The Misconception Around the LeBron vs. Jordan Finals Argument

How is getting swept in the first round more impressive than losing in the Finals?

Sports punditry and analysis is always full of bad arguments and poorly thought-out opinions. But the worst sports argument of the past decade concerns LeBron James.

LeBron has played in the NBA Finals nine of the last ten years and ten total. He’s led a team to the Finals in each conference. And critics point out that he’s won *only* four.

His record in the Finals is 4–6. And that means he sucks.

Forget the fact that he’s in the conversation as the greatest all-around player most of us have ever witnessed. Forget that he’s been under a microscope since high school. Forget that he drags teams full of CYO players, D-League castoffs, and Old Timers legends to the final round every single year. Forget that he’s done it in three cities with three completely different sets of teammates. Forget that in those ten years, he’s had the lesser team at least seven times, including running into a superteam, possibly the greatest team ever, one that added an all-time great player to the squad with the greatest regular season record in history.