TheGoatest
10-09-2020, 03:29 AM
Michael Jordan played 179 playoffs/finals games in his career.
Over those 179 games he had one, I repeat ONE game where he had a key teammate missing:
Scottie Pippen missed game 4 of the 2nd round of the 1990 playoffs, when the Bulls were up 2-1 against the Sixers
That's it.
Scottie Pippen played in 178 of the 179 possible playoff/finals games.
Dennis Rodman played in 58 of the 58 possible playoff/finals games.
Horace Grant played in 101 of the 101 possible playoff/finals games.
Charles Oakley played in 16 of the 16 possible playoff games.
Orlando Woolridge played in 7 of the 7 possible playoff games.
As for role players:
1986: George Gervin missed a game of the first round against the Celtics, possibly because the coach simply wouldn't play him.
1989: John Paxson missed a game in the first round against the Cavs.
1996: Toni Kukoc missed 3 games against the Knicks in the 2nd round.
1998: Luc Longley missed the 3 first round games against the Nets.
Now let's look at LeBron:
2006 - Larry Hughes, possibly his 2nd best and at worst 3rd best player missed 4 games against the Pistons in the 2nd round, including a potential closeout game 6 that the Cavs lost by 2.
2007 - Larry Hughes, clearly the 2nd highest scorer on the Cavs this season missed games 3 and 4 against the Spurs in the finals.
2011 - Udonis Haslem, who got injured early in the season, came back halfway through the playoffs - missed 5 games in the first round against the Sixers and 4 games in the 2nd round against the Celtics.
2012 - This is a huge one: Chris Bosh goes down early in game 1 of the 2nd round against the Pacers. He ends up missing the last 5½ games of the 2nd round and the first 4 games against the Celtics in the 2nd round.
2013 - Dwyane Wade missed a game in the first round against the Bucks.
2015 - This, of course, is the king of all the unluckiest runs - First Kelly Olynyk pulls Kevin Love's out of his socket in the first quarter of game 4 of the first round against the Celtics. Love ends up missing 16 games of the playoffs (including 6 finals games). Other than that, Kyrie Irving misses 2 games against the Hawks in the conference finals + 5 of the 6 finals games. Also, J.R. Smith was suspended for the first two games of the 2nd round Bulls series.
2016 - Kevin Love misses a game in the finals against the Warriors.
2018 - Kevin Love misses game 7 of the conference finals against the Celtics, George Hill misses 3 games in the 1st round against the Pacers.
2020 - Avery Bradley, arguably the Lakers' third best player during the regular season decides not to join the Lakers in the bubble and misses the entire playoffs/finals.
It's certainly easier to understand why Jordan has a tendency towards degenerate gambling. Luck has followed him all his life and he had everything handed to him on a platter, whereas LeBron had to work for everything he has gained.
Over those 179 games he had one, I repeat ONE game where he had a key teammate missing:
Scottie Pippen missed game 4 of the 2nd round of the 1990 playoffs, when the Bulls were up 2-1 against the Sixers
That's it.
Scottie Pippen played in 178 of the 179 possible playoff/finals games.
Dennis Rodman played in 58 of the 58 possible playoff/finals games.
Horace Grant played in 101 of the 101 possible playoff/finals games.
Charles Oakley played in 16 of the 16 possible playoff games.
Orlando Woolridge played in 7 of the 7 possible playoff games.
As for role players:
1986: George Gervin missed a game of the first round against the Celtics, possibly because the coach simply wouldn't play him.
1989: John Paxson missed a game in the first round against the Cavs.
1996: Toni Kukoc missed 3 games against the Knicks in the 2nd round.
1998: Luc Longley missed the 3 first round games against the Nets.
Now let's look at LeBron:
2006 - Larry Hughes, possibly his 2nd best and at worst 3rd best player missed 4 games against the Pistons in the 2nd round, including a potential closeout game 6 that the Cavs lost by 2.
2007 - Larry Hughes, clearly the 2nd highest scorer on the Cavs this season missed games 3 and 4 against the Spurs in the finals.
2011 - Udonis Haslem, who got injured early in the season, came back halfway through the playoffs - missed 5 games in the first round against the Sixers and 4 games in the 2nd round against the Celtics.
2012 - This is a huge one: Chris Bosh goes down early in game 1 of the 2nd round against the Pacers. He ends up missing the last 5½ games of the 2nd round and the first 4 games against the Celtics in the 2nd round.
2013 - Dwyane Wade missed a game in the first round against the Bucks.
2015 - This, of course, is the king of all the unluckiest runs - First Kelly Olynyk pulls Kevin Love's out of his socket in the first quarter of game 4 of the first round against the Celtics. Love ends up missing 16 games of the playoffs (including 6 finals games). Other than that, Kyrie Irving misses 2 games against the Hawks in the conference finals + 5 of the 6 finals games. Also, J.R. Smith was suspended for the first two games of the 2nd round Bulls series.
2016 - Kevin Love misses a game in the finals against the Warriors.
2018 - Kevin Love misses game 7 of the conference finals against the Celtics, George Hill misses 3 games in the 1st round against the Pacers.
2020 - Avery Bradley, arguably the Lakers' third best player during the regular season decides not to join the Lakers in the bubble and misses the entire playoffs/finals.
It's certainly easier to understand why Jordan has a tendency towards degenerate gambling. Luck has followed him all his life and he had everything handed to him on a platter, whereas LeBron had to work for everything he has gained.