How much does another Finals loss impact Lebron's legacy?

[jpotter33]

Fair or not, Lebron's status as an all-time great will at least be partially impacted by his Finals record and how many rings he ultimately ends up with.

However, these last two years of Finals losses (including another presumptive loss this year) have been devastating for two reasons - A) he's essentially handpicked and assembled these teams the last two years, even including the coach this year, and B) this has now put him at an almost insurmountable Finals record to climb out of for a winning record.

2-5 in the Finals is pretty dang poor and equates to a winning percentage of around .285. Further, three of those losses (including this one if it goes only 5, which seems most likely) would be either by sweep or a gentleman's sweep of 5 games, and the other two were 6 game series that weren't necessarily all that close, more the GS one last year than the Mavs one. What's more, there have been several games in each series where Lebron has just simply failed to take over like the best player on the planet that he supposedly is.

So how will his legacy ultimately be affected due to this fairly terrible Finals record? Personally, I think it keeps him out of the question for a top-3 all-time great, no matter what other individual records he holds. And he certainly will never pass Jordan without a major turnaround in his Finals record.

Bonus question: does he win anymore titles in his career as the main man? Will he title chase at the end of his career?

[Rida]

I think if his career ended today he still ends up as a top 10 player all time.
 
If you consider, Russell, MJ, Bird, Magic, Kareem, Wilt as the top 6 set in stone, I think he needs at least 2 more titles to break into that elite 6

[PhoSita]

He will rightly be seen as a dominant player who was often the leader of the best team in a weak conference but was not frequently the leader of the best team in the league.

Sort of a cross between Jerry West and Magic Johnson. Kinda like if Magic had lost to the Celts and Sixers far more frequently than he'd won.

[jambr380]

3-4 would have been a lot better than 2-5. Lebron should just be happy that Ray Allen hit a very timely three and that the old Cs were unable to close out the Heat in game 6 of the conference semis in 2012. We then might be talking about a horrific 0-6 record.

Still, there is no questioning Lebron's ability and physical dominance in this era. He is a great player and top 10 - I may even take him over Kobe. It's just that he is such a Doris Burke.

[greece66]

I can well imagine LBJ developing a sweet old man game and continue playing well into his late 30s; a facilitator who does a bit of everything.

The point is that he can theoretically still have plenty of Finals appearances; more interestingly, he might get to win another ring but as the second or third best player in his team.

But he will have to get over some attitude issues he has developed over the years in the Finals; at times he seems to lose his mind... and how many more times will he dribble across court to miss a silly 3 in the last quarter?

But if he matures well, he might still get plenty of opportunities.

[Who]

Top 10 All Time but towards the back end of the top 10 due to title failures.

Still plenty of time left in his career to change that though.

[Tr1boy]

Top 10 All Time but towards the back end of the top 10 due to title failures.

Still plenty of time left in his career to change that though.

Almost like the buffalo bills. Just a bit better

[GratefulCs]

Top 10 All Time but towards the back end of the top 10 due to title failures.

Still plenty of time left in his career to change that though.

can't fix the title failures


Can win more, but 5 losses is really bad if you're a top ten all timer

[Fan from VT]

I think titles won should count for a players, but championships lost should not. After all, going 3/7 is better than 2/2. In fact, 3/7 is more impressive than 3/3, because if you are saying 3/7 means someone "flopped" in the finals, well if you are 3/3 it means every other times you flopped BEFORE the finals.

[RebusRankin]

He's somewhere in the back end of the top 10 right now. perhaps not quite in. I'd have Russell, Jordan, Bird, Magic, Kareem and Wilt as the top 6. See Duncan as the likely 7. Not sure who to keep in the last three out of West, Robertson, Kobe, Oneal, Lebron and Olajuwon.

[GratefulCs]

I think titles won should count for a players, but championships lost should not. After all, going 3/7 is better than 2/2. In fact, 3/7 is more impressive than 3/3, because if you are saying 3/7 means someone "flopped" in the finals, well if you are 3/3 it means every other times you flopped BEFORE the finals.

in general that kinda makes sense


But when you consider the circumstances, it's not as impressive


The east is mild sauce and lebron has hand picked his team twice

[Celtics4ever]

He is still an all time great but most people know that he is not a killer instinct guy who ends series.   I am really interested to see which LeBron shows up.   Leader LeBron or Quitting LeBron as we have seen both in the finals.   My money is on the latter if GS gets a big early lead.

[Csfan1984]

Won't effect it due to the caliber of the Warriors team.

[kozlodoev]

He's been to the finals 7 times. It's safe to say his legacy is pretty strong.

[GreenFaith1819]

At one time I'd never thought I'd say this, but his window is closing....if he doesn't win this time, both TOR, "US" and maybe one or 2 other EC teams will be right there on their heels next year.

They're not done yet, but it's going to be tough to get out of Oakland next game.

The composition of their team could very well change if they lose and I'm interested to see what happens with CLE.

Either way LeBron James will still go down as the greatest player of our current generation, and arguably a top 10 player All time.