LeBron James is arguably one of the greatest players in NBA history. He is the league's all-time leading scorer, has made the NBA Finals 10 times, and has won four titles with three different teams. He is still an elite player at age 38, averaging 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game.
In addition, LeBron ranks third in the league in real plus-minus at 7.63. The only area where LeBron has slipped is his ability to stay on the court, as he only suited up for 55 games this season, the third year in a row he has missed 26 games or more.
James is healthy now heading into the 2023 playoffs, where his retooled Lakers will try to rise from the 7th seed to take home another title. They are +110 to beat the Grizzlies in Round 1 and +1600 to take the title over at DraftKings. If you wish to bet on the Lakers, take advantage of the best NBA betting promos for the playoffs.
With that in mind, the question always remains the same...will this be an early playoff exit for LeBron James?
Worst Playoff Exits For LeBron James
Here are LeBron's worst playoff exits in three consecutive seasons.
1. 2008-09 Cavaliers - Domination Not Enough
Cleveland won a league-best 66 games and captured the overall top seed. If form held, they would face Kobe's Lakers in a dream NBA Finals. The Cavs swept the first two rounds but then hit a wall vs. the Dwight Howard-led Orlando Magic in the East Finals.
LeBron did his part overall, averaging 38.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 8 APG, though he had a relatively poor deciding Game 6, scoring "only" 25 points on 8-12 shooting.
2. 2009-10 Cavaliers - LeBron Struggles vs Bulls
The Cavs slipped a shade to 61 wins but still went into the playoffs as the top overall seed with Kobe and the Lakers again leading the West. Plus, "The Decision" loomed. There were just no other stars in Cleveland at the time, and unless the Cavs won a title, it looked like LeBron would have to move on to get a shot at a ring. Cleveland beat the Bulls in the first round but then fell in six games to the Celtics.
Unlike the prior season, LeBron just flat out had a poor series, albeit against a terrific team. He shot 50% or less from the field in all but a 38-point explosion in Game 3, went just 7-26 from beyond the arc, and only hit double figures in rebounds and assists once in the series. In Game 5, he had a particularly bad 15-point performance on 3-of-14 shooting.
3. 2010-11 Heat - Not One, Not Two...
LeBron took his talents to South Beach, hooking up with fellow superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and it looked like the Heat would cakewalk to a title. They lost only three games total getting to the Finals, but faced an upstart Mavericks team in the Finals, led by HOF great Dirk Nowitzki in his absolute prime. The Mavs dropped Game 1 then throttled the Heat, winning the series in six.
LeBron scored 24 in Game 1, which became his series high. He had a particularly miserable 3-11 shooting performance for 8 points in Game 4, the first time he had ever failed to hit double digits in a playoff game. Questions arose whether the whole of the Heat would ever match the sum of their superstar parts. It did.
LeBron James Playoff Stats vs. Regular Season
Given these exits above, some may ask the question about LeBron's production in the playoffs vs. the regular season.
For his career, LeBron has pretty much maintained his same level of production in the playoffs despite facing better teams and lower-tempo games. Here are LeBron's stats in the playoffs vs. the regular season.
| LeBron James Stats | PPG | RPG | APG | eFG% |
| Regular Season | 27.2 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 54.9% |
| Playoffs | 28.7 | 9.0 | 7.2 | 53.5% |
That is not to say LeBron and his teams have not had a few clunkers along the way, but we have to look back a bit, as in the four seasons prior to this one in LA, the Lakers have missed the playoffs twice and fallen as the 7th seed to the 2nd seeded Suns in 2020-21. The other year, they took the title in the bubble as West's top seed in 2020.
