Jimmy Butler finished the 2020 NBA Finals with averages of 26.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 9.8 assists. He added 2.2 steals a game, blocked 5 shots, and is doing all of this on 55% shooting from the field. 92% from the free throw line. He only turned the ball over 3 times per game. His 43 minutes a night would be the most by any NBA player not named Allen Iverson since 1997. His best teammate missed half the series. His other best teammate and leading scorer has played just 32 minutes in the series.
The Lakers proved too much.
Butler gave us one of the best performances we have ever seen from a Finals runner-up.
Immediately, the man he lost to comes to mind. The king of individual Finals heroics. In the category of valiant and vain Finals performances, no one does what LeBron James has. In 2018, he posted 34/9/10 on 53% shooting. In 2017, even better. 34/12/10 on 56% shooting, with less turnovers. In 2015, 36/13/9 with the fewest turnovers of his three losses to the Warriors.
LeBron also happens to be one of the two best players to ever touch a basketball. So let’s take him out of the conversation, and fill in this blank: Jimmy Butler’s 2020 Finals was the best performance by a runner-up since _____.
It takes eight years to get our first non-LeBron candidate:
Kevin Durant, 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder
Lost to the Miami Heat in 5 games
-30.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.4 stocks, 3.8 turnovers
-55 fg, 39 3pt, 84 ft percentages
Best game: 36 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 60% shooting (Game 1, win)
Only going five games hurts the then-23 year old’s case, but the losses were evidently no fault of his. LeBron James and the Heat were on the mission of all missions after being upset the season before. I’m not sure there’s ever been a player as hungry as 2012 LeBron James, and the baby Thunder ran smack into that destruction machine.
Allen Iverson, 2001 Philadelphia 76ers
Lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in 5 games
-35.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists
-2.4 turnovers, played 239/240 possible minutes
Best game: 48 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals (Game 1, win)
Despite losing in 5 games, Iverson put the reigning champs on notice. He came out in Game 1 and punched Kobe and Shaq in the mouth, handing them their only loss of their entire playoff run. He did as much with as little as any player we’ve ever seen. His 2001 76ers roster is comparable to the 2007 Cavaliers. A superstar, future Hall of Famer and some bodies. This was as David vs. Goliath as we will ever see.
Charles Barkley, 1993 Phoenix Suns
Lost to the Chicago Bulls in 6 games
-27.3 points, 13.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists
-48% field goals, just 10 turnovers in the series (1.7 average)
Best game: 42 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 62% shooting, 46 minutes (Game 2, 3-point loss)
The Suns were one John Paxson three-pointer (exactly what LeBron and Danny Green almost did on Friday) from taking the Bulls to a Game 7. Jordan’s toughest Finals series, Barkley was Jordan’s toughest individual Finals opponent. The regular season MVP, Barkley was masterful throughout the series, going toe-to-toe with the GOAT just how Jimmy did in Game 5. The Suns losses were by 1, 3, 6, and 8 points. Despite only going 6 games, both teams scored exactly 640 points in the series.
Hakeem Olajuwon, 1986 Houston Rockets
Lost to the Boston Celtics in 6 games
-24.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 5.5 stocks
-48% field goals, 2.7 turnovers
Best game: 32 points, 14 rebound, 8 blocks (Game 5, win)
The 1986 Celtics are one of the greatest teams ever assembled. Larry Bird had just won his third MVP in a row. They had lost just one game in the playoffs prior to the Finals. They had the best defense in the NBA, and the 3rd best offense. Their pieces fit well. They boasted five Hall of Famers (Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson, Bill Walton), Rick Carlisle, and Danny Ainge. The Rockets were doomed from the start. Until they weren’t.
The Dream brought as good of defense as we have ever seen. In game 5, he had 32 points, 14 rebounds, and a Finals-record 8 blocks. He added 3 assists and 2 steals for fun. The Rockets handed the Celtics a 15-point loss, their largest of the playoffs and second-largest loss of their entire season. Olajuwon gave maybe the greatest team of all-time to that point as much as they could handle. He made Hall of Famer Robert Parish look like Tyler Zeller.
Oh yeah, not a Finals accomplishment, but the Rockets beat Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy 4 games to 1 in the Conference Finals. In only his second season! Can you even *imagine* the hellfire if Luka Doncic had made it all the way to the Finals this year, beating the Showtime Lakers to get there?
Magic Johnson, 1984 Los Angeles Lakers
Lost to the Boston Celtics in 7 games
-18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 13.6 assists
-56% field goals, 2.9 stocks
Best game: 14 points, 11 rebounds, Finals-record 21 assists, 2 stocks, 4-6 field goals, 2 turnovers (Game 3, win)
Speaking of the purple and gold, another of the top losing performances comes to us from 1984, in a series where Kareem logged his own case worth our consideration: 26.6/8.1 /4.4/1.7/2.1. But at this point, the 24 year old Magic Johnson had staked his claim as the best Laker. 13.6 assists was the most in a Finals series ever, until he broke it the next season with 14.0 (they won that Finals, though). This series is considered by many to be the greatest Finals ever played. We’ve talked about how great these Celtics were already, and withstanding Olajuwon and Magic is as much a testament to that greatness as anything.
J
ulius Erving, 1977 Philadelphia 76ers
Lost to the Portland Trailblazers in 6 games
-30.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists
-54.3% field goals, 3.9 stocks (turnovers not available, but he averaged 2.8 on similar numbers in his 1980 Finals loss)
Best game: 40 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 stocks (Game 6, 2-point loss)
In Dr. J’s first year on the 76ers and first year in the NBA, the greatest ABA player ever showed the entire planet that league had mettle. Erving’s New York Nets had won the ABA championship the year before. In a Game 6 where Erving had 40, 6, and 8, Hall of Famer George McGinnis missed a buzzer-beater, denying the Doc a single game to win both associations back-to-back.
Footnotes:
In 1969, the first year the Finals MVP existed, we saw the only time the award has ever gone to a player on the losing team. Jerry West's Lakers lost in 7 games to the Boston Celtics, in a series where he posted 37.9/4.7/7.4 on 49% from the field. Without three-pointers in existence. Only loser to win FMVP is a good piece of trivia.
His best game is one of the best in Finals history: 43 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists (Game 7, 2-point loss)
Best performance in a Finals sweep:
Shaquille O'Neal, 1995 Orlando Magic
Lost to the Houston Rockets in 4 games
-28.0 points, 12.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists
-59.5% field goals, 2.5 blocks
Best game: 26 points, 16 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 blocks, 63% shooting, 44 minutes (Game 1, 2-point loss)
This loss is most memorable for being the game where Magic teammate Nick Anderson missed four consecutive free throws to give the game away at the end. The uber-young Magic morally imploded after that against the reigning champion Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon. Shaq's 5.3 turnovers a game didn't help their chances. Penny put up
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