SUMMARY
- LeBron James and Kyrie Irving achieved a 39-13 in the playoffs including six series sweeps
- James achieved a 58-28 record in the playoffs with Dwyane Wade.
Over the years, LeBron James has given fans several reasons to praise him, especially during the playoff runs he’s had. Ever since coming into the league, James has only missed the playoffs four times in 21 seasons (2004, 2005, 2019, and, 2022). And this season marked the second time he’s experienced a first-round exit as well. The Los Angeles Lakers have been the worst team James has been with in terms of playoff success. He has a 27-21 record with the Lakers.
Most points scored in NBA History including playoffs:
48,636 — LeBron James
44,149 — K. Abdul-Jabbar
41,689 — Karl Malone
39,283 — Kobe Bryant
38,279 — Michael Jordan
35,223 — Dirk Nowitzki
35,026 — Wilt Chamberlain
33,909 — Kevin Durant
33,846 — Shaq O’Neal
31,668 — Tim Duncan pic.twitter.com/jZuZSubwxE— BronMuse (@BronMuse) May 4, 2024
But James dominated the late 2000s and the 2010s in its entirety, winning four NBA titles in the mix. The 4x League MVP has also played with some of the biggest talents the NBA has ever accommodated such as Kyrie Irving, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. While Bosh and Wade were on the Miami Heat with James, Irving played with him for three years on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James had a higher playoff win percentage with Kyrie Irving
LeBron James made three straight NBA Finals appearances alongside Kyrie Irving between 2014 and 2017. During that period, the Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA Champion while the duo put up historic numbers and became the first pair of teammates to produce 41 points each in a playoff game. Overall, James and Irving achieved a 39-13 in the playoffs which included six series sweeps. Their win percentage together in the playoffs was .750 in 52 games.
But when The King played with the Miami Heat superteam, he achieved a 58-28 record in the playoffs. While 58 wins may seem like a great number, their win percentage was only .674 in the playoffs. They only achieved two clean sweeps while a majority of their matchups were pushed to either Games 5 or 6. And it’s obvious, the Lakers have barely lived up to that level of success.
Kyrie Irving was more of an offensive threat than Dwyane Wade
While most people still debate about it, Kyrie Irving is undoubtedly the most skilled player we’ve ever seen in NBA history. His game speaks for itself, as he can shoot the ball, play well in the clutch, defend at a high level, can play make, and rebound well. Wade had very similar characteristics to his game, but his numbers weren’t as high while LeBron James led the way.
Kyrie averaged 23.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 46.5% from the field, 41.5% from deep, and 87.6% from the charity stripe with LeBron. Wade averaged 20.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game shooting 47.5% on fewer attempts than Irving and 29.8% from deep as well as 75.5% from the free throw line. Defensively, they were identical but Kyrie certainly fared well offensively alongside a ball-dominant LeBron James.