Throughout his career of 19 seasons (and counting) in the NBA, LeBron James has carved a legendary career with his outstanding performances, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He demonstrated a great capacity for competition and a lot of grit in his game, grabbing headlines due to his great talent.
But, logically, we are talking about a human being, and as such, he is prone to having a bad night. These games serve as proof that he is not a perfect being and definitely not invincible. Although they weren't easy to find, here we present the 10 worst games of LeBron James' NBA career.
10 May 11, 2010, Vs. Boston Celtics
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In the fifth game of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the 2009-2010 runners-up Boston Celtics and the local Cleveland Cavaliers met at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland-Ohio for a final score of a resounding 88-120 in favor of the Celtics led by forward Paul Pierce, who had a great night. James' modest performance contributed a lot to this score with a line of 15 points, six rebounds with seven assists and three turnovers for a .214% field goal percentage, three out of 14.
9 February 07, 2007, Vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Cleveland Cavaliers fans witnessed one of the worst games ever played by King James. That night in 36 minutes of action Lebron only managed to score 11 points in total, none in the third quarter, he also managed to grab seven rebounds, dish out only three assists (only one in the entire second half) with two turnovers and a terrible 30.8 field goal percentage (four out of 13), all this in the Cavs victory over the Clippers 94-77.
8 May 06, 2008, Vs. Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics defense, led that year by Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, managed to stop the Cleveland Cavaliers offense, especially LeBron James, who was limited to just 12 points with an alarming field goal percentage of .111% (making just two of 18 shots), including zero of six three-pointers. Despite grabbing nine rebounds and delivering nine assists, James had 10 turnovers in the game, truly horrendous for an NBA player.
7 June 07, 2007, Vs. San Antonio Spurs
On this occasion, LeBron James played 44 minutes in the visiting game at the AT&T Center, against the San Antonio Spurs of Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, in which he only managed to score 14 points, with seven rebounds, four assists and six costly turnovers.
With that terrible performance by their best player, it is not surprising that the Cleveland Cavaliers lost the first game of the 2006-2007 NBA Finals, which the Spurs would sweep.
6 December 16, 2018, Vs. Washington Wizards
Lebron's worst game in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform took place on December 16, 2018, at Capital One Arena against the Washington Wizards. James' performance was disappointing, with four turnovers in 32 minutes of action, five baskets off 16 shots from the field, six rebounds, three assists and just 13 points scored. As expected, the Wizards won the game 128-110.
5 February 08, 2005, Vs. Toronto Raptors
Making only six of 19 shots from the field in 36 minutes can't bode well for your team, and in team sports the performance of each member is very important, perhaps for that reason, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Phoenix Suns 101-120. It was a forgettable performance by their best player, who completed his bad night with three rebounds, six assists and six turnovers, with 15 points scored.
4 February 06, 2011, Vs. Los Angeles Clippers
With just over three months on his new team, the Miami Heat, where he was expected to be the leader that would take them to the threshold of success, LeBron James had one of his most unsuccessful performances in his career.
He recorded six turnovers and only 12 points, it seemed to be someone else wearing the number 6 jersey. Not even six rebounds and four assists could make up for this performance in the Heat's 97-79 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
3 May 21, 2017, Vs. Boston Celtics
In the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals the Cleveland Cavaliers easily dominated the Boston Celtics in five games. The only game the Cavs lost was playing at home, in which their star player was able to score just 11 points, missing all four of his three-point attempts, with six rebounds, six assists and six turnovers. It looked like LeBron James had a day off and the Cavaliers lost the game, 111-108.
2 October 31, 2007, Vs. Dallas Mavericks
The 2007-2008 league season did not start well for LeBron James, to say the least. Playing at home against the Dallas Mavericks of the legendary Dirk Nowitzki, James had a terrible performance in the first official game of the campaign, scoring 10 points with five rebounds, four assists and five turnovers, making only two of 11 shots from the field. In the end, the Mavericks won 92-74. Nevertheless, this performance meant nothing, and LeBron James won the scoring title that season.
1 November 28, 2003, Vs. Detroit Pistons
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The 16th game in LeBron James' prolific career was arguably the worst of them all. It was the Detroit Pistons who were responsible for stopping the 19-year-old star of the Cleveland Cavaliers and practically making a fool of him at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. LeBron James recorded only six points, yes, you read that right, with two rebounds, seven assists and four turnovers in 36 minutes, in front of 22,076 fans that night. Awful performance, but the funny thing is that he recorded 33 points and 16 rebounds in the following game.