Has Lebron James ever missed the playoffs?

LeBron James, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, has participated in the post-season tournament 18 times throughout his illustrious career. Over the course of these appearances, he has secured four championship titles.

In 2016, he led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first-ever NBA championship, a historic achievement that cemented his place as a legend in his hometown. After leaving Cleveland, LeBron joined the Miami Heat, where he won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.

Finally, in 2020, he helped the Los Angeles Lakers claim their first championship in a decade, confirming his status as one of the most dominant and successful players in the NBA’s history.

When did he miss the postseason?

In his rookie season, the Cavs could not make it to the playoffs and finished 5th in the Central with a record of 35-47. The same thing happened in the following year, with a record of 42-40 and 4th place in the Central. They lost the tiebreaker to the New Jersey Nets, who also had a record of 42-40 and secured the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference.

LeBron James missed the playoffs in 2019, and the Lakers finished the season with a record of 37-45. James only played 55 games, and if he had been healthy, they might have done better since they were 28-27 with him playing. In 30 of those games, his overall +/- was positive.

It seems like this could be his fourth season missing the playoffs, and similar to the previous season, the Lakers secured their spot in the play-in tournament just in the last five or six games of the regular season. Currently, they are 36-31 and in 9th place in the Western Conference, a little bit better than the previous year, but with the current standings in the West so close, everything can happen. Not many players who have played 20 seasons can claim something like this. To make a simple comparison, one former Laker, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, missed the playoffs twice.