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Speaker 2: Welcome in another and our final special edition of What's
Speaker 2: Right with Nick Wright, the countdown of the fifty greatest
Speaker 2: players of the last fifty years. And yes, I know
Speaker 2: if there was anything predictable about this list, it was that, somehow,
Speaker 2: some way and we were going to get to this
Speaker 2: exact point, the point where I explain why of the
Speaker 2: last fifty years, or of all of NBA history, the
Speaker 2: single greatest player is, of course Lebron James. But before
Speaker 2: we get into the full resume, let me explain a
Speaker 2: bit about how we are going to do today's show.
Speaker 2: Lebron's career is so long and so incomparable that we're
Speaker 2: gonna have to break it up into a couple different segments. Also,
Speaker 2: the callers we have for today's show, no one has
Speaker 2: revealed to me. They won't tell me who they are.
Speaker 2: I imagine I'm going to get sucker punched by a
Speaker 2: few of them. We will try the Kareem video. I'm sorry,
Speaker 2: the Jordan video is forty five minutes. The Kareem video
Speaker 2: was fifty minutes. We will try our best to keep
Speaker 2: the Lebron video to under an hour. I am not
Speaker 2: sure if we will succeed both. No further ado. Number
Speaker 2: one of the fifty greatest players of the last fifty years,
Speaker 2: Number one, Lebron James. So the short version of the
Speaker 2: resume is of course, thirteen time first team All NBA.
Speaker 2: That's the most all times. Second most is Kobe with eleven,
Speaker 2: three times second team, two time third team. That is
Speaker 2: an eighteen time All NBA performer. That is the most
Speaker 2: all time by a mile. Second most is Kareem with fifteen.
Speaker 2: He is four time MVP fourteen top five MVP finishes.
Speaker 2: Only Kareem has more, and eleven times he has been first,
Speaker 2: second or third team or MVP that is, of course
Speaker 2: the most all time. He is six time All Defense
Speaker 2: and should be a one time Defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 2: More on that shortly, a one time scoring champ, one
Speaker 2: time assists champ. Twenty five seasons he is I'm sorry,
Speaker 2: eighteen seasons he has averaged at least twenty five points
Speaker 2: per game the most all time. Second is Kevin Durant,
Speaker 2: who did it thirteen times. He has averaged twenty five,
Speaker 2: five and five eighteen times. That is the most all time.
Speaker 2: Second is Oscar with nine time nine seasons. Doing that,
Speaker 2: He's the only player ever to average twenty seven, seven
Speaker 2: and seven for his career. Oddly enough and crazily enough,
Speaker 2: has never had a single twenty seven seven and seven game.
Speaker 2: Though that's a weird but true fact. He has six
Speaker 2: seasons averaging at least twenty seven, seven and seven the
Speaker 2: last fifty years combined. Other than Lebron, there have been
Speaker 2: ten such seasons. He has tied for fourth in points
Speaker 2: per game of all time, second most of the last
Speaker 2: fifty years, behind Jordan. He has the second most points
Speaker 2: ever scored, the seventh most assists ever context there other
Speaker 2: than Oscar Robertson, no one else is in the top
Speaker 2: twenty five of both of those categories. Lebron is second,
Speaker 2: soon to be first, and seventh. He has the tenth
Speaker 2: most steals ever. As far as longevity, he averaged twenty seven,
Speaker 2: seven and seven as a twenty year old in year two.
Speaker 2: As I mentioned, he averages twenty seven, seven and seven
Speaker 2: for his career. He averaged thirty points per game at
Speaker 2: age twenty one, and averaged thirty points per game at
Speaker 2: age thirty seven. The most points he ever averaged in
Speaker 2: his career he was twenty one. The most assists he
Speaker 2: ever averaged in his career he was thirty five. The
Speaker 2: most rebounds he ever averaged in his career he was
Speaker 2: thirty three, and the best field goal percentage he ever had,
Speaker 2: which was an absurd center esque fifty seven percent, he
Speaker 2: was twenty nine. So at every different age benchmark of
Speaker 2: his career he has been his best at something different.
Speaker 2: He had a year where he shot twenty seven, where
Speaker 2: he averaged twenty seven eight and seven, shot fifty seven
Speaker 2: forty splits, almost one defensive Player of the Year, and
Speaker 2: had a twenty seven game winning streak and won the title,
Speaker 2: otherwise known as arguably the single greatest season anyone ever had.
Speaker 2: He has too many youngest ever and oldest ever records
Speaker 2: to list them all. However, I think my favorite is
Speaker 2: he was the youngest person to one thousand points, two
Speaker 2: thousand points three thousand points. And you could go on
Speaker 2: every single one thousand point milestone that has ever been
Speaker 2: touched in the NBA, Lebron James was the youngest to
Speaker 2: ever do it. He of course, is the only member
Speaker 2: of the thirty K ten K ten k Club thirty
Speaker 2: thousand points, ten thousand rebounds, ten thousand assists. What's more
Speaker 2: amazing is he is also the only member of the
Speaker 2: ten K ten K ten k Club, So he has
Speaker 2: thirty seven thousand chains, ten thousand, ten thousand. No one
Speaker 2: else has ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand. In fact,
Speaker 2: there is only one other member of the eight thousand,
Speaker 2: eight thousand, eight thousand club, that's Jason Kidd only. So
Speaker 2: Lebron is a thirty ten to ten thousand member. Only
Speaker 2: twenty guys in NBA history are fifteen thousand, five thousand,
Speaker 2: five thousand members. And of course, he has the most
Speaker 2: consecutive ten point games, a streak that is still active
Speaker 2: one thousand and ninety six consecutive games of scoring at
Speaker 2: least double digits. Jordan's at eight sixty six, Kareams at
Speaker 2: seven eighty seven, no one else is at six hundred,
Speaker 2: and there is no active streak right now even at
Speaker 2: two hundred. So that's the regular season stuff. Now to
Speaker 2: the playoff stuff. He, of course, as we mentioned, is
Speaker 2: a four time champion, of four time finals MVP, and
Speaker 2: a ten time NBA finalist. He missed the playoffs the
Speaker 2: first two years of his career and then never looked back.
Speaker 2: So in two thousand and six, at twenty one years old,
Speaker 2: he plays an his first career playoff game. He has
Speaker 2: thirty two to eleven and eleven, playing all forty eight
Speaker 2: games in his first career playoff game, a thirty point
Speaker 2: triple double playing all forty eight minutes in his first
Speaker 2: ever playoff game. A couple games later, he has forty one,
Speaker 2: five and three, playing all forty eight and hits the
Speaker 2: game winning jumper with five seconds left to go up
Speaker 2: to one in the series. Couple games after that, he
Speaker 2: has forty five, seven and six, including the game winning
Speaker 2: layup with point nine left to go up three to two,
Speaker 2: and then in Game six in overtime plays all fifty
Speaker 2: three minutes has thirty two, seven and seven. So in
Speaker 2: his first series ever, Lebron James, who would have to
Speaker 2: deal with a narrative that he has unclutch, hit two
Speaker 2: shots to win games with less than five seconds remaining,
Speaker 2: one with less than one second remaining. An average in
Speaker 2: his first series ever thirty six points, eight rebound, six
Speaker 2: assists in forty seven minutes per game. In the next round,
Speaker 2: he lost to the two time defending Eastern Conference champion
Speaker 2: Detroit Pistons in seven games. Averaged for the series twenty
Speaker 2: seven to nine and six, So that means for his
Speaker 2: first playoffs ever at twenty one years old, he averaged
Speaker 2: thirty one points, eight rebound, six assists in forty seven
Speaker 2: minutes per game. The next year, however, is when he
Speaker 2: would announce himself at twenty two years old as already
Speaker 2: the single best player in basketball, a title he held
Speaker 2: consecutively uninterrupted for thirteen consecutive years. Twenty two years old,
Speaker 2: they sweep Washington round one. He averages a humble twenty eight,
Speaker 2: nine and eight to go up two to oh on
Speaker 2: New Jersey. In round two, he has a thirty six
Speaker 2: point twelve assists game they win the series in six
Speaker 2: down two to oh to Detroit. In the Eastern Conference Finals,
Speaker 2: he has thirty two points, nine rebounds, nine assists in
Speaker 2: forty six minutes to keep the series alive. Then Game five,
Speaker 2: the forty eight special, has forty eight points, nine rebounds,
Speaker 2: seven assists in more than fifty minutes, scoring twenty nine
Speaker 2: of the final thirty points for his team, including twenty
Speaker 2: five straight to win the game in double overtime to
Speaker 2: go up three to two. He had a dunk to
Speaker 2: force overtime with seconds left, a layup with two seconds
Speaker 2: left in double overtime to win the game. Then, of course,
Speaker 2: in the finals, he struggled Tim Duncan, that Spurs team
Speaker 2: they had won in ninety nine, three to five, They
Speaker 2: win again and seven. He averages just twenty two to
Speaker 2: seven and seven. I will remind you, however, that that
Speaker 2: team that made the finals. In the finals, the starters
Speaker 2: on a finals team were Booby Gibson at point guard,
Speaker 2: Sasha Pavlovich at shooting guard, Lebron James at small forward,
Speaker 2: Drew Good at power forward, and Zadrunis Ilgalskis at center.
