WITNESSing Greatness: LeBron James’ Playoff Numbers After Historic NBA Finals

LeBron James made a historic run at the NBA Playoffs record books with another momentous postseason run which culminated in an NBA championship.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have done the impossible, winning the championship after going down 3-1 in the 2016 NBA Finals thanks to LeBron James. After a sub-par first few games for the King, James made witnesses of believers and non-believers alike with an epic performance in the 2016 NBA Finals.

As impossible to beat as the Golden State Warriors seemed, James willed his team to victory on the strength of back-to-back 41-point games in Games 5 and 6, and a triple-double coupled with an epic block of Andre Iguodala in Game 7.

During these Finals, James became the only player in NBA history in the top five in points, rebounds, assists, and steals in postseason history. At the same time, the NBA’s reigning King also finished in the top five in field goals, free throws, and three-point field goals made. However, LeBron also committed a ghastly number of turnovers as well.

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Despite that, James played like a cheat-coded NBA 2K16 player with a historic Finals virtuoso performance for the ages. It was only fitting that he was unanimously named as the NBA Finals MVP for the third time in his career.

Below is a summary of James’ accomplishments in the NBA record books for the 2016 Finals and his total numbers this past postseason:

• Games – Because the Finals reached seven games, James was able to move ahead of Karl Malone and Danny Ainge (tied at 193), and Manu Ginobili (197) to secure 9th place in most career playoff games played at 199. Next year, he’ll join eight others on the list with at least 200 games under their playoff belts.
• Points – James (5,572) finished in fourth place all-time and just 68 points shy of overtaking recent Lakers retiree Kobe Bryant (5,640) for third place in points. After the first two or three games of next year’s playoffs, he’ll be in the top three. Then, it’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at second place with 5,762 career points. If the Cavs advance further in the playoffs all the way to the Finals again, James has a chance to be the top scorer in NBA playoffs history supplanting the great Michael Jordan (5,987).
• Rebounds – After the first game of the 2016 NBA Finals, James overtook Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird (1,683) for 10th place in career playoff rebounds. It would take four more games until the Cavs’ small forward also moved past L.A. Lakers Hall-of-Famer Elgin Baylor (1,724) to take sole possession of the 9th spot in playoffs rebounding with 1,758 boards total.

LeBron (1,965) made 81 field goals in the Finals to remain in 6th place but within striking distance of the Spurs’ future Hall-of-Famer Tim Duncan (1,975)

• Assists – James recorded 1,348 assists in these playoffs, finishing in third place ahead of such all-time assist masters such as Jason Kidd, Tony Parker, Larry Bird, and Steve Nash. But John Stockton (1,839) is so far ahead in second place that it will take him three-to-four years before he passes the Utah Jazz playmaker. That’s why despite stellar assists numbers in the Finals, James barely moved closer to Stockton’s record. Meanwhile, Magic Johnson (2,346) is sitting comfortably as he’s light years ahead of both of them.

• Steals – In Game 2, LeBron took down Stockton (338) from his lofty 4th place position in the steals department. He had 18 steals total in the Finals and finished the 2016 playoffs with 354 steals total, just four shy of 3rd placer Magic Johnson who has 358. By next year, he has a chance to take 3rd, 2nd (Jordan, 276), and 1st place (Pippen, 395) with an extended postseason run.
• Blocks – In Game 3, James passed Horace Grant (173) for 23rd place in the playoffs and in Game 7, replaced Scottie Pippen (185) from the 22nd spot in the category. He is now tied with Kevin Garnett (186) for 21st in blocks. Recording 16 blocks in the Finals, James had perhaps the most significant swat of his career in the aforementioned seventh game. When he records 25 more blocks next season, James will be the only player (once again) in the top 20 in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He’s still far from the top ten but he’ll eventually get there after three to four playoff runs.

In Game 6 of the Finals, James (287) took 5th place from Derek Fisher (285) in three-point field goals for the playoffs.

• Field Goals Made – LeBron (1,965) made 81 field goals in the Finals to remain in 6th place but within striking distance of the Spurs’ future Hall-of-Famer Tim Duncan (1,975) for 5th place. He will likely get there in a game or two depending on Duncan’s status for next season. Bryant (2014), and Shaquille O’Neal (2041) are also next at 4th and 3rd place, respectively.
• Free-Throws Made – James was only making roughly 65 percent of his free throws in the postseason until the Finals. Though he wasn’t exactly making anybody forget Cavs’ free-throw king Mark Price (a career 90 percent free-throw shooter), he made more than his usual share with 72-percent. By adding 31 made freebies in the Finals, James (1,355) took a few steps closer to first place occupied by none other than Jordan (1,463). That could happen next year, too.

• Three-Pt Field Goals Made – In Game 6 of the Finals, James (287) took 5th place from Derek Fisher (285) in three-point field goals for the playoffs. By next year, he’ll race past Bryant (292) in just a few games.
• Turnovers – Finally, after turning the ball over 31 times in the Finals, James took first place in career turnovers for the playoffs with 700. It was Magic’s record (696) until LeBron tied him with the most number of turnovers in an NBA Finals series. The top ten, however, suggests that great players take more risks than others resulting in a high volume of career turnovers. The list also includes, Shaq, Kobe, Duncan, Pippen, Tony Parker, Dwyane Wade, Malone, and Jordan.

At the conclusion of the 2016 NBA Playoffs, here’s how LeBron’s career standing looks like:

• Games: 199 (9th)
• Points: 5,572 (4th)
• Rebounds: 1,758 (9th)
• Assists: 1,348 (3rd)
• Steals: 354 (4th)
• Blocks: 186 (T-21st)
• Field Goals Made: 1,965 (6th)
• Free-Throws Made: 1,355 (2nd)
• Three-Pt Field Goals Made: 287 (5th)
• Turnovers: 700 (1st)
• Triple-Doubles: 16 (2nd)

*All stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.

This concludes the 2015-16 NBA season’s WITNESSing Greatness series where we kept you up-to-date on the King’s record-breaking season. Next season promises to be another run at NBA legends falling by the wayside of LeBron’s assault on the record books.

Next: How Does The NBA Draft Impact The Cavs?

Thanks for keeping up with me this season and I hope you join me again next time!