LeBron has been so dominant, that he is the leading scorer on both teams of a playoff series 70% of the time.

I looked at each of LeBron James’ 57 career playoff series and pulled every instance where another player on either team averaged more points per game than LeBron over the course of the series.

If multiple players outscored him in the same series, I included all of them. I also included ties, marked with an asterisk.

Year

Series

Player

Team

PPG

2007

Finals

Tony Parker

Spurs

24.5

2011

ECSF

Dwyane Wade

Heat

30.2

2011

Finals

Dwyane Wade

Heat

26.5

2011

Finals

Dirk Nowitzki

Mavericks

26.0

2011

Finals

Chris Bosh

Heat

18.5

2011

Finals

Jason Terry

Mavericks

18.0

2012

1st Round

Carmelo Anthony*

Knicks

27.8

2012

Finals

Kevin Durant

Thunder

30.6

2014

ECF

Paul George

Pacers

24.0

2016

1st Round

Kyrie Irving

Cavaliers

27.5

2017

Finals

Kevin Durant

Warriors

35.2

2020

1st Round

Anthony Davis

Lakers

29.8

2020

WCSF

James Harden

Rockets

29.4

2020

WCF

Anthony Davis

Lakers

31.2

2021

1st Round

Devin Booker

Suns

29.7

2023

1st Round

Ja Morant

Grizzlies

24.6

2023

1st Round

Desmond Bane

Grizzlies

23.5

2023

WCSF

Stephen Curry

Warriors

26.7

2023

WCF

Jamal Murray

Nuggets

32.5

2023

WCF

Nikola Jokic*

Nuggets

27.8

2024

1st Round

Nikola Jokic

Nuggets

28.2

2025

1st Round

Luka Doncic

Lakers

30.2

2025

1st Round

Anthony Edwards

Timberwolves

26.8

2026

WCSF

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Thunder

24.5

Tied LeBron in PPG rather than outscoring him.

That’s 17 of 57 series (29.8%) in which LeBron was outscored by at least one player.

There are 22 individual player-series instances of someone outscoring him, plus the two ties above.

I also pulled the same analysis for Michael Jordan:

ERROR: DATA NOT FOUND

Jordan played 37 playoff series.

There isn’t one.

Across all 37 series, no teammate or opponent ever averaged more PPG than Michael Jordan.

37 series. 37 times as the outright leading scorer across both teams.

OutlaW32 | NBA

40 | 4 hours ago

The 2011 finals was brutal

Fletch71011 | CHI

-19 | 4 hours ago

If he doesn’t have that series, there is serious consideration for having him as all time GOAT over Jordan. That unfortunately ended it.

RatherDashing66

15 | 3 hours ago

I honestly don’t know if he accomplishes everything since without that series. That took him to a dark place and massacred the league the next couple years.

Fletch71011 | CHI

-14 | 3 hours ago

I don’t think you’re wrong, but Jordan never had a bad series even remotely close to what LeBron put up. LeBron will have the better career in the end but there isn’t an argument for peak or playoff performance over MJ because of that series.

Apprehensive-Tip3153

7 | 3 hours ago

He still has serious consideration with that series lol

Fletch71011 | CHI

-2 | 3 hours ago

They’re 1a and 1b. I’m saying he had a shot to be #1 alone until that happened.

You can have either of them as 1 all time and not be wrong, but that series was damaging enough to keep him from completely separating himself from Jordan.

yungdep

1 | 3 hours ago

highly disagree. its the fact that he is indeed the goat DESPITE those fairly atrocious 2011 finals that makes him so special.

rawspeghetti | BOS

15 | 4 hours ago

I’ll never get over how bad LeBron played in the 2011 Finals. He was legit getting out played by JJ Barea.

nextballanalyst

8 | 3 hours ago

Never forget the amazing triple single (8-9-7) he had in I believe game 4. He shot ³⁄₁₁ and scored 0 points in the entire 4th quarter of a close game his team lost by 3 points.