Speaker 2: Two thousand and eight, next year, in the playoffs Round
Speaker 2: one against Washington. Those poor Gilbert Arena Arenas Wizards teams
Speaker 2: just couldn't manage to not get Lebron early averaged thirty
Speaker 2: ten and eight in Round one against Washington, including to
Speaker 2: win the series in Game six A twenty seven, thirteen
Speaker 2: and thirteen. Then Game five the next round against Boston.
Speaker 2: This series is two to two. He has thirty five,
Speaker 2: but they lose, so they're now facing elimination against the
Speaker 2: Celtics team that would go on to win the title,
Speaker 2: the only title Boston has over the last thirty years.
Speaker 2: What does he do in Game six facing elimination thirty
Speaker 2: two points, twelve rebound, six assists, and then Game seven,
Speaker 2: an all time Game seven duel. Some would argue it's
Speaker 2: the best game of Paul Pierce's career. Lebron has forty
Speaker 2: five points, five rebound, six assists, but unfortunately for him,
Speaker 2: only one other calv scores more than seven points in
Speaker 2: that game and they lose by four, I believe, and
Speaker 2: all of a sudden. There's a little speculation rumblings could
Speaker 2: Lebron leave Cleveland, but those rumblings seem to quiet. During
Speaker 2: the regular season, oh nine, Lebron wins his first career MVP.
Speaker 2: It's the best Cavs team up to that point. Ever.
Speaker 2: They win sixty six games and they are crushing in
Speaker 2: the playoffs. They Lebron opens the playoffs with a thirty
Speaker 2: eight eight and seven thirty eight points, eight rebounds, seven assists,
Speaker 2: and they play Detroit and he averages thirty two, eleven
Speaker 2: and eight. That Pistons team had made six consecutive Eastern
Speaker 2: Conference finals. Lebron swept them and essentially ended their run.
Speaker 2: Uh He has forty seven twelve and eight forty seven,
Speaker 2: twelve and eight to go up three to zero on
Speaker 2: Atlanta in to sweeping them, where he averaged thirty four points,
Speaker 2: eight rebounds, six assists for the series. At that moment
Speaker 2: in time, the Calves are seventy four and sixteen on
Speaker 2: the season. They seem destined to be on a collision
Speaker 2: course for Lebron Kobe NBA Finals. Lebron is the best
Speaker 2: player in the league. Kobe had just made the finals
Speaker 2: but lost to the Celtics. Looked like he was going
Speaker 2: to come out of the West.
Speaker 3: He did.
Speaker 2: By the way, the Calves looked like a juggernaut and
Speaker 2: Lebron was having an all time playoff run, and that
Speaker 2: then leads to the Orlando series, which to this day
Speaker 2: I don't argue this, but some will argue is the
Speaker 2: single best series Lebron James ever played in the playoffs,
Speaker 2: and amazingly, it ended not only in a loss, but
Speaker 2: a loss in six to Dwight Howard and Orlando. So
Speaker 2: how could one argue it's the best series Lebron's ever played.
Speaker 2: Let's go game by game. Game one, he has forty
Speaker 2: nine points, six rebounds, eight assists on six xt seven
Speaker 2: percent shooting in a one point loss. Again, let me
Speaker 2: say that again, they lose by one. In a game
Speaker 2: that Lebron goes sixty seven percent from the field, has
Speaker 2: forty nine points, six rebounds, and eight assists, and they lose.
Speaker 2: That up, by the way, at that moment was his
Speaker 2: playoff career high. The rest of the team shot twenty
Speaker 2: three of fifty eight. They gave up a three to
Speaker 2: Orshard Lewis in the corner of fifteen seconds left after
Speaker 2: a Lebron and one put them up to So that's
Speaker 2: how game one is. Game two he has thirty five points,
Speaker 2: four rebounds, five assists, and that's the iconic buzzer beating three.
Speaker 2: The first of five career playoff buzzer beaters, the most
Speaker 2: ever by a mile. No one else has more than
Speaker 2: three that Lebron James has, and so he has thirty five,
Speaker 2: four and five, and it takes a three at the
Speaker 2: buzzer for them to win by one. Game three, he
Speaker 2: has forty one, seven and nine, they lose by double digits.
Speaker 2: Game four, he has forty four, twelve and seven, and
Speaker 2: they lose. So for context there they are down three
Speaker 2: to one. In the three games they have lost, Lebron
Speaker 2: has scored forty nine, forty one, and forty four while
Speaker 2: averaging in addition to the points there, nine rebounds and
Speaker 2: eight assists. And by the way, in that overtime loss,
Speaker 2: Lebron was fouled with point five left in the game,
Speaker 2: down two, calmly goes to the line, makes both free throws,
Speaker 2: something I'm told he's scared to do, but was doing
Speaker 2: at twenty three years old, But they lose in overtime.
Speaker 2: All the same Game five, facing elimination, thirty seven points,
Speaker 2: fourteen rebounds, twelve assists, but then Game six they lose.
Speaker 2: For that series, Lebron averaged thirty nine points, eight rebounds,
Speaker 2: eight assists, and It was the only Conference Finals loss
Speaker 2: of his career. For the playoffs he averaged thirty five,
Speaker 2: nine and seven. Then we get to twenty ten, his
Speaker 2: final year in Cleveland. The first time around, he's MVP
Speaker 2: again and facing Derrick Rose. Year two Derek Rose, not
Speaker 2: MVP Derek Rose. That would be the next year and
Speaker 2: joke Kim nohen. Round one starts the I'm sorry after
Speaker 2: a relatively quiet Game one, Games two through four go
Speaker 2: like this, forty points, eight rebounds, eight assists, then thirty
Speaker 2: nine points, ten rebounds, eight assists, then thirty seven, twelve
Speaker 2: and eleven in games two through four to go up
Speaker 2: three to one. Wins the series in five by averaging
Speaker 2: thirty two, nine and eight. Then the famous Lebron quit
Speaker 2: series against the Celtics. So let's actually talk about that series,
Speaker 2: because there is one really bad moment, but the rest
Speaker 2: of it has been drastically overstated. So in that series
Speaker 2: where he quit on the Cavs allegedly, game one he
Speaker 2: had thirty five, seven and seven. Game three he has
Speaker 2: thirty eight, eight and seven to go up to one.
