NBA Stars Who Carried Their Team To A Championship

while basketball is obviously a team sport it's one of the easier ones for a particular player to take over a game the best players have the ability to put their teams on their back any given night or even for an entire series on the game's biggest stage in the nba finals here are eight nba stars who carried their team to a title [Music] 2006 dwyane wade in just his third season in the league at the age of only 24 d wade led his heat squad to their first ever nba title as a franchise miami took down the mavericks in six games after losing the first two after going down 0-2 in the series wade knew his team needed more from him and he took his play to another level he was the leading scorer in games three through six as he averaged nearly 40 points per game for the series as a whole he averaged 34.7 points 7.8 rebounds 3.8 assists and 2.7 steals per game while some people assume wade needed shaq's help to win this ring the mavs actually held the big diesel in check for the most part shaq only averaged 13.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game in that series it was one of the first of many legendary performances from the young wade who would later go on to become a miami heat icon over the course of his career 2009 kobe bryant the black mamba wasted no time taking care of the magic as the lakers cruised to a 4-1 series over orlando this was big for kobe and his legacy at the time as he had never won a ring without shaq by his side prior to this bryant was out to prove to everyone that he could win one on his own and that's exactly what he did as he averaged 32.4 points 5.6 rebounds 7.4 assists 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game against the magic in the five-game series he didn't have much help in the scoring department as only one other laker averaged more than 15 points per game that series that didn't matter because kobe was on a mission bryant was the leading scorer in four of those five games including going off for 40 in game one and setting the tone for the series winning by 25 that night he was surgical from the opening tip of game one and dwight howard's magic never stood a chance 1993 michael jordan with a 6-0 record in the finals you could choose a handful of different mj performances to talk about here but in 1993 he was extra special even for his ultra high standards on jordan's way to capturing his third straight ring he put up video game-like numbers against charles barkley's sons michael was the leading scorer in all six games that series as he averaged a whopping 41 points per game mj didn't just score against phoenix though he did it all he grabbed 8.5 boards dished out 6.3 assists and totaled 1.7 steals per contest as well it was one of jordan's better shooting performances too as he shot over 50 percent from the field and 40 from beyond the ark simply put there was nothing the suns could do to stop jordan from going back to back to back thanks to mj's dominance in this series shaq gets to continuously make fun of charles barkley for not having a ring during nba on tnt 2016 lebron james lebron carried his fair share of less than stellar cavs rosters to the finals but 2016 was the only occasion he could actually get over the hump and win it all everything about this series was special for king james first consider the opponent and the obstacle as cleveland fell behind three-in-one to a team who had just set an nba record by winning 73 games in the regular season next factor in lebron trying to end a 52-year professional sports title drought for the city he grew up just outside of with all that in mind james went out and nearly averaged a trip off doubled for the series with 29.7 points 11.3 rebounds 8.9 assists 2.6 steals and 2.3 blocks per game as his team became the first in nba history to ever come back from a three-in-one deficit in the finals his chase down block of andre iguodala in the closing minutes of game seven serve as a microcosm of the effort and skill it took for lebron to pull off what he did in 2016. both that particular play and the entire series will forever be a part of nba lore 2011 dirk nowitzki in what ended up being his only nba title dirk shocked the basketball world as he and his mavs upset miami's big three in just six games when lebron d wade and chris bosh formed a super team with the heat some people viewed it as unfair the trio was going to coast to not one not two not three not four not five not six not seven rings in south beach lebron's words not mine the king forgot to factor in one thing though the big man from germany the heat looked like they were well on their way to the first of many titles as they took a two-in-one series lead before dirk led his team to three straight wins he averaged 26 points and 9.7 rebounds per game as miami just had no answer for his mid-range game the lone all-star on the mavs team versus three all-stars for the heat and they still couldn't stop him dirk in the mav's path to the finals was just as impressive as dismantling miami as they swept the two-time defending champ lakers in the second round before beating the thunder in the conference finals who had their own young big three with james harden russell westbrook and kevin durant 2003 tim duncan this one may be one of the more under-appreciated nba finals performances and it's fitting that it involves tim duncan in a six-game series against the new jersey nets duncan put up monster numbers the big fundamental was more than just fundamental he averaged 24.2 points 17 rebounds 5.3 assists and an astounding 5.3 blocks per game in the series clinching game six duncan was only two blocks away from a quadruple double he had 21 points 20 rebounds 10 assists and eight blocks forgetting for a second that those numbers were to win a title those are absurd for any game of basketball duncan's performance in that series is even more impressive when you consider he was going up against great players in kenyan martin and dikembe matumbo during that game 6 he held martin to a gross 3 and 23 from the field don't let his mild personality fool you tim duncan was a baller and had one of the more impressive finals performances ever in 2003 1995 hakeem olajuwon the majority of the teams mentioned on this list were top seeds in their respective conferences but that was not the case for the rockets in 95 hakeem led his sixth seeded squad all the way to the finals after finishing the regular season just eight games above 500 with 45 wins every team houston faced in the playoffs that year won at least 57 games in the finals they took on the number one seeded magic who had shaq and penny hardaway it didn't end up being much of a series as olajuwon helped his rockets stroll to back to back rings by sweeping the magic hakeem was the leading scorer in all four games and averaged 32.8 points 11.5 rebounds 5.5 assists two steals and two blocks although shaq was pretty young then it wasn't like olajuwon took advantage of a trash center 2000 shaquille o'neal over the course of his 19-year nba career the big diesel brought home four titles and his path to the first one was his most impressive in a six-game series against the pacers shaq was the leading scorer in all six games and leading rebounder in five he was actually a cheat code against indiana as he averaged 38 points 16.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game shaq was efficient too as he shot over 60 percent from the field o'neil didn't have much help that series as only one other laker averaged more than 12 points per game that series kobe at 15.6 in addition nobody else was really grabbing boards for la other than shaq robert hori was the only laker to average more than five rebounds per game and he only snagged 5.2 it was the type of finals performance from the big diesel that somehow matched his physical stature and size of his personality which of these performances do you think is most impressive are there any that you think we missed feel free to let us know in the comments section below

Channel: Nonstop Sports

Views: 131,590

Rating: 4.9172177 out of 5

Keywords: nba, nba history, nba finals, championship, nba players who carried their teams, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal

Id: yPkas3bCDAI

Length: 8min 20sec (500 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 08 2021