Psychological-Ad3527

2 | 2 hours ago

I remember that JJ would fall over as soon as LeBron would move towards the basket which would be an offensive foul on LeBron. It was crazy it worked on LeBron and also that the refs didn’t ever give him the benefit of the doubt on any of those drives.

EmperorUmi | LAL

13 | 4 hours ago

I think you should’ve added an indicator of a player being his teammate and outscoring him.

PottedPiss | MIN

10 | 4 hours ago

Terry Cummings averaged .2 more points than MJ in his first playoff run

MindfulInquirer

4 | 4 hours ago

would be interesting to see MJ’s stats on this lol

DaRealHermit [OP]

7 | 4 hours ago

MJ data not found

37 series.

100% the leading scorer.

SUPERSAMMICH6996 | CLE

9 | 4 hours ago

Terry Cummings outscored him.

stratewylin | NYK

1 | 24 minutes ago

My favorite trivia question & answer

TouristNecessary2581

3 | 4 hours ago

What about Lauri Markham, he was also never outscored in the playoffs

prionzeta

4 | 4 hours ago

This shows how on another level MJ was.

The1AndOnlyJZ | LAL

7 | 4 hours ago

Great engagement bait

Tjengel | MIL

23 | 4 hours ago

³⁶⁄₃₇ the one sole 1985 series against the bucks legend terry cummings lead 29.5 ppg to mjs 29.3 ppg. Id call that 99.9% of mjs he lead both teams

ArrogantAragorn

10 | 4 hours ago

In his first playoff series he was outscored by 1 point and never let it happen again the rest of his career.

It’s one of the stats in the excellent “MJ Stats you have to see to Believe” video.

MindfulInquirer

4 | 3 hours ago

99.9% ? Huh. Thought more

bobalangalo

4 | 4 hours ago

Most literate redditor:

80cent | NBA

7 | 4 hours ago

Might be favorable that he didn’t make the playoffs on the Wizards.

Paralta | MIA

13 | 4 hours ago

Wade couldve been a 2 time finals MVP if Bron played atleast semi normally in 2011 lol

nextballanalyst

6 | 3 hours ago

semi normally lmao

OutlaW32 | NBA

6 | 2 hours ago

D wade was insane that series too

dangderr

2 | 3 hours ago

These stats are meaningless when not compared to the stats of similar caliber players.

Whats the percentage for MJ or Steph or Shai?

Im not saying 70% isn’t impressive. But if you were to ask me, “how often do you think [random top scoring guy] leads playoff series as the top scorer?” I’d guess like 2/3s.

For two average playoff teams, you expect the leading scorer of any team to be leading scorer of the series half the time. Because there are only 2 teams.

For a very good player, ²⁄₃ sounds right. 70% doesn’t sound “amazing”.

DaRealHermit [OP]

0 | 2 hours ago

MJ was 100% in comparison or very close.

lialialia20 | MIN

2 | 3 hours ago

alternative title: lebron is so dominant he got outscored by jason terry in the 2011 finals

DaRealHermit [OP]

2 | 2 hours ago

Read the end of the post

Captain_Saftey | NYK

2 | 2 hours ago

I’m curious what this stat looks like for a guy like KD

MosquitoOfDoom | BOS

3 | 4 hours ago

I’m honestly surprised it isn’t more than 70%

InevitablePart3417

1 | 2 hours ago

hey, i have a fun idea, lets list the number of players that out assisted michael jordan across 37 playoff series, prob 35 or ³⁶⁄₃₇ series, OH MY GOD, the world is exploding, dumbass

Various-Form-2433

0 | 4 hours ago

That’s nuts considering he’s not even a pure scorer, wow

Level_Cash2225

2 | 4 hours ago

He is not a score first guy. He is a pass first.

goofygoober94

3 | 4 hours ago

Hes def a score first guy. A more interesting stat would be how many points you generate including assisted points as well, which a large chunk includes 3pm on those assists too.

mas1108 | LAL

1 | 4 hours ago

He’s really not lol.