Speaker 2: Game five was the awful ones three or fourteen from
Speaker 2: the field. They fall down three to two. Game six,
Speaker 2: his final game as a cav the first time around,
Speaker 2: when again, if you listen to a lot of folks,
Speaker 2: he had quit on the team. He was out. So
Speaker 2: what did he do in that game six? He had
Speaker 2: twenty seven points, nineteen rebounds, ten assists, but Cleveland got
Speaker 2: blown out despite it, and that's it. Boston moves on.
Speaker 2: Boston ends up making the finals once again. They of
Speaker 2: course lose to the Lakers in seven. Lebron for that
Speaker 2: series at for that playoffs averages twenty nine to nine
Speaker 2: and eight. Now he's in Miami and we know how
Speaker 2: this season ends. Twenty eleven. It ends in the nadea
Speaker 2: of his career and a true crossroads. They breeze past
Speaker 2: Billion round one, he has three thirty three plus point
Speaker 2: games to beat Boston five and round two. In round three,
Speaker 2: they're facing MVP Derek Rose. If you remember, he guarded
Speaker 2: Derek Rose in the fourth quarter of those series, and
Speaker 2: Rose shot less than ten percent from the field in
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter of that series, and Lebron put up
Speaker 2: a thirty five, six and six in Game four to
Speaker 2: kind of lock that series up, go up three run
Speaker 2: three to one. But then in the finals, a true
Speaker 2: disaster never scores more than twenty four points, has an
Speaker 2: eight point game in Game four, never takes twenty shots
Speaker 2: in a game, seems rattled. They lose three straight. He
Speaker 2: averages eighteen to seven and seven for the series. At
Speaker 2: that moment in time, it seemed utterly impossible Lebron could
Speaker 2: ever end up number one on this list or anyways.
Speaker 2: He had been to two finals. In the finals, he
Speaker 2: averaged around twenty points per game. He had a true
Speaker 2: you could see it happening in real time meltdown that
Speaker 2: even his biggest defenders in the world would say it
Speaker 2: was inexplicable watching how he played in twenty eleven. So
Speaker 2: how do you go from that to the greatest player ever?
Speaker 2: Quite simply by ripping off unequivocally, inarguably the greatest ten
Speaker 2: year run of consecutive greatness the league has ever seen.
Speaker 2: That is what we will get into in the next segment.
Speaker 2: We gave you the regular season, we gave you the
Speaker 2: playoff career up until and through the Dallas series. Coming
Speaker 2: up next, we will go over a decade of dominance,
Speaker 2: the likes of which, from a personal and team level cumulative,
Speaker 2: the league has never seen. That's next, as we discussed
Speaker 2: the greatest player of the last fifty years, Lebron James.
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Speaker 2: All right, welcome back in as we finalize our countdown
Speaker 2: of the fifty greatest players of the last fifty years
Speaker 2: with number one Lebron James. So we just went over
Speaker 2: the regular season accolades which are unmatched by anyone in
Speaker 2: NBA history, and the postseason stuff, which from his rookie
Speaker 2: year until twenty eleven had some incredibly high moments. Had
Speaker 2: the forty eight special, had he had already at that
Speaker 2: point in his career, come close to setting the all
Speaker 2: time record for playoff thirty point triple doubles. The numbers
Speaker 2: were unbelievable, But it had those finals in twenty one
Speaker 2: eleven where he was the favorite, where he was on
Speaker 2: the better team, where they were up to one and
Speaker 2: he short circuited. So how do you go from that
Speaker 2: to the greatest player of all time and certainly the
Speaker 2: greatest player of the last fifty years. Well by doing
Speaker 2: the followup twenty twelve first title MVP, again totally unstoppable
Speaker 2: in the playoffs, down two to one to Indiana in
Speaker 2: round two, Bosh is out for the game and again
Speaker 2: they've got no title. At this point, Lebron is everything
Speaker 2: about Lebron's being questioned and Bosh is out. He has
Speaker 2: forty points, eighteen rebounds, nine assists to tie the series.
Speaker 2: Then in Game five has thirty points, ten rebounds, eight
Speaker 2: assists to take control of the series. They win in
Speaker 2: six averages thirty points, eleven rebounds, six assists, three steals
Speaker 2: to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals. Game one
Speaker 2: against Boston thirty two and thirteen. Game two against Boston
Speaker 2: thirty four ten and seven, average thirty one and nineteen
Speaker 2: thirty one and nine on better than fifty percent shooting.
Speaker 2: For Games three, four, and five, but they lose all
Speaker 2: three and Boston was dancing on le Bron's grave saying
Speaker 2: horrible things to him. Were was Paul Pierce? They thought
Speaker 2: they had broken it? So what does he do in
Speaker 2: the famous Blueprint game, the game that if they lose,
Speaker 2: they're playing in Boston He's never won. The heatles are
Speaker 2: a joke. They're going to break up the team. How
Speaker 2: does he respond with what some would argue is the
Speaker 2: single finest game of his career. I would argue the
Speaker 2: most important game of his career, but only the second
Speaker 2: best game of his career. He has forty five points,
Speaker 2: fifteen rebounds, five assists on seventy three percent shooting, facing
Speaker 2: not just elimination but legacy devastation and tea annihilation. He
Speaker 2: had thirty points on fourteen shots in the first half
Speaker 2: of that game, and then in Game seven, it is
Speaker 2: tied going into the fourth quarter. Lebron has eleven in
Speaker 2: the fourth, Boston has fifteen in the fourth. Total, he
Speaker 2: finishes with thirty one and twelve averages for the series,
Speaker 2: thirty four points, eleven rebounds on fifty four percent for
Speaker 2: the series, and then Sweet Finals, Vindication and the Finals
Speaker 2: that ended in five, but in the beginning did not
Speaker 2: look like it was going to go that way. You're
Speaker 2: up against Katie Ross harden Abaca Game one thirty points,
Speaker 2: nine rebounds, four assists, four steals, but they lose. Then
Speaker 2: Game two thirty two eight and five twelve for twelve
Speaker 2: with the free throw line, including two to ice the game.
Speaker 2: After he gets that big stop on Durant with ten
Speaker 2: seconds left to win by four and tie this series.
Speaker 2: Game three twenty nine points, fourteen rebounds, Game four to
Speaker 2: twenty six points, nine rebounds, twelve assists, and then Game
Speaker 2: five to win his first title a triple double twenty
Speaker 2: six points, eleven rebounds, thirteen assists to win the title
Speaker 2: in finals. MVP for the series average twenty nine points,
Speaker 2: ten rebounds, seven assists, and for the playoffs average thirty points,
Speaker 2: ten rebounds, six assists, two steals, one block on fifty
Speaker 2: percent shooting. By the way, remember how I said he
Speaker 2: averaged twenty nine to ten and seven for the finals.
Speaker 2: That would be the worst finals he has the rest
Speaker 2: of his career. The worst. From that point forward, twenty thirteen,
Speaker 2: I would argue it's the greatest individual season NBA history.
Speaker 2: There's a twenty seven game winning streak. He is one
Speaker 2: vote away from being the first ever unanimous MVP. Gary
Speaker 2: Washburn never Forget It, voted for car Mellow Anthony and
Speaker 2: the guy who won. Lebron finished second Defensive Player of
Speaker 2: the Year, voting Mark Gasol one Defensive Player of the Year,
Speaker 2: but was not even voted First Team All Defense. Some
Speaker 2: very odd first All NBA voter or a Defensive Player
Speaker 2: of the Year. Stuff happened, which robbed Lebron of if
Speaker 2: you ask him privately or publicly, the one individual award
Speaker 2: that he is angriest about not winning is that Defensive
Speaker 2: Player the Year in twenty thirteen. But in twenty thirteen,
Speaker 2: he was the best defender in basketball. He was the
Speaker 2: best offensive player in basketball. More on that moment, and
Speaker 2: his team had an incomprehensible twenty seven game winning streak.
