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Lakers: The 5 worst playoff games of LeBron James’ career

By Jason Reed

DALLAS, TX - JUNE 07: LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat wipes his face with his jersey against the Dallas Mavericks in Game Four of the 2011 NBA Finals at American Airlines Center on June 7, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - JUNE 07: LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat wipes his face with his jersey against the Dallas Mavericks in Game Four of the 2011 NBA Finals at American Airlines Center on June 7, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) – LeBron James
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) – LeBron James /

1. LeBron James collapses against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals

Anyone that argues against LeBron James’ all-time status in the NBA is naturally going to bring up this NBA Finals. This is undoubtedly the biggest smudge on LeBron’s career as the star-studded Miami Heat were bested by Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks were one of those rare teams that come around once every 20 years where everything just happens to click at the right time. They are the basketball equivalent of the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles.

It was not bad enough that the Heat lost this series to the Mavericks despite having much more talent. What made it even worse was the fact that LeBron played extremely poorly. It is not like he was great and carried a team to the NBA Finals. He let his team down when they needed him the most.

The worst of the games was Game 4, a game that the Heat lost by only three points and could have won if LeBron was not playing so bad. LeBron scored eight points with nine rebounds and seven assists while shooting 3-11 from the field with four turnovers.

He was passive. He did not look like the king. Dwyane Wade was forced to take control of not only this game but this series and at the time, it felt like LeBron would never be able to get over the hump (how silly does that sound now?).

In the six-game series LeBron averaged 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists. Most players would love to have that statline but it was terrible for a superstar that was supposed to will his team to the promised land.

Next. 50 greatest Lakers of all-time. dark

Michael Jordan never lost a playoff series like this, let alone an NBA Finals. It is the best argument that a non-LeBron James fan can make.