5 Times NBA Legends CARRIED their team!

how's it going guys Johnny here and I have another video for you and this one will be looking at five times NBA stars carried bass supporting cast to achieve more than anyone expected I'm only doing one entry per player so if you feel like a particular season may have been missing from this list that's probably why number 5 2006 Kobe Bryant and number five we have arguably the worst supporting cast on the entire list outside of a quality role player in Lamar Odom the Lakers had absolutely nothing significant to support Kobe the regular starting five for the Lakers during that season was Kobe Bryant Lamar Odom smush Parker Chris Mihm and Kwame Brown Kwame Brown god bless them is a scrub Kobe agreed that his supporting cast was lacking in a 2012 interview Kobe said this concerning his teammates of the 2006 season I almost won MVP was smush Parker and Kwame Brown on my team I was shooting the ball 45 times a game what was I supposed to do pass it to Chris Mihm or Kwame Brown Kobe was not one to mince words he was being sarcastic about 45 shots a game but he did shoot a career-high 27 point 2 shots per game that season despite the severe lack of talent and the fact that Kobe was facing double teams all year long he still managed to have one of the best seasons of his career Kobe averaged thirty five point four points per game that season which is the highest points per game average since Michael Jordan in the 1986 1987 season who averaged 37 point 1 Kobe was the offense that season as he accumulated the second-highest usage rate for his season in NBA history at 38.7% Kobe had seven games in which he scored 50 or more points that season including 62 versus the Mavericks in three quarters and the 81 point the Lakers finished the regular season with a 45 and 37 record good enough for seventh in the Western Conference in a first-round matchup with a far more talented Steve Nash led Phoenix Suns no one expected the Lakers to have a shot at that series but with Kobe's lead LA was able to pull ahead with a three games to one lead on Kobe's famous buzzer beater despite the 3-1 lead and Kobe's 50 in Game six the powerful Suns were ultimately too much and prevailed in seven games over the Lakers number 4 1964 Oscar Robertson before Russell Westbrook did it Oscar Robertson was the man famously known for averaging a triple-double over the course of a season this was not Oscar's triple-double season though but it was arguably his most impressive over the 1963 1964 NBA season Oscar averaged 31.4 points per game 11 assists per game and nine point nine rebounds per game that's right he was 0.1 rebounds away from having multiple triple-double seasons he did this with extremely limited support with the second-best player being a rookie Jerry Lucas despite the obstacles Oscar led his Cincinnati Royals to a 55 and 25 record good enough for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference they won their first playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers three games to two with Oscar leading every game and scoring for both teams they were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Boston Celtics dynasty of the 60s number three 2016-2017 Russell Westbrook I won't delve too deep into the season considering we all basically just witnessed this russell westbrook did what many people predicted after the departure of kevin durant and became the first player to average a triple-double over the course of a season since Oscar Robertson in 1962 averaging 31 point six points per game ten point four assists and ten point seven rebounds it was impressive enough for Russell to drag his team to the playoffs but in a stacked Western Conference is even more remarkable sure there was some town on that OKC team like Oladipo Adams and Roberson as a defender but there sure wasn't many shooters or offensive threats for Russell to pass to you guys remember every time Russell went to the bench is when the opponents made their run his incredible value to OKC was recognized as he was named the first MVP of the league since Michael Jordan in 1988 to have his team not finish as one of the top two teams in the conference the Thunder finished 47 and 35 securing the sixth seed in the Western Conference before being eliminated in the first round by the Houston Rockets four games to 1 number 2 2007 LeBron James now if you ask me this was by far LeBrons most impressive campaign in which he dragged a sorry team to the NBA Finals no one expected what LeBron and the Cavaliers were able to accomplish in the 2006-2007 season LeBron was entering only his fourth season in the NBA as a 21 year old and he went on to achieve arguably the most impressive postseason run of his career the most frequent starting five for the Cavs that season was LeBron Larry Hughes Eric snow drew Gooden Enza drew Nestle Gauss cos the Cavs second leading scorer that season was Larry Hughes a decent player but was never an all-star he averaged 14 point 9 points per game on a below average 40% field goal percentage that season needless to say LeBron had his hands full with obstacles to overcome despite all of these obstacles the Cavaliers finished the regular season with a 50 and 32 record in the second seed in the Eastern Conference while LeBron was averaging 27 points six points per game six assists and 6.7 rebounds finishing second through the regular season with this supporting cast was an incredible accomplishment by itself but that was only an appetizer for what LeBron had in store for the postseason LeBron dominated the first round against Gilbert Arenas in the Washington Wizards sweeping them in board games the second round was similar as the Cavs defeated a more talented New Jersey Nets team in six games who were led by Jason Kidd Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson LeBron did in the following round was what solidified this season as a historic and stunning run the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals featured LeBron and his scrubs against the highly favored Detroit Pistons a team who had finished with the best record in the East the past two seasons a team rich with