Speaker 2: On the offensive side of it, this is the ear
Speaker 2: he shot nearly fifty seven percent from the field, including
Speaker 2: sixty percent on twos and forty percent on threes. He
Speaker 2: opened the playoffs with a twenty seven point, ten rebound,
Speaker 2: eight assist game where he took eleven shots. He averaged
Speaker 2: twenty five points, eight rebounds, seven assists, on sixty three
Speaker 2: percent shooting in Round one in a sweep of Milwaukee
Speaker 2: Eastern Conference Finals. Game one, another thirty point triple double,
Speaker 2: thirty ten and ten, and the second playoff buzzer beater
Speaker 2: of his career. That's the one where he rezes past
Speaker 2: Paul George gets the layup for a buzzer beating layoup.
Speaker 2: He has thirty six and eight on seventy percent in
Speaker 2: Game two, but they lost, and this series is went
Speaker 2: win loss, win, lost, win loss. It ended up going seven.
Speaker 2: In that Game seven, he had thirty two and eight.
Speaker 2: He would at some point become the NBA's all time
Speaker 2: leading scorer in points per game in a game seven,
Speaker 2: something Durant has since passed him on, but we'll get
Speaker 2: there later. He starts the Finals off with eighteen, eighteen
Speaker 2: and ten, but in the first three finals games, the
Speaker 2: Spurs an interesting strategy, which is they were daring him
Speaker 2: to shoot or trying to make him a passer, does
Speaker 2: not letting him have any driving lanes, and he averaged
Speaker 2: only seventeen points per game in those first three games
Speaker 2: of the Finals, and then in Game four, down three
Speaker 2: to one, he has thirty three points and eleven rebounds.
Speaker 2: And then in Game six, facing elimination, the Ray Allen game.
Speaker 2: This is the This is the one game of Lebron's
Speaker 2: career that is the most unfairly regarded by NBA media
Speaker 2: and inaccurately remembered by the average fan. Yes, it's called
Speaker 2: the ray Allen game because ray Allen hit arguably the
Speaker 2: single biggest shot in NBA history. However, the context of
Speaker 2: that was this, going into the fourth quarter, the Heat
Speaker 2: were down ten Game six of the Finals, facing elimination again, Duncan, Kawhi, Manu, Tone,
Speaker 2: and Popovich down double digits, and Lebron in that fourth
Speaker 2: quarter has sixteen points in two assists, including of their
Speaker 2: first seventeen points of the quarter when they turned a
Speaker 2: ten point deficit into a Heat lead. He scored or
Speaker 2: assisted on sixteen of seventeen of them. Just a Birdman
Speaker 2: free throw was the one that he didn't have anything
Speaker 2: to do with, but he actually did because he threw
Speaker 2: the lob to Birdman where he got fouled. You just
Speaker 2: don't get assists on a free throw. And then down
Speaker 2: five with twenty five seconds left the possession before the
Speaker 2: ray Allen shot, he hits the three to cut it
Speaker 2: to two. Before Kawhi missus his free throw. They come
Speaker 2: back down, Lebron misses a three boss rebound rayund three overtime,
Speaker 2: finishes the game with thirty two points, ten rebounds, eleven assists,
Speaker 2: and three steals, facing elimination in the finals. Then in
Speaker 2: Game seven, Game seven of the finals, remember they were
Speaker 2: daring him to shoot the whole series, he makes five threes.
Speaker 2: He has thirty seven points, twelve rebounds, four assists, including
Speaker 2: after the heater up two Duncan misses that little bunny
Speaker 2: Kawhi is on Lebron. Lebron cans a twenty footer to
Speaker 2: go up four with twenty seconds left in the finals.
Speaker 2: He then steals the ball from Manu to steal the
Speaker 2: win and hits the free throws to ice the finals.
Speaker 2: Wins another Finals MVP. Now we're to twenty fourteen. He's
Speaker 2: going for the three peat. Has a severely compromised d
Speaker 2: Wade Round one sweep of Charlotte, Hey look at Charlotte
Speaker 2: making the playoffs. Thirty points, eight rebound, six assists on
Speaker 2: fifty seven percent shooting. That's his average for the series.
Speaker 2: Round two against Brooklyn with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce
Speaker 2: has one of my favorite Lebron games ever, Game four,
Speaker 2: Heat up to one. Paul Pierce demands publicly and privately,
Speaker 2: I got Lebron. Lebron knows that Lebron ties his playoff
Speaker 2: career high with forty nine points, does it on sixty
Speaker 2: seven percent shooting as they cruise to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Speaker 2: They cruise in the Eastern Conference Finals, pardon me the
Speaker 2: next round to a rematch with the Spurs to make
Speaker 2: his fourth straight finals, which, by the way, that Heat
Speaker 2: team becomes the first team since the eighties to make
Speaker 2: four consecutive finals. And those finals start with a great
Speaker 2: what if game Game one, and this showed you that
Speaker 2: at this point in twenty fourteen, the Heat were no
Speaker 2: longer a super team. Bosh was fine. Wade was a
Speaker 2: shell of himself. God love him, but he was how
Speaker 2: do I know it? Game one of the Finals. With
Speaker 2: seven minutes left in Game one of the Finals, Lebron
Speaker 2: has twenty five points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals.
Speaker 2: But if you remember, the air conditioning had gone out
Speaker 2: in the arena and Lebron cramps up. There's seven minutes
Speaker 2: left in the game, the Heater up four. They lose
Speaker 2: the game by fifteen points. They got outscored by nineteen
Speaker 2: points in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter
Speaker 2: to lose Game one. Game two, Lebron has thirty five points,
Speaker 2: ten rebounds, three assists, two steals, and the Heat win
Speaker 2: by two to even the series, and then the next
Speaker 2: three games the Spurs play essentially perfect basketball. They win
Speaker 2: in five despite Lebron for the series averaging twenty eight,
Speaker 2: eight and four, which is good but not amazing. What
Speaker 2: is amazing is this, he did it on fifty seven
Speaker 2: percent from the field and fifty one percent from three,
Speaker 2: so we averaged twenty eight and eight on fifty seven
Speaker 2: to fifty one splits. And they gave Finals MVP to
Speaker 2: the guy guarding him, who averaged eighteen points a game
Speaker 2: in the series and had two separate single digit point
Speaker 2: games in Kawhi. More on that in the moment. Twenty fifteen,
Speaker 2: back in Cleveland, if one of the most in over
Speaker 2: his head coaches in NBA history, David Black and a
Speaker 2: Cavs team full of guys who had never played in
Speaker 2: the playoffs, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and the other guys
Speaker 2: that were left over on the team. Round one sweeps Boston,
Speaker 2: averaging twenty seven to nine and seven in his first
Speaker 2: series back with Cleveland. Round two against Chicago, has thirty three,
Speaker 2: eight and five in Game two to even the series.
