LeBron's 8 Straight Finals: More Impressive Than You Remember

Snapchat: Dom_2k

The 2023 playoffs have come to a conclusion, and we've yet to have a repeat conference champion since the Warriors broke up.
Specifically in the East, I believe it highlighted some reasons why despite the common criticisms, LeBron's 8 straight finals appearances are more impressive than you remember.

[Butterman]

Bron really made going to the finals look so easy even though its not

[SuperNASCARrocks]

To even make 1 finals is hard. But to make 8 straight is beyond impressive. And each run had it’s own set of adversity. LeBron’s run to 8 straight was insane.

[jeremiahsmith]

This video was needed. Nobody remembers Bosh getting hurt in the playoffs in 2012. Nobody remembers kyrie limping through the 2015 playoffs. Nobody remembers 50/50 games, moments coming down to the wire yet somehow LeBron's team ends up on top. Nobody remembers LeBron going beast mode in deciding games where its do or die. You can talk about the competition all you'd like, but don't leave out the rest of the important details.

[Awesomeness]

2018 did a lot for his legacy imo.

Especially when you consider the mid season nuke

[Ismaeltheog]

as a boston fan seeing him go against paul garnett and allen to smart tatum and brown was insane in real time

[phothewin]

I doubt we'll ever see another player do this again.

[Emmanuel-ypeq]

I truly believe there will be no other NBA player to accomplish a feat like that
You can say what you want about competition and what not but making the Finals 8 straight seasons and being healthy for all seasons, that is unheard of in sports

[ajinc.]

That 2018 pacers series was so dire at one point people forget. And most people has the cavs losing to the Celtics coming into that series. And let’s not forget the raptors were considered one of the best TEAMS in the league, not just eastern conference.

[UniqueHandles]

The Warriors and Heat have been in the Finals 12 out of the last 13 times and have somehow never played each other. LeBron played in 10 of those and played against both teams.

[BigGT]

9 Finals in 10 years the modern era will never see anything like this again. 🐐

[KH-noph]

Great piece. One added note on LeBron's "stacked" teams. Play-by-play data tells us that Bron's teams, when he wasn't on the floor those eight seasons, scored 17, 310 points and gave up 18, 040 points to their opponents, which translates to a 29-win team (in an 82-game season). I wouldn't call that stacked. Yes he played with some all-stars, but in the Cleveland years, when Kyrie was on the floor and Bron sat, the Cavs were just as bad as before LeBron came back to Cleveland. (In the minutes with Kyrie on the floor but not Bron, the Cavs were equivalent to a 35-win team.) And even in Miami, the Heat when Wade and Bosh were on the floor without Bron were only an even-up team (points and points allowed about even), while Bron with either of the other stars had success equivalent to a 64-win team; with all three stars the Heat were equivalent to a 70-win team. You could argue that some of this is LeBron's fault: always wanting to play with other star players, he was on a lot of top-heavy teams that didn't have enough rebounding, enough this or that--they were thin. But whereas Bron in those years was always successful in any configuration (in Miami, when Bron played without either Wade OR Bosh, the Heat were STILL equivalent to a 52-win team), the other stars could never carry those thin teams when Bron sat.

[glupshitto]

The fact that some people try to knock this accomplishment by saying he didn’t win them all is unbelievable. Goes to show how little people know about basketball.

[YouCallThataKnife]

I think another impressive aspect of all his Finals runs, is the lack of consistency of roster. Obviously, Dom talked about the impact of injury, but he was also doing this with a variety of rosters; no two years the same

[almightyyeezydab]

I’m glad you’re makin dis vid Dom cuz I remember 2017-18 a lot of your videos used to discredit LeBrons dominance at that time calling the eastern conference a “cakewalk” glad you came around and accepted greatness

[alejandrojimenez]

This feels like such a classic Dom video, I love it so much, you always have such genuine well thought out takes that will never stop being enjoyable to watch and talk about.

[danielvasquez]

It’s the greatest streak since them 60s Celtics!! I don’t think it’ll be matched!!

[somregularguy]

It’s insane to see just how much he really is hated, like you don’t have to be a fan and have him as your GOAT but he’s literally the greatest basketball player ever topped only by MJ, his resume and accolades are stacked, he’s a athletic anomaly in our sport, any all time stats list and there’s a 90% chance he’s on that list, you can’t even just use the “longevity” excuse when players who’ve played as long as he has or longer still don’t measure up to the stats he’s put up, he’s had the longest prime of any NBA player bar none. He had an unprecedented amount of hype as a kid and somehow even then still blew the expectations out of the water, he’s clearly suffered from his own success back in his prime where’d he’d take rosters way past their limits like the 07 Cavs who had no business going into the finals, or the 2018 Cavs when everyone counted them out, he’s had his moments of failure like 2011 but like I said you don’t need to be a fan but you have to pay respect where respect is due and he’s more than earned it

[Dmv_jay]

What’s crazier is he got injured in 2019 so he couldn’t make the finals then 2020 came and he’s right back in and wins the championship

[dreykmamitag]

LeBron made it to the finals so many times in a row people started thinking it was easy to get there. Here we are having different teams and different set of players in the finals since then. That's sooo wild.

[IAmMicxh]

Seriously….if the Warriors didn’t go nuclear with KD, Bron would probably have 2 more