LeBron James' rings across 19 years: Ranking his 4 championships won so far in order of toughness

LeBron James is one of the most successful players in NBA history. The LA Lakers forward has earned numerous accolades during his impressive 20-year career, including four championships.

It's interesting that the forward won a championship for every team that he's played for. This includes winning the first-ever NBA championship for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In this article, we will take a look at LeBron James' rings and how tough it was to earn them. We will rank all four of his rings in order of toughness.

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4) LeBron James' first championship ring

LeBron won his first championship in 2012.

LeBron won his first-ever championship with the Miami Heat. He faced off against the OKC Thunder in the 2012 NBA Finals, beating them in five games after averaging 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists.

The Thunder were a tough team to beat. They had Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. However, they were all very young and did not have much playoff experience.

James, on the other hand, was coming off an embarrassing loss against the Dallas Mavericks in the previous year's finals. He was on a mission to win it all and finally achieved his dream by beating the Thunder.

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3) The Bubble ring

LeBron James beat his former team in the 2020 NBA Finals.

The 2019-20 NBA season was very unusual. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the league shut down and eventually moved to an isolated sports complex in Florida.

The NBA bubble was unique. There was no audience, no travel and no homecourt advantage. The lack of travel resulted in some amazing performances, especially from LeBron James and the Lakers.

This is where LeBron won his fourth championship ring, his first with the Lakers. James faced his former team, the Miami Heat, in the finals, but ended up beating them in six games.

Jimmy Butler was fantastic for the Heat. Unfortunately, Miami was without Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic, who were essential to the team. Due to this, the 2020 championship was one of the easiest for LeBron James.

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2) Going back-to-back in Miami

LeBron won back-to-back championships in Miami.

Beating the Thunder and Heat was relatively easy compared to the two other championships the 20-year NBA veteran has won. In 2013, LeBron James won back-to-back championships in Miami.

The Heat and LeBron faced the San Antonio Spurs, one of the best teams in the league. With Gregg Popovich leading the team, the Spurs were a well-coached and disciplined team that caused a lot of trouble for the Heat.

It appeared that the Spurs were going to win it all in Game 6. With less than 30 seconds left in the game, San Antonio had a five-point lead. However, the Heat somehow managed to tie the game with Ray Allen's incredible clutch 3-pointer from the corner.

The game went into overtime with Miami winning it in the end. The Heat played the final game of the series in front of their own crowd, where they finished the job.

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1) The incredible comeback in 2016

LeBron James beat the Golden State Warriors in 2016.

In terms of difficulty, the 2016 NBA championship was the toughest one for James. James returned to Cleveland in 2014, but in his first year back, he lost to the Golden State Warriors in the 2015 NBA Finals.

LeBron looked set to bounce back in 2016, but his team fell to a 1-3 hole. Until that point, no team had ever returned from being down 1-3 in an NBA Finals series, but LeBron James and his Cavaliers were not done.

LeBron had back-to-back 41-point games to tie the series, but he had to beat the Warriors in Oakland to win it all. When the final buzzer sounded off, the Cavaliers were ahead and James had a fantastic triple-double performance.