Speaker 2: In Game three, has a twenty seven point eight rebound,
Speaker 2: fourteen assist game, but they lose on the d Rose
Speaker 2: banked in buzzer beater. If you guys remember that. Then
Speaker 2: in Game four, that's when David Black tried to call
Speaker 2: a time out. They didn't have the refs let him
Speaker 2: get away with it. David Blatin then tried to call
Speaker 2: an inbounds play where Lebron is inbounding it with less
Speaker 2: than two seconds left in a tie game. Instead, Lebron
Speaker 2: scraps it, hits the shot from the corner, his third
Speaker 2: career true playoff buzzer beater, and ties the series. Finishes
Speaker 2: the game with twenty five to fourteen and eight. They
Speaker 2: would not lose again after that until Game one of
Speaker 2: the finals. In Game five, he had thirty eight to
Speaker 2: twelve and six to go up three to two. In
Speaker 2: the Eastern Converwens Finals, They're playing a sixty win Hawks
Speaker 2: team that everyone now just says sucks because it fits
Speaker 2: the narrative. But they did win sixty games. He swept them,
Speaker 2: including a game Game three of that series. Kevin Love
Speaker 2: has been out, remember, since the Boston series with a
Speaker 2: shoulder injury. Kyrie missed that game with dealing with a
Speaker 2: knee injury that would obviously rear up in the flare
Speaker 2: up in the finals make him miss the finals. So
Speaker 2: up to OH on the Hawks, he has thirty seven points,
Speaker 2: eighteen rebounds, thirteen assists. Up to oh against a sixty
Speaker 2: win team without your second and third best players, he
Speaker 2: has thirty seven points, eighteen rebounds, thirteen assists in an
Speaker 2: overtime win. He averaged with the conference finals thirty eleven
Speaker 2: and nine to make his fifth straight finals and become
Speaker 2: the only star player ever not on Russell Celtics were
Speaker 2: playing in the sixties to do that. So what happens
Speaker 2: in the finals? Okay, Lebron has an all time performance,
Speaker 2: but Kevin Love is injured in the Boston series as
Speaker 2: out for the playoffs. We mentioned Kyrie is injured in
Speaker 2: game one, but let's go through these finals. Lebron Game
Speaker 2: one of the Finals, the only game he got to
Speaker 2: play with Kyrie forty four points, eight rebounds, six assists,
Speaker 2: but they lose in overtime Game two of the Finals
Speaker 2: thirty nine points, sixteen rebounds, eleven assists, and they win
Speaker 2: in overtime Game three of the Finals forty points, twelve rebounds,
Speaker 2: eight assists, four steals, two blocks. They're up to one
Speaker 2: on the Warriors with Steph Clay, Draymond Barnes, Iguada the
Speaker 2: whole cruise there except for Durant. Lebron's starting lineup that
Speaker 2: game was him, Matthew Delavadova, Emon Schumper, Tristan Thompson, and
Speaker 2: Timothy Mosgov. Color me shocked. The team of the starting
Speaker 2: Tristan and Mosgov couldn't deal with the Warriors small ball
Speaker 2: lineup as the series evolved. Game four, Game five, pardon me.
Speaker 2: Lebron has forty points, fourteen rebounds, eleven assists, a forty
Speaker 2: point triple double, but they lose. Game six thirty two points,
Speaker 2: eighteen rebounds, nine assists, but they lose. So for the playoff,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry for the playoffs. Lebron averaged thirty eleven and
Speaker 2: nine for that series. He averaged thirty six, thirteen and nine.
Speaker 2: But again, the guy who held him to that gets
Speaker 2: Finals MVP for averaging sixteen to five and four So
Speaker 2: for a little context for the count, the rings count
Speaker 2: the finals MVPs guys in twenty fourteen and twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2: In those two NBA finals, Lebron James averaged thirty two
Speaker 2: eleven and seven, and he was considered by the people
Speaker 2: watching the series such a physically overwhelmingly dominant player that
Speaker 2: despite him averaging thirty two eleven and seven across those
Speaker 2: two series, they gave both finals MVPs to the guys
Speaker 2: guarding him, who averaged between them seventeen six and three.
Speaker 2: So they didn't get finals MVP Iguadala and Kawhi for
Speaker 2: their offense, it's because they slowed down Lebron allegedly, and
Speaker 2: they slowed him down to the tune of thirty two
Speaker 2: eleven and seven. And now we get to twenty sixteen,
Speaker 2: which is a very odd year. The Cavs fired David
Speaker 2: Blatt halfway through Tylu takes. Lebron seemingly was in cruise
Speaker 2: control all year and into the playoffs. The Cavs win
Speaker 2: their first ten playoff games and go twelve and two
Speaker 2: and root to the finals. That's one of the famous
Speaker 2: Lebron quotes when they were in that In the they win
Speaker 2: their first ten playoff games. They're playing Toronto in the
Speaker 2: conference finals and they lose the next two and Lebron's
Speaker 2: asked about adversity. He's like, yeah, I faced adversity in
Speaker 2: my career. This ain't it. And they obviously end up
Speaker 2: beating Toronto in game six. Game six was his first
Speaker 2: thirty point playoff game that season. He hadn't scored thirty once.
Speaker 2: Like I said, they were kind of coasting. Just clearly
Speaker 2: better that year with a healthy Kevin Love and a
Speaker 2: healthy Kyrie than everyone in the East. And then in
Speaker 2: the he gets to his sixth straight finals again, the
Speaker 2: only guy to do that that wasn't involved in Russell Celtics,
Speaker 2: and now the finals is interest okay, so, and by
Speaker 2: the way, for the Eastern Arvermens playoffs, he averaged twenty five,
Speaker 2: nine and seven on fifty five percent down oh two
Speaker 2: in the finals Game three, season on the line, thirty two,
Speaker 2: eleven and six, Game four, chance to even up the
Speaker 2: series at home twenty five thirteen, nine, two and three,
Speaker 2: but they lose, and now the series is over. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we hear Draymond gets suspended, but Clay is saying it's
Speaker 2: a man's league. Steph's being that Lebron needs to get
Speaker 2: out of his feelings. Steph is being called the best
Speaker 2: player in the league, and the Warriors are being compared
Speaker 2: to the showtime Lakers, as is this the greatest team
Speaker 2: evert And Lebron responds to that with the greatest and
Speaker 2: most important three game stretch in the history of the sport.
Speaker 2: Game five in San Francisco forty one points, sixteen rebounds,
Speaker 2: seven assists, three steals, three blocks. That is the game
Speaker 2: that while Draymond's not there, Okay, what would draymond have done?
Speaker 2: Calves won by double digits. Lebron had forty one. Very
Speaker 2: next game, Calves win by double digits, Lebron has forty one,
Speaker 2: and Draymond is back. Game six, forty one, eight, eleven,
Speaker 2: four and three. That was the game where the league
Speaker 2: MVP unanimous MVP Steph Curry got so frustrated he fired
Speaker 2: his mouthpiece and his wife said the league was rigged
Speaker 2: for ratings or money because Lebron had so mentally defeated them,
Speaker 2: including the a couple blocks of Steph where he kind
Speaker 2: of mean mugged them. Then Game seven, back in Oakland,
Speaker 2: Lebron plays forty seven of the forty eight minutes, has
Speaker 2: twenty seven points, eleven rebounds, eleven assists, two steals, three blocks.
Speaker 2: One of those blocks is, of course, the greatest defensive
Speaker 2: play in NBA history. In the fourth quarter of that game,
Speaker 2: Golden State was so worn out they had thirteen points.
Speaker 2: In the fourth quarter of that game, Lebron was so
Speaker 2: worn out he had eleven. Also in the final nine
Speaker 2: minutes of that game. The only points Cleveland scored that
Speaker 2: weren't scored by Lebron was the iconic Kyrie three, and
Speaker 2: of course he did have the free throw that actually
Speaker 2: iced the game. So that means after being down three
Speaker 2: to one and executing there the greatest comeback in NBA history,
Speaker 2: the only three to one comeback in finals history against
Speaker 2: a seventy three win team. With the unanimous MVP down
Speaker 2: three to one, Lebron James over the rest of the
Speaker 2: Finals averaged thirty six points, twelve rebounds, ten assists, three steals,
Speaker 2: three blocks, and became the first person ever and only
Speaker 2: person ever to lead an NBA Finals in all five
Speaker 2: categories for both teams, averaging thirty eleven, nine, three and two.
Speaker 2: So now he's the defending champion. It's twenty seventeen, and
Speaker 2: it is in some circles the best Calves team ever.
Speaker 2: I'm a believer of that. Unfortunately for the Calves, the
Speaker 2: Warriors had responded to losing to Lebron by adding Kevin Durant.
Speaker 2: But before we get there, let's talk about how they
Speaker 2: got back to the finals, which would of course be
Speaker 2: lebron seventh straight again, another record, another non Russell Celtics record,
Speaker 2: i should say, defending his title. He sweeps Indiana in
Speaker 2: Round one, averaging thirty three averaging thirty three, ten, nine,
Speaker 2: three and two. That was his averages thirty three, ten
Speaker 2: to nine, three to two, including in Game one a
Speaker 2: thirty six six, thirteen and three and in Game three
Speaker 2: to go a three to zero, another forty point triple double,
Speaker 2: a forty one thirteen to twelve, a forty point that.
