Was Lakers’ 44-point loss to 76ers the worst of LeBron James’ career? Exploring the four-time NBA MVP’s biggest losses

Explore LeBron James' biggest career losses, including the recent 44-point defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Was Lakers’ 44-point loss to 76ers the worst of LeBron James’ career? Exploring the four-time NBA MVP’s biggest losses

LeBron James (Credits: X)

No player has served more times in the NBA than LeBron James. management. Only James set the record playing for the most lopsided defeat ever in his career. To become the league’s all-time leader in most minutes played, James played in Monday’s Lakers 138-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. In total James has now accumulated a career total of 66,319 minutes that include both regular season as well as playoff contests. In fact, it more than exceeds Karem Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 66,209 minutes.

While the 38-year-old star’s 30 minutes against the Sixers may have seemed longer, Los Angeles was down thirty points in that stretch. It was also the fifth-largest defeat in the Lakers’ history (including James’ 21-year career) and much more pressing. One of the greatest careers in the NBA belongs to Lebron James. He is a four-time NBA champion who has represented the Miami Heat, LA Lakers, and Cleveland Cavaliers two times. In his entire career, he has participated in both winning and losing of the biggest happenings in basketball history.

YouTube video

“The King” had numerous painful losses, especially during playoff games and the championships. This is the only major problem that his critics have ever highlighted against him throughout his life. Nonetheless, we shall focus on the worst and most disastrous losses that James faced in this list.

FS Video

#5 – Golden State Warriors 132-98 Cleveland Cavaliers; 18 January 2016

YouTube video

Before the game, Steph Curry said that he hoped the visiting locker room would still smell of champagne. I am not sure if it did but he surely smelled blood for sure. He got off to a hot start, scoring 35 points in three quarters against the Cleveland Cavaliers, just like he did all through the season.

His teammate Draymond Green contributed with 10 assists along with 16 points while Andree Iguodala scored 20 points as a substitute. It was a total fiasco, performance-wise. Only James managed to score six times with Irving and Love scoring eleven times. At some point, the Warriors’ lead surpassed forty-three points while the Cavaliers’ narrowest home loss was also evaded only through late scoring buckets.

#4 – Golden State Warriors 126-91 Cleveland Cavaliers; 16 January 2017

YouTube video

Sometimes it has been as though the Warriors have had their own way compared to the Cavs. After coming back with a win over the Golden State Warriors at the beginning of the current season, one could notice that Cleveland may not have had superiority over the Warriors based only on psychological factors rather than actual ones.

Others thought that Durant’s scoring was insufficient to achieve LeBron-level performance. Such theories can be easily neglected. As the Warriors stepped into the defensive mode in the final stages of the game, the Cavs’ shooting percentage at the field dropped to 35%. The duo of James and Irving recorded 20 and 17 points, respectively, even though they had terrible shooting and a combined 12 turnovers. Thompson’s 26 points and what is called a “triple-double” by Green’s records. It ended up being James’s worst loss ever in Cleveland and he was not ahead once during the game. The Warriors swept Lebron and his team in the previous finals but he never got the chance to get revenge.

#3 – San Antonio Spurs 113-77 Miami Heat; 11 June 2013

YouTube video

The Spurs took a pounding and destroyed the heat in game three to look like it had taken charge of the series with both sides level on a single win each. At the interval, it was a neck-and-neck affair between the two teams before the Spurs scored. A 50–25 run fueled by the madness of Danny Green and Gary Neal’s three-point shooting allowed San Antonio to achieve a total of 16 threes, breaking the previous Finals record.

On the other hand, Lebron James and the Heat experienced some challenges. However, LeBron James and the Heat also faced some challenges. He could not get past Kawhi Leonard’s defence, going 11-for-13 in his initial shots. Playing together, the big three made only forty-three points as the Spurs shut down completely.

#2 – Washington Wizards 108-72 Cleveland Cavaliers, 24 April 2008

YouTube video

In the first round of the 2008 playoffs, the Washington Wizards led the Cleveland Cavaliers two games to none only to see their trail narrow down to one game to none after the Cavaliers forced them into a third match. LeBron was doubled and tripled often but still finished with 22 points. The team as a whole did not despite him fulfilling his commitment. In total, the Cavs had 23 turnovers and, outside, the rest of the team shot 65%. Defensively they were also poor and the Wizards had so many chances to score.

The leader with 19 points was DeShawn Stevenson. One of the most remarkable scenes in this episode occurs when Stevenson calls “The King” an overrated player. The series lasted for six games following which the Cavaliers outsmarted the Wizards in the last round despite the earlier day’s dominance of Stevenson over them.

#1 Philadelphia 76ers 138-94 LA Lakers, 27 November 2023

YouTube video

Despite setting new milestones already last year, there was no prediction for another unfortunate record broken by LeBron James on this day. The game was part of a four-day away trip for the LA Lakers against the Philly. However, things did not go as the Sixers were ahead in the first quarter. The Lakers had a tough time dealing with Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey, among others from the Sixers, especially during the last quarter, even though they tried hard.

The fourth quarter ended with a score of 40-14 in favour of the Sixers. It is the most imbalanced loss that was ever achieved by James. In the final, “The King” tallied 18 points and 5 assists.

In case you missed: