Who are the 5 Greatest Finals Performers Ever?

[ninephive]

LeBron put up 28 ppg on 60% fg and 50 % from 3 last finals. I don't think anyone else in NBA history could do that level of efficiency. Therefore I would go with him.

People forget this...Lebron was great last year. Spurs were just unconscious.

[Marchesk]

Barry deserves a mention also, although it was only 2 NBA finals. Still, one was a 40.8 and the other was winning without much of a supporting cast.

West averaged 30 over 9 finals. Kind of hard to ignore that. Lebron has never averaged 30.

[ArbitraryWater]

And if Bron actually plays then maybe Wade plays better, as he wouldn't be the sole focus of an exceptional defense. Look how tired Miami and Wade were at the end of game one. His body failed him just like Bron, yet he at least finished the game.

You simply cannot excuse Bron for game 1 and blame someone else, when his inability to play was the cause of Miami's breakdown. Bron has a single injury issue: completely excused! Wade has knee problems in multiple playoffs (which he plays through), so his aggregated stats are weaker than normal, even though he came up huge in 2012 & 2013, when it mattered most: Wade let Bron down by not averaging enough! He was only a 'role-player'!

Excuse me for pointing out the absurd double standards here.

This isn't a double standart.

You can't blame someone for not playing with a cramp

The guy couldn't walk... had to be carried off for the last few meters.

Wouldn't you have loved to see Wade carry home that game?

Wade was able to play, LeBron's BODY failed him, but they were all tired.

The moment LeBron came out, they collapsed (And I want to add I was disgusted with the refereeing in game 1, particularly after Bosh's 3 and-one which put them up 6-7, and the Spurs got nervous, the referee's bailed them out on a Leonard clank, Spurs may have never gotten close if they don't get that call).

Wade himself has said he was HEALTHY in 2014, and while he struggled with injuries, it's not like he played through pain in 2013, either. Just limited.

He's aware of his mediocrity the last two years, which is why when he recently said his Body is feeling the best in years, he himself wondered why it wasn't the case the last couple of years... He knows they could have used it the last finals, and he knows he could have been better overall the last few years.

[Dresta]

This isn't a double standart.

You can't blame someone for not playing with a cramp

The guy couldn't walk... had to be carried off for the last few meters.

Wouldn't you have loved to see Wade carry home that game?

Wade was able to play, LeBron's BODY failed him, but they were all tired.

The moment LeBron came out, they collapsed (And I want to add I was disgusted with the refereeing in game 1, particularly after Bosh's 3 and-one which put them up 6-7, and the Spurs got nervous, the referee's bailed them out on a Leonard clank, Spurs may have never gotten close if they don't get that call).

Wade himself has said he was HEALTHY in 2014, and while he struggled with injuries, it's not like he played through pain in 2013, either. Just limited.

He's aware of his mediocrity the last two years, which is why when he recently said his Body is feeling the best in years, he himself wondered why it wasn't the case the last couple of years... He knows they could have used it the last finals, and he knows he could have been better overall the last few years.

And you're trying to tell me Wade's diminished playoff performances have nothing to do with his body failing him? Please...


As for the bolded, Wade has said similar things multiple times already, only for it to turn out not to be true, or for him to have another set-back. To say he didn't play through pain in 2013 is absurd, he had multiple bone bruises on his right knee, had it drained before game 7, and his discomfort was clear as day (that bang his knee took from Ginobili almost hurt me it looked so uncomfortable).

edit: i'm not sure if 14 was his fitness (not able to keep up with quick ball-movement of SA), or whether he had another flare-up. Miami and Wade have always kept the details pretty close to their chests, but something clearly wasn't right. He couldn't keep pace, physically, and it didn't help that Miami was old all-round, and severely lacking in depth.

[stalkerforlife]

MJ, Kobe, Hakeem, Shaq, West.

/thread

[Wade's Rings]

MJ, Kobe, Hakeem, Shaq, West.