Speaker 2: By the way, there have only been twelve of those
Speaker 2: in NBA history. Lebron's got three of them. Round two
Speaker 2: another sweep, this one against Toronto in Toronto. Against Toronto,
Speaker 2: when they sweep them, Lebron scored thirty five plus in
Speaker 2: every single game then opens these are conference finals with
Speaker 2: a thirty eight, nine and seven scores thirty four in
Speaker 2: Game four, thirty five in Game five, and they get
Speaker 2: to the finals. They went twelve and one to get back.
Speaker 2: How good was Lebron that year in twenty seventeen, Well,
Speaker 2: they went twelve and one in the playoffs. Lebron scored
Speaker 2: thirty or more eleven times and averaged en route to
Speaker 2: the finals thirty three points, eight rebounds, seven assists on
Speaker 2: fifty six percent shooting. Then in the finals, will give
Speaker 2: you all five games? Okay? Game one twenty eight points,
Speaker 2: fifteen rebounds, eight assists. They lose Game two twenty nine points,
Speaker 2: fourteen rebounds, eleven assists. They lose Game three, season on
Speaker 2: the line at home thirty nine points, eleven rebounds, nine assists,
Speaker 2: but Kadi hits the shot. They lose Game four, season
Speaker 2: truly on the line on one points, ten rebounds, eleven assists.
Speaker 2: They finally win, and then Game five season line again
Speaker 2: forty one points, thirteen rebounds, eight assists. So, after becoming
Speaker 2: the first and only player ever to lead the finals
Speaker 2: in all five categories for both teams, becomes the first
Speaker 2: and only player ever to average a triple double in
Speaker 2: the finals. In those finals against what many argue is
Speaker 2: the single greatest team Ever, Lebron James averaged thirty four points,
Speaker 2: twelve rebounds, cent assists and shot fifty six percent from
Speaker 2: the field. For those playoffs, he averaged thirty three nine
Speaker 2: to eight on fifty seven percent, and the very next
Speaker 2: year he would be better. So this is how you
Speaker 2: overcome twenty eleven with this type of run. Twenty eighteen
Speaker 2: an awful Caps team. The Kyrie trade derailed them. Kevin
Speaker 2: Love was in and out of the lineup. They were
Speaker 2: a mess. They they thought little Isaiah Thomas could help him.
Speaker 2: They thought Dwayne Wade could help him. Eventually, they were
Speaker 2: just thrilled to get George Hill and Larry Nance and
Speaker 2: Jordan Clarkson before Clerkson had really become the player he
Speaker 2: is now. And almost every single game of this playoff
Speaker 2: run deserves discussion. For time's sake, we won't do every
Speaker 2: single game of this playoff run, but we're gonna do
Speaker 2: a lot of them. Game one of the playoffs twenty
Speaker 2: four to ten and twelve, but they lose Game two,
Speaker 2: don't want to fall down oh two forty six, twelve
Speaker 2: and five to tie the series, Game four down to
Speaker 2: one thirty two, thirteen and seven, Game five. It is
Speaker 2: a tie game. With three seconds left on one end,
Speaker 2: he pins an ola depou shout against the backboard. On
Speaker 2: the other end, he hits the game winning three to win.
Speaker 2: The game finishes with forty four, ten and eight. That
Speaker 2: is his fourth career playoff buzzer beater. Then, in Game seven,
Speaker 2: sets the all time record for most points per game
Speaker 2: in Game seven history with a forty five point eight rebound,
Speaker 2: seven assists for steal game. For this series, he averaged
Speaker 2: thirty four to ten and eight. That's to get out
Speaker 2: of round one. Round two. They are heavy underdogs to Toronto.
Speaker 2: Toronto won fifty nine games that year. Toronto is the
Speaker 2: favorites to make the finals. Game one twenty six, eleven
Speaker 2: and thirteen in a win, Game two forty three, eight
Speaker 2: and fourteen in a win to steal both games in Toronto,
Speaker 2: Game three thirty eight, six and seven, including a running
Speaker 2: intentional bank shot to win the game at the buzzer
Speaker 2: his fifth career buzzer beater. Average for that series sweeping
Speaker 2: a fifty nine win Raptors team thirty four eight and
Speaker 2: eleven on fifty five percent shooting. Round three against Boston
Speaker 2: down oh one forty two, ten and twelve, another one
Speaker 2: of those forty point triple doubles. How many mean, that's
Speaker 2: three we've talked about. But they lose and they're down
Speaker 2: oh two. Game four, can't fall down oh three. He
Speaker 2: has forty four, five and three to even the series.
Speaker 2: Game six, down three to two, plays facing elimination, plays
Speaker 2: forty six minutes, has forty six points, eleven rebounds, nine
Speaker 2: er sys, three steals, and they win. And then Game
Speaker 2: seven plays all forty eight minutes. The team scores eighty
Speaker 2: seven points. He has thirty five of them. He has
Speaker 2: thirty five fifteen to nine, playing all forty eight and
Speaker 2: then in the finals, he starts the finals with the
Speaker 2: single greatest game anyone has ever played in basketball, the
Speaker 2: fifty one eight eight with just an awful team against
Speaker 2: the Warriors with Durant and Steph and Clay and Draymond
Speaker 2: and Iggy. But George Hill miss is the free throw
Speaker 2: and my guy Jr. Forgets the score and they lose
Speaker 2: in overtime. For that series. For those finals, in Game three,
Speaker 2: by the way, the last little gasp they had, he
Speaker 2: had thirty three to ten and eleven. For the Finals,
Speaker 2: he averaged thirty four to nine to ten. But it
Speaker 2: was lost after Game one. For the playoffs that year,
Speaker 2: Lebron James, without another top fifty player on his roster
Speaker 2: at that point in time, and the only one who
Speaker 2: might come close at certain times is Kevin Love was
Speaker 2: in and out of lineup, Lebron James averaged thirty four points,
Speaker 2: nine rebounds, nine assists. So that means in the twenty
Speaker 2: seventeen and twenty eighteen playoffs when Lebron was I would
Speaker 2: argue at his absolute apex that playoffs. He also set
Speaker 2: the all time record with eight forty point playoff games.
Speaker 2: Lebron James for those two postseasons, it's just incomprehensible. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna tell you the exact numbers quickly here he averaged
Speaker 2: over those two years, which again get used against him
Speaker 2: finals losses, Durrance rings, I get it. Those two playoffs
Speaker 2: he averaged combined thirty four points, nine rebounds, nine assists
Speaker 2: on fifty five percent shooting in against any team other
Speaker 2: than Durance Warriors. That's a three peat, and the third
Speaker 2: title comes without another All Star on the team. That's
Speaker 2: not how it went. Then in twenty nineteen, he goes
Speaker 2: to the Lakers, he gets hurt, suffers his first real
Speaker 2: injury and misses the playoffs for the first time in
Speaker 2: fifteen years. It's like, oh, is it over? Not quite
Speaker 2: twenty twenty? Earns. This is the underrated part of that season.
Speaker 2: First healthy year in the Western Conference. Earns. The one
Speaker 2: seed in the Western Conference get zero home playoff games
Speaker 2: out of it because they're in the bubble. So how
Speaker 2: does he do that? Postseason? Game one against Portland puts
Speaker 2: up a playoff game unlike any in NBA history. He
Speaker 2: has twenty three, seventeen, and sixteen, the only twenty fifteen
Speaker 2: and fifteen NBA playoff history. Game three to go up
Speaker 2: to one on Portland has thirty eight to twelve and eight.
