Of course. That’s why I never understand the MJ nut huggers who constantly yell “6-0, 6-0!”
If MJ was in the West, his Finals record would have been something like 6-4. He might have made the Finals in the late 80s but still would have lost to the Bad Boys.
If Lebron was in the West he would have made fewer Finals but he would have been undefeated in them. So maybe 3-0? Or 4-0?
The Finals records are a reflection of their conferences. MJ faced his toughest comp in the Eastern Con playoffs which is why he had so many early round exits. LBJ faced his toughest comp in the Finals which is why he’s 3-6.
Not sure MJ would have gone to the Finals other than the years he made it in the East. In 1990, the year before his first title, they would have tied for the 4th best record in the Western Conference. So, I'll say 6-0. Had he played a full season in 94 & 95, he probably gets 1-2 more trips to the Finals. MJ played some really, really good teams in the Finals, however. 4 of the 6 teams he faced had 60+ wins. LeBron, by comparison, faced 4 teams with 60+ wins during his 9 appearances in the finals. If you took the average number of wins, LeBron's opponents probably have more wins, as Golden State's 73 & 67 wins probably skew the averages a little.
The 8 consecutive trips LBJ made to the NBA Finals is wildly impressive. Arguably more so than the Celtics 10 straight trips, mostly because Boston usually only had to win one series before advancing to the NBA Finals.
And I'll give you LeBron would probably be undefeated in the finals if he were advancing from the West. Just not sure I can assume it would be more than 3 trips. If anything, I'd say it's more likely to be fewer trips. LeBron's teams have not been overly inspiring in the series that they've lost. Got absolutely wrecked in 2007, 2014, 2017, and 2018. The only time they put up much of a fight, in a losing effort, was in 2011 and 2015... I think Miami would have won the whole thing, no matter from what conference, in 2012. The titles in 2013 and 2016, however, were both won with last-minute heroics in Game 7. Either of those teams could have lost in the Western Conference Semifinals.
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