How many game-winners has LeBron James hit in his career so far?
LeBron James and the LA Lakers were knocked out by the Phoenix Suns in a 4-2 NBA Playoffs Round 1 victory after injury troubles for the franchise's superstar duo. Since the early part of his career, LeBron James has come a long way to shirk the reputation of being a “passer” in clutch situations. The 4-time NBA champion is now well on his way to becoming the NBA star with the most buzzer-beaters in the league’s history.
LeBron James currently has exactly 8 buzzer-beaters, putting him 2nd on the overall list, with a certain Michael Jordan currently leading with 9 buzzer-beaters. While James is yet to hit a buzzer-beater for his newest team, he recently scored the game-winner against the Golden State Warriors during their play-in matchup. The LA Lakers main man rose over Stephen Curry to fire his team the lead with around a minute left on the clock.
We look at the overall number of game-winners that LeBron James has hit in his NBA career so far.
How many game winners does LeBron James have in his NBA career?
LeBron James has a total of 19 game-winners in his NBA career so far. This includes the 8 buzzer-beaters that he has registered so far, including the most recent one against the Golden State Warriors. LeBron’s buzzer-beater during the play-in fixture took him to 8, which ties him along with Kobe Bryant for the 2nd most buzzer-beating shots in the league’s history.
While James recently himself stated that he is a “pass-first” guy, the 17-time All-Star is also third on the list for the most game-winners in NBA history. Late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant leads the all-time list with a whopping 26 game-winners throughout his career.
Michael Jordan has one less, and is second on the list with 25. Of course, with LeBron James looking set to continue playing for a number of years, he looks to have a shot at finishing with the most game winners in the history of the league.
Finally, it must also be noted that despite LeBron’s reputation, he is the most efficient of the three when it comes to shots in the final ten seconds of the game.
Michael Jordan had converted 5 of his 11 potential game-winning attempts in the last ten seconds of matches, with James marginally beating him with a 6-11 record. Finally, despite having a record 26 game-winners, Kobe Bryant had a 5-22 record in the final ten seconds and is therefore the least efficient of the trio.
LeBron James also holds the record for the most buzzer-beating shots in the Playoffs with 5. While he is still some way off breaking Bryant’s record for the most game-winners, James can be expected to finish his career at the top of the list.