Speaker 2: Game five to win the series, has thirty six, ten
Speaker 2: and ten he averages for the series, a twenty seven
Speaker 2: point triple double. Round two against Harden and Russ twenty
Speaker 2: six averages, twenty six, ten and seven with one thirty
Speaker 2: five point game. Western Normens Finals against Jokich. Game three,
Speaker 2: a thirty point triple double deciding Game five, thirty eight points,
Speaker 2: sixteen rebounds, ten assists, which by the way, was his
Speaker 2: third career playoff thirty five point, fifteen rebound tennisis game
Speaker 2: the rest of NBA history has eight combined. So when
Speaker 2: his first time in the Watting Conference playoffs, he goes
Speaker 2: twelve and three en route to the finals, playing Dame
Speaker 2: Hard and Russ and Joki and then a finals that,
Speaker 2: by any measure, is one of the ten greatest individual
Speaker 2: finals performances ever. And it just gets as soon as
Speaker 2: I said that, I'm sure you guys are like, what okay,
Speaker 2: But let me explain it to you. In those finals,
Speaker 2: he had at least twenty five plus every game, had
Speaker 2: at least nine rebounds every game, had at least seven
Speaker 2: assists every game, and shot at least fifty percent every game.
Speaker 2: The box scores are as follows twenty five, thirteen and nine,
Speaker 2: Game one thirty three to nine and nine, Game two,
Speaker 2: twenty five, ten and eight, Game three twenty eight to
Speaker 2: twelve and eight, Game four, and then in Game five,
Speaker 2: with a chance to win the title, forty points, thirteen rebound,
Speaker 2: seven assists, three steals on seventy one percent shooting. But
Speaker 2: that's the game. Markith Morris threw the ball out of
Speaker 2: bounds instead of throwing it to Lebron where he could
Speaker 2: hit a buzzer beat or win the championship. So they
Speaker 2: got to play a game six. How do you do
Speaker 2: in the game six? Twenty eight points, fourteen rebounds, ten
Speaker 2: assists on sixty five percent. For the finals, Lebron averaged
Speaker 2: thirty points, twelve rebounds, nine assists, on sixty percent from
Speaker 2: the field and forty one percent from three. That's in
Speaker 2: the NBA Finals against allegedly the league's best defense. For
Speaker 2: the playoffs, he averaged twenty eight points, eleven rebounds, nine assists,
Speaker 2: and shot an impossible fifty six percent. So that means
Speaker 2: in the nine years after the Dallas series, he made
Speaker 2: eight finals, won four titles. In those finals, played KD
Speaker 2: and Duncan and Kawhi and Steph and KD and all right,
Speaker 2: I said Kat twice, I'm sorry, and Clay pardon me.
Speaker 2: An average in those eight finals across all of them,
Speaker 2: this whole segment, what were his finals averages? Thirty points,
Speaker 2: eleven rebounds, eight assists, on fifty per shooting and thirty
Speaker 2: seven percent from three. So what does that mean is
Speaker 2: career playoff resume as a whole looks like again, I'll
Speaker 2: try to go through this quickly because I'm running out
Speaker 2: of bread. But he has the most playoff points ever.
Speaker 2: He has more than seventy six hundred. No one else
Speaker 2: has six thousand. He has the most playoff wins ever.
Speaker 2: He's never once missed a single playoff game. He's sixth
Speaker 2: all time in playoff points per game, second most playoff
Speaker 2: assists ever, the most playoff steals ever, the sixth most
Speaker 2: playoff rebounds ever, the tenth most playoff blocks ever. He
Speaker 2: has the most playoff games ever. He is the most
Speaker 2: playoff minutes ever, with more than eleven thousand. No one
Speaker 2: else has even ten thousand. Only Duncan has nine thousand.
Speaker 2: He has, of course, the most combined PO points ever
Speaker 2: regular season and playoffs will have the most of each
Speaker 2: individually midway through this year. In the in the finals,
Speaker 2: he is the second most points ever, not to Kareem
Speaker 2: or to Magic, but to Jerry West. He is the
Speaker 2: second most Finals assists ever, only to Magic, the second
Speaker 2: most Finals steals ever, only to Magic. He is the
Speaker 2: fourth most rebounds in the Finals, the sixth most blocks
Speaker 2: in the Finals, the fourth most Finals games behind only
Speaker 2: Bill Russell, Sam Jones, and Kareem, the third most Finals minutes,
Speaker 2: behind only Russell and Jerry West. He is the second
Speaker 2: most career Final Finals. The second most career Finals games
Speaker 2: with forty points with seven. Who has the most, not
Speaker 2: who you're thinking. Jerry West has the most with nine.
Speaker 2: He has eleven career Finals triple doubles. Second is Magic
Speaker 2: with eight. No one else has more than three. He
Speaker 2: has twenty eight career playoff triple doubles. That's the second
Speaker 2: most all time to Magic. He has nine seasons scoring
Speaker 2: at least five hundred points in the playoffs. That is
Speaker 2: the most all time. Second is Jordan thirteen times. He
Speaker 2: averaged at least twenty five points per game in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: That is tied for the most all time with Jordan.
Speaker 2: Twelve times. He averaged at least twenty five to five
Speaker 2: and five in the playoffs. That is the most all times.
Speaker 2: Second is Jordan with eight. He led the playoffs in
Speaker 2: total points six times, sort of assists six times, sold
Speaker 2: to rebound twice, Totle steals four times. He has one
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty two career playoff games of twenty five,
Speaker 2: to five and five. The second most is Jordan with
Speaker 2: seventy one. The third most is Kobe with fifty two.
Speaker 2: That means Jordan and Kobe combined did it one hundred
Speaker 2: and twenty three times. Lebron has done it one hundred
Speaker 2: and twenty two times. He has ninety two times in
Speaker 2: his career had thirty points, five rebounds five assists in
Speaker 2: a playoff game. Second most is Jordan with fifty one.
Speaker 2: Here's a fun one. He has a career playoff average.
Speaker 2: His average career playoff game is twenty nine, nine and seven.
Speaker 2: He's put up at least twenty nine to nine and
Speaker 2: seven thirty three times. Why is that a fun one?
Speaker 2: The second, third, and fourth guys on that list, Bird,
Speaker 2: Giannis and mj have done it exactly thirty three times combined.
Speaker 2: So Bird, Giannis and Jordan have done it the same
Speaker 2: combined times as Lebron has done it one hundred and
Speaker 2: eighteen times. His playoff career scored thirty points. That's the
Speaker 2: most all time. Twenty eight times in his playoff career
Speaker 2: scored forty points. That is the second most all time.
Speaker 2: He has sixty six career thirty point playoff double doubles.
Speaker 2: That is the most all times. Second most is Elgin Baylor.
Speaker 2: He has fifty nine career playoff games with thirty points
Speaker 2: and ten rebounds. That's the most all time. Twenty two
Speaker 2: career playoff games with thirty points in ten assists. That's
Speaker 2: the most all times. Second is MJ with fifteen. He
Speaker 2: has sixteen career playoff well forty point double doubles, that
Speaker 2: is the most all time. Secondest Will He has five
Speaker 2: career playoff games with forty points and ten assists. No
Speaker 2: one else has more than three. He has fifteen career
Speaker 2: playoff thirty point triple doubles. Second is Oscar with eight,
Speaker 2: and as I mentioned, he has three career playoff forty
Speaker 2: point triple doubles. Only Oscar has more than one. There
Speaker 2: have only been twelve in NBA history. There's the resume
Speaker 2: of the greatest player of the last fifty years and
Speaker 2: the greatest player of all time, Lebron James. Will take
Speaker 2: a break, and then we'll have some callers tell me
Speaker 2: why I'm wrong, and I will laugh at them. We'll
Speaker 2: be right back, all right, Welcome back in What's Right?
