How Many Times Has LeBron James Been To NBA Finals?
LeBron James has been to the NBA Finals almost every year for a decade.
He’s repeated his trips seven straight times, with eight appearances in total. To add some perspective to how much of an illustrious feat this is, Kobe Bryant has been to the finals seven times, Magic Johnson showed up eight times and the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was in 10 and Bill Russell made it a record with 12 rings.
If James loses this year, you can’t overlook the fact that he has taken his teams, some good, some not so good, to compete on the biggest stage an insane number of times. He’s dominated the Eastern Conference his entire tenure — eight out of 14 years he has been active, to be exact — with no evidence of letting up.
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It only took James four years into his career to reach the ultimate showdown. Back in 2007, he led his squad to a second seed in the Eastern Conference with a 50-32 overall record, swiftly toppling all his combatants, specifically Washington (4-0), New Jersey (4-2) and Detroit (4-2). He went on to take on the Spurs in the first of many Finals meetings.
LeBron James shoots a jump shot Photo: Getty Images
James won a couple of titles with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade when he took his talents to South Beach Miami and finally gifted a title to his hometown Cavaliers last year. After going to Florida to be the missing piece in Miami's "Big 3," James won a title in 2012 beating the Thunder and 2013 over the Spurs. He also lost in 2011, his first year in Miami, and in back-to-back years appearance in 2014 and 2015 with Miami and then Cleveland.
All in all, he's 3-4 in the NBA finals.
Michael Jordan has six NBA titles — all with the Chicago Bulls. Bill Russell picked up 11 NBA championships as a player, the all-time record.
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Before the playoffs started, James said that he has nothing else to prove as far his NBA legacy, naming two titles he picked up with the Miami Heat and coming back home to give one to Cleveland which quieted most of his toughest critics. But even he has acknowledged that another trip to the NBA Finals — an extraordinary seventh-straight — would look fantastic on his already decorated resume.
"I think it's going to be great for my legacy, once I'm done playing the game and can look back on the game and say, 'Oh, this guy went to three straight Finals, four straight Finals, five, six whatever,'" James told ESPN. "I think it's great to be talked about, see what I was able to accomplish as an individual."
James' legacy is undoubtedly one of the most profound we’ve seen, as he will go down as one of the greatest to ever bounce a ball on the hardwood. And if he and the Cavaliers are competent enough to beat this Warriors team after adding superstar Durant, even the most nagging LeBron haters will have trouble discrediting his NBA career.
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