (so far) in two NBA Finals. And, it's worth noting that in 2014 the Heat lost. So far, this NBA Finals LeBron James is playing out of his mind! Unless one of the Warriors scores all of the points on their own, LeBron James is the rightful Finals MVP, regardless of the outcome. One last note. Here are LeBron James' ten best Finals performances.
| Date | Team | Opponent | Outcome | Points over Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/13/2016 | Cleveland | Golden State | W(+15) | +16.7 |
| 6/16/2016 | Cleveland | Golden State | W(+14) | +13.6 |
| 6/20/2013 | Miami | San Antonio | W(+8) | +13.1 |
| 5/31/2011 | Miami | Dallas | W(+8) | +9.0 |
| 6/13/2013 | Miami | San Antonio | W(+16) | +7.7 |
| 6/8/2014 | Miami | San Antonio | W(+2) | +6.9 |
| 6/15/2014 | Miami | San Antonio | L(-17) | +5.2 |
| 6/6/2013 | Miami | San Antonio | L(-4) | +4.9 |
| 6/19/2012 | Miami | Oklahoma City | W(+6) | +4.0 |
| 6/9/2015 | Miami | Golden State | W(+5) | +3.4 |
LeBron James' best two Finals games have been his last two. And, compared to his other top Finals games, they are astounding. Can LeBron James finish strong? Will his best Finals performance come tonight? The one "glaring" (I say this facetiously) flaw in LeBron's game has been how he plays in the Finals. That said, if he plays at 3X average to dethrone the best NBA team ever, it'll be fair to say that will no longer be a valid complaint.
-Dre