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There are 4 levels of play in realms of NBA basketball. Each time you crack a new level, the level of competition becomes way higher than the previous. If you are confused as to what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the following 4 levels:
(1) Preseason/ Summer League basketball
(2) Regular season play
(3) Playoffs competition
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(4) The NBA Finals
The greatest players of all time have the ability to ramp up the level of their play according to the stage, which is why Michael Jordan is considered the Greatest of All Time - he never lost a Finals series, and he never lost a Playoffs series once he had enough help (in the form of a healthy Scottie Pippen).
Some of the greatest individual performances ever made by players have come through the course of 7-game NBA Finals series. In this article, we attempt to rank the most astonishing series ever played by a single player in the Finals. Since there are so many candidates to pick from, we attempt to resolve ties by using the following parameters:
(a) How much better the player in question was than the rest of the field that series
(b) How much help the player had in order to win the series - the ones with more help are given lower ratings
(c) How tough the opposition team was as a team,
#10 Tim Duncan in the 2002-03 NBA Finals vs New Jersey Nets
Finals averages: 24.2 points, 17.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.0 steals, 5.3 blocks per game
At the peak of his decorated career, Tim Duncan would do it all for the San Antonio Spurs at both ends of the floor. Coming off the back of an MVP campaign in the regular season, Duncan and the Spurs beat off the competition from three-time defending champions the Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Semifinals, before beating Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash in the Conference Finals.
These Finals were a comparatively easier series for Duncan, who dominated play at both ends of the floor for the Spurs. He led the Spurs in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks, and the New Jersey Nets had no answer for Duncan in the low post.
Duncan's best performance of the series was in Game 5, which turned the tide decisively in the Spurs' favor. Duncan put up a monster stat line of 29 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 4 blocks in 46 minutes to help the Spurs to a 93-83 win - meaning they were to play game 6 on home court.
Duncan put up another, perhaps even more monstrous stat line of 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and 8 blocks in game 6 through 46 more minutes of game time to see the Spurs through to an 11-point victory.
Duncan's 32 total blocks in the series are still the record for most blocks recorded by a single player in a playoff series.
#9 Larry Bird in the 1985-86 Finals vs Houston Rockets
Finals averages: 24.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 9.5 assists, 2.7 steals, 0.3 blocks per game
In one of the most well-contested Finals series of all time, the Big 3 Celtics met the Twin Tower Rockets in 1986. While the Celtics were favored to win due to their greater depth and because they had more star power, the Rockets had the best frontcourt of the 1980s seeing them through to the Finals with dominant series wins over the Sacramento Kings, the Denver Nuggets, and the Showtime Lakers.
Incidentally, 1986 marks the last time in the 20th century that the NBA Finals started in May, as the Celtics ran through the Eastern Conference playoffs with an 11-1 record, losing a solitary game at Atlanta against the Hawks.
The Celtics won the first 2 games of the series at home relatively easily, with a combined victory of 32 points. Bird put up a stat line of 52 points, 16 rebounds, 20 assists and 8 steals over these 2 games. If he had belonged to today's generation, Bird might have chased triple-doubles of his own through the rest of the series to pad his stats. But I digress.
Game 4 of the series was a classic clutch game won by the Celtics, as they defended the last 3 possessions without conceding and closed out the game for a commanding 3-1 lead. Despite Houston winning Game 5 by a 15-point margin, the Celtics closed the series out with a 114-97 win to seal their 3rd championship in 5 years.
Bird finished game 6 with a stat line of 29 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists and 3 steals, and was deservingly named the Finals MVP. Rounding off, he became the first player to average a triple-double in the NBA Finals.
#8 Lew Alcindor in the 1970-71 NBA Finals vs Baltimore Bullets
Finals Averages: 27 points, 18.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists
This is one of the two entries from the pre-modern NBA when the 3-point line did not exist. What hampers us further from gauging the true impact of Lew Alcindor (he converted to Islam and renamed himself Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after this series) is the absence of stats for blocks and steals.
