LeBron James: Why his 3-6 NBA Finals record shouldn’t be held against him
By IC San Pedro
We should count – and value – how many times a player makes the NBA Finals
Critics who raise the “3-6” argument against LeBron James in comparison to Michael Jordan’s 6-0 or Kobe’s 5-2, conveniently leave out the times these players failed to reach the NBA Finals.
If they think losing in the NBA Finals is a crime for an NBA GOAT candidate, then shouldn’t it be a worse felony to miss the NBA Finals altogether? If you’re a GOAT candidate, then reaching the Finals should be a cakewalk right? Well, let’s see.
In Kobe’s 20-year career, he missed the NBA Finals 13 times. In Jordan’s 15 seasons, he missed it nine times. In LeBron James’s 17 years so far, with the Cavs, Heat, and Lakers, he missed it seven times.
Tallying the records, that puts Kobe Bryant at 7-13, Michael Jordan at 6-9, and LeBron James 10-7 in reaching the Finals.
As for the Conference Finals, Kobe missed 12 times. Mike missed seven times. LeBron missed five times so far. Tallying the records, that puts Kobe at 8-12, MJ at 8-7, and LeBron at 12-5 in making the Conference Finals.
This means LeBron James consistently went deeper into the playoffs than Kobe or Mike. That’s why he’s the all-time leader in NBA playoff wins. Even if his runs didn’t always amount to championships, LeBron James would always carry his teams to as much playoff wins as he could.