Speaker 2: Nick Wright, our final special edition of the fifty Greatest
Speaker 2: Players of the last fifty years, a project I've been
Speaker 2: working on for a couple of years, and for those
Speaker 2: of you that have watched or listened these episodes, I
Speaker 2: greatly appreciate it. I hope it shows the work I
Speaker 2: put into this. I'm looking at the Google doc that
Speaker 2: is just the general notes, not all the research, but
Speaker 2: the general notes for this, and it comes in at
Speaker 2: single spaced fourteen point type, comes in at seventy pages.
Speaker 2: And I hope that for those of you that have
Speaker 2: been that are listening to this, you just made it through.
Speaker 2: I mean, god, I don't know how long the lebron
Speaker 2: segment's been already an hour, and my guess is you
Speaker 2: appreciate it. But also if you just picked and chose
Speaker 2: the guys who want to listen to totally get it.
Speaker 2: But it could be a fun thing to download and
Speaker 2: just have on your phone for long plane rides where
Speaker 2: it's like, you know what, I've always wanted to hear
Speaker 2: good nine minutes on Bob McAdoo. I don't know if
Speaker 2: you've ever felt that way, but it's there for you
Speaker 2: if you'd like it. I hope this thing lives and
Speaker 2: breathes digitally for a long time and will adjust it
Speaker 2: as need be. Guys like Giannis or Staph or Durant,
Speaker 2: you know, move up the ranking. It's gonna take Luca
Speaker 2: a while to move up the rankings. As we ranked
Speaker 2: them pretty high. Also, I know I've been saying that
Speaker 2: this is our last special edition. We're still gonna be
Speaker 2: doing usually not always, but usually three pods a week.
Speaker 2: We're's gonna have something replacing the fifty aras Player's Last
Speaker 2: fifty Years list. But before we finally wrap up, we
Speaker 2: have done callers for all of these episodes, and our
Speaker 2: wonderful production staff that is an international production staff now
Speaker 2: in Los Angeles and across the pond in London. Sometimes
Speaker 2: they have done a great job getting us great guest
Speaker 2: for this They usually or sometimes let me preview these.
Speaker 2: They have not with this one. So let's go to
Speaker 2: our first caller right now.
Speaker 3: What an honor it is to be invited onto the
Speaker 3: hugely popular What's Right? Show featuring Demanse Bird with his
Speaker 3: sidekick Nick Right.
Speaker 5: Although I am a little.
Speaker 3: Offended that I was invited for the first time for reruns.
Speaker 3: I know technically this is your first time listening to
Speaker 3: this podcast and watching this video, but I mean, come on,
Speaker 3: you've heard this one before. Nick Wright has lebron as
Speaker 3: the greatest basketball player of all time?
Speaker 5: Can you believe it? He's number one on the list.
Speaker 3: Nick. People are shocked to hurt the presses. I'm gobsmacked.
Speaker 3: This video is gonna do numbers. Think of the engagement.
Speaker 3: But seriously, it wasn't a stud career move by my
Speaker 3: man Nick to memorize Lebron's basketball reference page. He's wrote
Speaker 3: it to riches and fame and fortune. Look at that
Speaker 3: change he's wearing. But anyway, I think it's dumb to
Speaker 3: compare Eras.
Speaker 5: Personally.
Speaker 3: Lebron is the greatest of his era, but he is
Speaker 3: a product of his era. He got to come into
Speaker 3: the sport out of high school, and sports science and
Speaker 3: sports medicine show that you should be taking care of
Speaker 3: your bonnie. Guy spends a million bucks a year on
Speaker 3: his bonnie. Tremendous, finely tuned athlete. Sorry, I'm gonna make
Speaker 3: the point about Eras in a second. I'm just gonna
Speaker 3: have some cereal here from an icon. But where was I?
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, million dollars a year on his body for Lebron. Unbelievable,
Speaker 3: great job. Timing is everything, though, wild night for Lebron
Speaker 3: is maybe a little Taco Tuesday and a six hundred
Speaker 3: dollars glassomer Low. Meanwhile, Jordan, we have ten Miller lights
Speaker 3: on the golf course shoot thirty six holes in the morning,
Speaker 3: then drop forty because it was a Tuesday, and then
Speaker 3: go to the blackjack tables and be the best scorer
Speaker 3: and defender and champion of his generation and the best
Speaker 3: champion of anyone.
Speaker 6: On your list, by the way, but listen, Unlike Nick,
Speaker 6: who has rode Lebron's career to fame and fortune, I'm
Speaker 6: not biased when I talk about this, and it is
Speaker 6: an honor to come on this show.
Speaker 3: But all I will say, as Nick's best friend of
Speaker 3: the last fifteen years or so, is that the guy
Speaker 3: doesn't own a single pair of Lebron's. He owns probably
Speaker 3: ten pairs of Jays, and he knows who the true
Speaker 3: goat is deep down inside. But congrats on the show man,
Speaker 3: great list.
Speaker 2: That's my pal Danny Parkins, who you can listen to
Speaker 2: on the Score in Chicago. Uh So, a couple things there,
Speaker 2: just quickly, if I may, You know how I know
Speaker 2: Jordan fans are realizing the arguments slipping away from him
Speaker 2: when for years they've said he's the goat, goat, goat,
Speaker 2: goat goat. And now you know what I hear more
Speaker 2: than I used to ads silly to compare eras ah sports,
Speaker 2: science and evolution. And you know, Lebron got to come
Speaker 2: out of high school while Michael Jordan had to learn
Speaker 2: from Dean Smith. By the way, most of my own
Speaker 2: older than Jordan came out of high school. But the
Speaker 2: other part that Danny said that is just laughable on
Speaker 2: its face, is, oh, in today's era, we know how
Speaker 2: to take care of our body. Yes, that's true, but
Speaker 2: in no era did anyone think that it was a
Speaker 2: good idea to gamble and drink and smoke cigars all night.
Speaker 2: Jordan just chose to do it, so that, you know
Speaker 2: what that argument falls on. Deaf ears my friend. Plus
Speaker 2: Danny's from Chicago. Likely he's like all these guys, there's
Speaker 2: lifelong Jordan fans. They can't get over it. All right,
Speaker 2: who else do we have? That's my best friend? Who
Speaker 2: else do we have?
Speaker 5: Oh my gosh, what a surprise. Nick Wright makes Lebron
Speaker 5: James number one on his list once again. You know,
Speaker 5: it's okay that you missed a bunch of family events,
Speaker 5: you know, to work, to work on this major list
Speaker 5: that you've gotta get done, you know, just to do
Speaker 5: with literally everyone on the planet knew that you were
Speaker 5: going to do and expected you to do. But no,
Speaker 5: that's totally fine. Good heart work, Nicholas, good job.
Speaker 3: Good job.
Speaker 2: That is my older daughter, Diora, the only member of
Speaker 2: the family who has not been on this podcast live.
Speaker 2: My wife is hosted. My son hosts all the time.
Speaker 2: It's his he's the co host. My youngest daughter has
Speaker 2: done it. Deora refuses to do it, and instead she
Speaker 2: comes on the show just to Roastmick. So you know what,
Speaker 2: that's a perfect encapsulation, a perfect end of the list.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it everyone who has watched these videos. We
Speaker 2: might have a special addition sometime before football season of
Speaker 2: someone who was on the list, someone who was in
Speaker 2: the top twenty of the list, joining us for what
Speaker 2: would just be our second guest ever on the show.
Speaker 2: Lil Wayne Plus, this person will be our second to
Speaker 2: you know, go back and forth with me about the list.
Speaker 2: But aside from that, it is time to put this
Speaker 2: project to bed. Dior is right. I have spent a
Speaker 2: lot of time. I don't know if I've missed family events,
Speaker 2: but I have been otherwise occupied. So now we set
Speaker 2: it aside, which is a perfect time to transition into
Speaker 2: football season. We will talk to you guys on Tuesday.
Speaker 2: Appreciate you watching for one last time. It is the
Speaker 2: fifty greatest players of the last fifty years on What's
Speaker 2: Right with Nick Right