Lew was the best player in the league right from tipoff in his very first game for the Bucks. He won the MVP award during the 1970-71 regular season with a stat line of 31.7 points, 16 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
During the Finals series against the Baltimore Bullets, he held the Bullets to a field-goal percentage of less than 40% in three of the 4 games as the Bucks swept the Finals 4-0. Kareem dominated Wes Unseld on both ends of the floor, holding the 1969 MVP to a paltry 15 points per game. The skyhook was an unstoppable weapon in Alcindor's arsenal, as he averaged a field goal percentage of 60.5% during this series.
#7 LeBron James in the 2015-16 NBA Finals vs Golden State Warriors
Finals averages: 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals, 2.3 blocks per game
Well, well, well!
While on the surface, this series win is perhaps the greatest upset in NBA Finals history, the level of competition LeBron James' faces on this list has forced us to bring to the limelight a couple of factors which possibly swung the pendulum his team's way, and which had nothing to do with LeBron's stupendous play in the series:
(a) The Golden State Warriors missed key rotation players during games 5,6 and 7, meaning that LeBron's best performances came against an inferior, outmatched team. Man-versus-man, the Cleveland Cavaliers were the more talented squad, while the Warriors were a more system-oriented team playing off the individual strengths of all their key players.
(b) Despite LeBron's Herculean efforts, and the most iconic block of the 21st century, the Cavaliers could have lost the series in the final 3 possessions of the game, in which Kyrie Irving took the game-winning shot and Kevin Love played defense on Steph Curry to stop him from scoring. LeBron converted only 9 out of 24 field goal attempts in game 7.
Now that we're done explaining the low placement of LeBron's Finals MVP on this list, it is time to wax eloquent on what he did do to merit his place here:
(a) LeBron paced both teams in ALL 5 major statistical categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks)!!
(b) In both games 5 and 6, LeBron dropped 41 points to give Cleveland the momentum to go into game 7 at the Oracle Arena
(c) LeBron picked up much of the slack displayed by Kevin Love in an underwhelming Finals series for the former Bruin.
#6 Dwyane Wade in the 2005-06 NBA Final vs Dallas Mavericks
Finals averages: 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.7 steals, 1.0 blocks per game
In one of the biggest Finals upsets in NBA history, the Miami Heat won 4 straight games after giving up a 2-0 lead to the Dallas Mavericks in the first 2 games of the series. The primary reason for this turnaround was the frankly otherworldly play of The Flash, who averaged 39.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game for the final 4 games.
In game 3, facing a potential 3-0 series deficit, Wade went OFF for 42 points and 13 rebounds while guiding the Heat to a 98-96 win after they were trailing by 13 points with 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
Dwyane Wade also rose to the occasion in a tight game 5, scoring 43 points in a nailbiting 101-100 win that went to overtime. He scored 21 of the Heat's last 31 points in the 4th quarter and overtime combined.
He capped off the series with a stat line of 36 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks in game 6 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, with 11 points in a tight 4th quarter during which neither team had a lead of more than 4 points.
#5 Magic Johnson in the 1979-80 NBA Finals vs Philadelphia 76ers
Finals Averages: 21.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 2.7 steals, 0.3 blocks per game
Magic Johnson entered the NBA fresh off a victorious NCAA campaign with Michigan State, and promptly began to justify the Lakers' decision to select him with the first overall pick in the 1979 draft. The Lakers posted a regular season record of 60-22 on the strength of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 6th MVP season, as well as the excellent play of Johnson, Jamaal Wilkes and Norm Nixon.
The Lakers breezed through the Western Conference playoffs with an 8-2 record against the Suns and the SuperSonics before going up against Julius Erving's 76ers team in the Finals. Both the teams were evenly matched through the first 5 games of the series, with the Lakers closing out game 4 on the strength of Magic Johnson's 28 points.
In game 5, which the Lakers lost by 5 points (108-103), they were debilitated by an ankle sprain to Kareem, who could play no more part in the series. The Lakers were in a fix, with no reliable player to field at the center position.
Magic took matters into his own hands and elected himself to play center in Game 6. The rest is history, as Johnson played possibly the greatest playoff game by any player (and certainly the greatest Finals game by a rookie) on the way to putting up a statline of 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 1 block as the Lakers won comfortably by a margin of 16 points. Johnson was deservingly named the Finals MVP for his crucial role in the Lakers' series win. He is one of only 4 players to win NCAA and NBA championships in consecutive years.
