Top 5 Teammates of LeBron James 12 Year NBA Career

Tonight LeBron James embarks on his 5th consecutive NBA Finals appearance and once again he’ll need to be Superman in order to will his team to victory (want to go to the game? Find tickets here). Sure LeBron James is the greatest basketball player on the planet, but like his experience early in his career with the Cavaliers, it takes more than one superstar in order to win a title. If LeBron James and the Cavaliers are going to beat the Golden State Warriors and bring Cleveland their first championship since 1964 then he’s gonna need some help. With the theme of help in mind, here are the Top 5 Teammates of LeBron James 12 year NBA career that have helped him along the way.

5. Zydrunas Ilgauskas

You don’t realize how little high level talent LeBron James has had around him until you really start digging into it. It’s no joke that Big Z is the 5th best teammate of LeBron’s. They were together seven seasons in Cleveland and one in Miami. Unfortunately for Big Z, that resulted in no NBA Championships.

Ilgauskas played the role of stable big man in the middle, which is what Timofey Mozgov is currently doing. He averaged double digit scoring almost every year (sans his last two) to go with 7+ boards and over a block a game. Ilgauskas won’t show up on many lists as one of the greatest but he was a stable presence early on in LeBron’s career and that counts for something. (Want to catch one of the NBA Finals games in Cleveland? Get tickets here.)

4. Kyrie Irving

They’ve only been together one season by Kyrie Irving is the type of point guard that LeBron James has never played with before. He can drive to the hole and finish like none other, his handles are off the charts, and he’s lethal from the outside (he’s won the NBA All Star game three-point contest.) As LeBron gets older and wants to take less punishment on his body, Irving will be called upon to “be the man.” LeBron will always get his but having a capable 1B to his 1A is crucial to being able to have continued success.

3. Shaquille O’Neal

Even though their lone season together resulted in a loss in the Eastern Conference semi’s to the Celtics, Shaq still finds his way at #3 on this best teammates list on pedigree alone. Shaq was past his prime in 2009 when they got together and he was hoping that he had enough left in the tank combined with the rise of LeBron James as the best player in the league to be able to will their way to a title. That didn’t happen and it was one and done for the Big Shaqtus.

After this season Kyrie will pass Shaq and move up to #3 on this list, but you’ve gotta give dap to one of the 15 greatest players in NBA history, regardless of how it all went down.

2. Chris Bosh

Everyone loves to hate on Chris Bosh but the guy is a baller, a future hall of famer, and was instrumental to the Heat winning back-to-back championships and appearing in four straight finals. If you need further proof of Chris Bosh’s value, just look at how much Kevin Love struggled this season as the number three option. Bosh flourished in the role, averaging 17 ppg, 7 boards, while shooting 50% from the field. For all those people that think Chris Bosh’s numbers fell off when he went to Miami check this. While on the Raptors he averaged 20 ppg, 9 boards, while shooting 49% from the field. That’s some pretty good consistency considering Bosh went from being the man in Toronto to being a third option.

1. Dwyane Wade

Dwyane Wade is the man and without a doubt the best player LeBron has ever or will ever play with. Wade currently has three NBA Championships, one more than LeBron currently has, and if you remember it was LeBron coming to Wade’s team to form the Big 3, not the other way around. Coincidentally, Wade got his first championship while playing with Shaq Diesel in Miami. Wade is a first ballot hall of famer, a combo guard that can both score (24.1 ppg avg) and handle like a point guard (5.9 assists per game), while shooting a good percentage from the floor (49%.) Wade will go down as one of the most underrated great players ever and in his prime was an absolute blast to watch.