/thread

[WadeStan]

Might as well name this thread who choked more: Lebron in 2011 in his prime and fully healthy with a fully healthy prime Wade doing most of the legwork in a series where they clearly had the advantage vs Wade in 2014, past his prime and injured with a healthy prime Lebron James doing most of the legwork in a series in which they were outmatched, playing a gimmicky defense on the tail end of consecutive finals experiences.

There's a reason why teams don't 4 peat. It's not just Wade who stunk up the joint. But the 3 peat would have happened if Lebron didn't lay an egg.

Well dang, I just answered my own question.

[EnoughSaid]

It doesn't matter if Wade would have went off last year. The Spurs would have still won. They were too hot and too good defensively. The team was just exhausted.

Anyway,

Jordan
Shaq
Duncan
Hakeem
Wade

[Wade's Rings]

Might as well name this thread who choked more: Lebron in 2011 in his prime and fully healthy with a fully healthy prime Wade doing most of the legwork in a series where they clearly had the advantage vs Wade in 2014, past his prime and injured with a healthy prime Lebron James doing most of the legwork in a series in which they were outmatched, playing a gimmicky defense on the tail end of consecutive finals experiences.

There's a reason why teams don't 4 peat. It's not just Wade who stunk up the joint. But the 3 peat would have happened if Lebron didn't lay an egg.

Well dang, I just answered my own question.

That name tho

[3ball]

Not Wade. I will NEVER forgive him for costing Lebron a 3 peat with his pathetic performance last June.

Blame Lebron for falling far short of media predictions that he would be GOAT and 3-peat like MJ - MJ dealt with the same languishing teammates in the 1998 Finals, when Pippen averaged 15 PPG and 41% FG just like Wade in 2014, and Rodman averaged 3 PPG, 8 RPG on 46% FG (compared to Bosh's 14 PPG, 5 RPG, 55% FG).

Also, the Bulls were facing the #1 offense in the league in the 1998 Finals - the 113 ORtg Utah Jazz had just destroyed Hakeem, Duncan/Robinson, and Shaq in quick succession to reach the Finals - this is perhaps the greatest collection of talent ever defeated to reach a Finals.

But rather than shoot 17 times per game and get destroyed like Lebron did in 2014, Jordan shot 28 times per game and kept his team in it - that way, he allowed himself the opportunity to be GOAT at the end... Why can't Lebron do this?... ... because he's nowhere near GOAT, that's why.. he's a team-hopping beta.
.

[sd3035]

It doesn't matter if Wade would have went off last year. The Spurs would have still won. They were too hot and too good defensively. The team was just exhausted.

Anyway,

Jordan
Shaq
Duncan
Hakeem
Wade

this is a pretty good list

[John Tesh]

Not Wade. I will NEVER forgive him for costing Lebron a 3 peat with his pathetic performance last June.

LeBron cost Wade a 3 peat by his pathetic performance in 2011.

[John Tesh]

Fine, Lebron James 3 ppg in the 4th quarter in 2014.

[SamuraiSWISH]

LeBron, Kobe, and Wilt don't belong on these lists. D-Wade has a better case than those guys.

[LAZERUSS]

LeBron, Kobe, and Wilt don't belong on these lists. D-Wade has a better case than those guys.

Wilt played in SIX Finals, essentially won TWO FMVPs, was the best player on the floor in FOUR of them, and overall dominated his opposing centers, all in the HOF.

He posted Finals of:

29 ppg, 28 rpg, .517 FG% (holding Russell to an 11-25 .386 series)

18 ppg, 29 rpg, .560 FG% (holding Thurmond to a 14-27 .343 series)

23 ppg, 24 rpg, .625 FG% (holding Reed to a 23 ppg, 11 rpg, .483 series)

and 19 ppg, 23 rpg, .600 FG% (holding Lucas to a 20 ppg, 10 rpg, .500 series, and basically nothing afer game one.)

FOUR DOMINANT series, and with only TWO of them in his PRIME.