#4 Hakeem Olajuwon in the 1994-95 NBA Finals vs Orlando Magic
Finals averages: 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.0 steals, 2.0 blocks per game
After Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal took down the Michael Jordan-charged Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, a number of critics expected the dynamic duo to go the distance to an NBA title that season.
They were all proved woefully wrong as the Houston Rockets swept the Magic in a lopsided series, as The Dream schooled Shaquille O'Neal, who was an MVP candidate during the regular season on the strength of his 29.3-point, 11.4-rebound season. Topping it off, he scored a 3-pointer with Shaq guarding him in game 4 - showing off his amazingly well-rounded game.
Hakeem was remarkably consistent, as he scored between 31 and 35 points on all 4 outings and shooting nearly/ more than 50% in those games. He also became the 4th player to score at least 30 points in every Finals game of a series, joining Elgin Baylor, Rick Barry and Michael Jordan on the list.
#3 Shaquille O'Neal in the 1999-2000 NBA Finals vs Indiana Pacers
Finals Averages: 38.0 points, 16.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals, 2.7 blocks
Shaq Diesel's performance in the Lakers' first Finals appearance in 9 years ranks as probably the most dominant single-series display by a center. At the height of his powers, Shaquille bulldozed his way to the rim with reckless abandon - whether it be in transition or in the half-court set from the low post.
No one could do anything against a 7'1", 325-pound center moving at that speed, as Shaquille blew out the Pacers frontcourt in that series. The Lakers did lose 2 games, but that was primarily because of injury to Kobe Bryant in game 2.
O'Neal never netted less than 33 points or 12 rebounds in a single game, and had at least 2 blocks in every single game. Despite conceding a blowout loss in game 5, Shaquille and the Lakers closed out game 6 at home with a 116-111 win.
O'Neal's best game of the series was game 2, when he tallied a humongous 40 points and 24 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a 111-104.
#2 Jerry West in the 1968-69 NBA Finals vs Boston Celtics
Finals averages: 37.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.4 assists
Jerry West is the only player to ever win the Finals MVP trophy despite finishing on the losing side. West, playing alongside a 34-year-old Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, gave the Boston Celtics with their 5 Hall of Famers their biggest test of the decade in an NBA Finals series.
After winning the first two games at home, in which West scored 94 points combined, the Lakers were beaten by the superior Celtics at the Garden - despite the Logo scoring 40 points in a nailbiting game 4 in which the final score was 88-89. The Lakers rallied to win their next home game and take a 3-2 lead - with West again supplying the majority of the ammunition in a 117-104 win.
The Celtics pulled up their defensive socks and held the Lakers to 90 points in a 9-game win at home in game 6, before pulling off possibly the greatest game 7 win in NBA Finals history at the Staples Center with a 108-106 win - despite West's 42 point contribution.
This was the first season that the Finals MVP trophy was introduced, and for all the talk about racial discrimination leading to West winning the award, it is abundantly clear that he was the best player through the course of one of the best NBA Finals series ever played.
#1 Michael Jordan in the 1992-93 NBA Finals vs Phoenix Suns
Finals averages: 41.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.7 blocks per game.
What, did you really think anyone else could be the Numero Uno when it comes to Finals performances?
Michael Jordan cemented the Bulls' three-peat with a 4-2 series victory over the Phoenix Suns led by Charles Barkley, who won the regular season MVP trophy that season. Jordan, who felt slighted that his statistically superior season did not get the accolade it deserved, proceeded to show the world exactly who the Most Valuable Player on the planet was in a well-contested Finals series - despite winning 4 games to the Suns' 2, both teams were tied in total points scored through the series.
His Airness never scored less than 31 points in any game of the series, and he played some of the best defense of his life. Air Jordan's best performance during the series was in Game 4, when he dropped 55 points on a luckless Suns team that could not find any way to stop his jump shooting, and lost despite Charles Barkley's 33-point triple-double! John Paxson's shot to seal the game and series is one of the greatest clutch shots of all time.
