Lebron: The Best Basketball Player

Remember the last time LeBron James matched up against a player that was supposed to be in his stratosphere in the NBA Finals? By the time the Oklahoma City Thunder matched up against the Miami Heat in 2012, Kevin Durant was universally considered the second best player in the world. Durant was great in that series, but LeBron showed us just how big the gap between the best and the second best really was. He 's doing it again.

Stephen Curry was the league’s most valuable player this season and clearly the best player on the best team. He should be able to show he is a close second to LeBron in this series, right? He is not even close. In fact, no one in history may be close to this version of King James.

You can argue that no player in NBA history has been this important to a team 's success. I am not one for analytics. The eye test shows LeBron’s brilliance, but the stats solidify it. An easy way to measure just how important a player’s importance to his team is usage percentage, a number of a team’s offensive plays a player is used on, whether by shooting, creating a shot for a teammate, or turning the ball over. After last night’s Game 5, LeBron’s usage rate was 41.3 percent, according to

Jerry West is the only player in NBA history that has been awarded the MVP as a member of the losing team. With LeBron’s 40 point, 14 rebound, and 11 assist Game 5, he joined West as the only player with a 40 point triple-double in the NBA Finals. West had 42, 13, 12 in the Lakers ' 108-106 Game 7 loss to the Celtics on May 5, 1969. This stat line was not out of the norm. LeBron is averaging 34.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 9.5 assists, and 1.5 steals. Since 1985, there have been eleven 35-point, eight rebound, six assist games in the finals. Three of them have been by LeBron James in this series. He now has six NBA Finals triple-doubles for his career, only two behind Magic Johnson’s all time