LeBron James' 2017 NBA Finals Proves He's Still The World's Best Basketball Player

The Golden State Warriors proved to be too much for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA Finals, though very little of the blame falls on LeBron James’ shoulders. The best basketball player in the world proved to be just that in defeat, putting on an individual performance for the ages.

Kevin Durant was rightfully named the series’ MVP, but James was arguably as good as anyone’s ever been in the NBA Finals. He became the first player to average a triple-double in the Finals, putting up 33.6 points, 12.0 rebounds and 10.0 assists per game.

READ: Warriors Are Historic Favorites To Win 2018 NBA Finals

James put up more points, rebounds and assists than he ever had during a five-game span in his career. Even as his team went down in Game 5, James did all that he could, posting 41 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists on 63.3 percent shooting in the clincher.

The three-time NBA champion played a game-high 46 minutes in the final contest, taking two short breathers. Forced to carry an almost unimaginable workload for Cleveland, James tallied 212 minutes on the floor in five games. By comparison, Durant played 199 minutes and Stephen Curry logged 188 minutes on the court.

Even as he had such a high usage rate, James was incredibly efficient. Shooting 56.4 percent from the field, he made a higher percentage of his shots than any of the series’ six other All-Stars.

“I left everything on the floor every game, all five games,” James said in his Game 5 post-game press conference. “So for me personally, I have no reason to put my head down. I have no reason to look back at what I could have done or what I shouldn't have done or what I could have done better for the team. I left everything I had out on the floor every single game for five games in this Finals, and you come up short.”

Basketball fans have become so used to James’ greatness that they don’t even bat an eye when he puts up a triple-double anymore. It’s almost become expected, and it’s a much bigger story when he fails to have an all-time great performance.

As well as some of James’ teammates played at times, they were unable to give him the support he needed in order to defeat maybe the best team in NBA history. Even though the Cavs lost four of the five games, they were outscored by a total of just seven points when James was on the floor in the series. In the 28 minutes that James was on the bench, Golden State had a 27-point advantage.

“I couldn't be more proud of that guy,” Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving said after the Game 5 loss. “He left it all out there on that floor. And to average a triple-double in the freaking Finals, man, add that to the LeBron long list that everyone keeps forgetting.”

James certainly wasn’t perfect. He guarded Durant for much of the series, and the Warriors’ star averaged 35.2 points on just 21.6 shot attempts per game. Cleveland was on their way to winning Game 3 until the team collapsed in the final three minutes, which included a missed shot by James and poor defense against Durant’s go-ahead three-pointer.

READ: What's Next For The Cleveland Cavaliers After The 2017 NBA Finals

The final result of the 2017 NBA Finals, however, doesn’t tell the full story of the way James played. That’s been the case throughout his career, having lost in the championship series five times.

Golden State proved to be the league’s best team, and it appears that might not change for a few more years. James has been the league’s best player for a decade, and there’s no reason to believe that will change anytime soon, either.