LeBron James last year became the first player to lead an NBA Finals in points, rebounds and assists.
This year, he upped the ante.
LeBron led the 2016 Finals in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks – becoming the first player on record to lead ANY series in those five categories.
The Cavaliers needed historical dominance to beat a historically great opponent, and LeBron delivered it. In leading Cleveland to a win over the Warriors, LeBron averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.3 blocks per game.
Had anyone ever come close leading a series in all five major stats before?
To measure, I took each player’s production as a percentage of the series leader. So, if someone grabbed 8.0 rebounds per game and the series leader averaged 10.0, the player would get 80% for that category. Add the percentage of the leader for all five stats, and the max score is 500%.
Here’s every time someone hit 450% in series Basketball-Reference.com has data for – since 1984 for all series, since 1974 for the Finals.
LeBron James (six times) and Michael Jordan (twice) are the only players with multiple appearances on the leaderboard. Jordan held the previous record – 478% against the 76ers in the 1991 second round, when he led the series in points, assists, steals and blocks but ranked fourth in rebounds.