talent led by former Finals MVP Chauncey Billups and help from all-star players like Richard Hamilton Rasheed Wallace and patient prints no one outside of Cleveland actually expected this Cavs team to prevail over the former champion Detroit Pistons but after four hard-fought close games this series was tied at two games with a series moving back to Detroit and that's when LeBron took over and let the world know that there was no way he was going to let the Cavs fall short of their first trip to the NBA Finals the game was close with just minutes left in the fourth quarter when LeBron started heating up and what ensued was one of the greatest most legendary playoff performances of all time LeBron was hitting everything and could not be stopped from ferocious finishes at the rim to double-teamed jumpers he carried the cache through the first and second overtime scoring their final 25 points on 11 of 13 shooting including the game-winner he finished the game with 48 points LeBron took all of the momentum and in Game six they easily closed out the Pistons earning their first trip to the NBA Finals in franchise history this first dynasty was ultimately too much for the Cavs in the finals sweeping them four games to zero number 1 2001 Allen Iverson the greatest answer for a time a superstar player carried a team comes from the answer himself Allen Iverson the 2000-2001 76ers were a defensive minded team with players like Theo Ratliff Dikembe Mutombo and Eric snow not a single 76er outside of Allen Iverson averaged more than 13 points per game that season Iverson was almost entirely the offense for this team as he led the NBA in scoring with 31.1 points per game and minutes per game at 42 despite the heavy load Iverson still managed to lead this seventy sixers to a 56 and 26 record the best record in the Eastern Conference the impressive season was recognized and Iverson was awarded League MVP the 76ers started their playoff run against the defending Eastern Conference champions the Indiana Pacers Iverson continued his offensive onslaught averaging 31 point 5 points per game over the series and the 76ers defeated the Pacers three games to one the semifinals was a matchup against Vince Carter and the Toronto Raptors it was an epic seven-game series with the two stars giving sensational performances despite Carter's best efforts ultimately Iverson was again too much averaging 33 points seven points and six point nine assists over the course of the series including a 54 point showing in Game two and 52 in game 5 on to the Eastern Conference Finals which featured a meeting with a strong Milwaukee Bucks group led by three stars Ray Allen Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell this series would also go seven games but there was no one in the East that was going to stop Iverson this year as he closed out the series with 46 points in game 6 and 44 points in game 7 sending the 76ers to the NBA Finals over in the Western Conference the Lakers were on one of the greatest playoff runs in NBA history in the first round they swept the loaded Sacramento Kings in three games swept and as loaded Portland team in the second round and swept the Tim Duncan led San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals setting up an NBA Finals matchup between the juggernaut Los Angeles Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers now context for this series is extremely important understand the Lakers were seemingly unstoppable at this point Kobe and Shaq were each averaging roughly 30 points per game over the course of these playoffs and we're entering these NBA Finals as the defending champion undefeated 11 and no team with their eye set on not just repeating his champions but also becoming the first undefeated team in NBA playoff history also understand that the NBA in the early 2000s was heinessen - the way the MBA currently is in the sense that the Western Conference was far stronger than the Eastern Conference and the Lakers had just steamrolled their way through it with all of those things considered almost no one in the basketball world give the 76ers a shot at even winning a game over these overpowering Lakers as the Lakers were considered one of the most highly favored teams in NBA Finals history all that led into June 6 2001 in Los Angeles it was supposed to be a breeze for LA but Iverson had something different in mind Shaq had picked up where he had left off from last year's NBA Finals dominating Dikembe Mutombo Matt Geiger and everyone else Philly tried to throw at him and route to Shaq posting an incredible 44 points and 20 rebounds it was going to take more than that against Allen Iverson though as he continued his incredible year scoring in a multitude of waves even while being guarded by Kobe Bryant the game was back and forth throughout and ultimately needed an overtime to decide the outcome with less than a minute left in overtime Iverson then made one of the most iconic plays in NBA history he drove to his right toward the baseline did a crossover and then hit a dagger jumper to put the 76ers up by four points he then proceeded to step over the defender tyronn lue the game was sealed the 76ers pulled off a monumental upset on the back of Allen Iverson who has scored 48 points and had six steals his iconic jumper and Steph over was a great play but his famous for more than that it symbolized the overcoming and incredible season of Allen Iverson and demonstrated that while others couldn't stand up to the all-time great 2001 Lakers even they didn't have an answer for Allen Iverson of course the all time great Lakers eventually went on to win the series but not without Iverson cementing his legacy by willing his team to an incredible postseason run and ultimately ruining the Lakers undefeated playoff record

Channel: Jonny Arnett

Views: 125,376

Rating: 4.9144239 out of 5

Keywords: NBA, Carried, Sports, ESPN, Lakers, LeBron James, Kobe, Russell Westbrook, Allen Iverson, The Answer, Oscar Robertson, Mike Korzemba, Dom2k, Chris Smoove, Nick Smith, Legend Of Winning, Basketball

Id: JyTle8ygHio

Length: 13min 21sec (801 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 25 2018