3 times elite playoff series from all time greats weren’t enough (A thread)

Player legacies are often judged by Team Accomplishments such as championships and series wins . However, no all-time great has a perfect record in playoff series and a lot of that has to do with their team losing DESPITE their best efforts.

In this thread, I look at the best series in losses from:

Michael Jordan
LeBron James
Kobe Bryant

MJ- 1986 First Round vs Celtics

43.7 PPG!
6.3 RPG, 5.7 APG, 2.3 SPG, 1.3 BPG
58.4% TS
30.6 Gamescore
Playoff record 63 points in Game 2 OT Loss
112 points in the first 2 games!

Bulls got Swept

LeBron James- 2009 ECF vs Magic
(HM:2017 Finals)

39/8/8 on 59% TS
29.3 Gamescore
Led both teams in scoring in 5 of the 6 games
After game 4, was down 3-1 despite averaging 42/7/7
Averaged 9.8 4th quarter points a game which included a buzzer beater game winner
Cavs lost in 6

Kobe Bryant- 2006 First Round vs Suns

28-6-5 statline
50/41/77 splits, 59% TS
In game 4, scored 24 points on insane efficiency (68.5% TS) which included shots to tie and win the game
Dropped 50 points in game 6 including 12 overtime points

Lakers lost in 7

Conclusion: When assessing individual players, CONSIDERING CONTEXT OF THEIR SITUATION IS ESSENTIAL

Thanks for reading. If you're interested in more details about each series (as well as the honorable mentions) , check out this link on my new website/blog. https://karanjain16.wordpress.com/2020/11/11/3-times-elite-playoff-series-from-all-time-greats-werent-enough/