Revisiting the Lowest Moment of LeBron James' Career

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is firmly in the GOAT conversation, and anyone who argues otherwise is being contrarian or combative. However, that doesn't mean that he hasn't had a few roadblocks on his path to glory.

The one playoff failure that will really haunt James' legacy is the 2011 NBA Finals, where James put up the worst individual performance of his nine Finals trips, as he allowed Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks to upset the Miami Heat in six games.

James scored just 17.8 points despite playing 43.6 minutes per game. His shooting percentage of 48% was solid, but he took fewer shots than both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

These struggles came to a crescendo in Games 4 and 5, when James scored just eight points total in the former, and was called for an offensive foul that ended a Heat comeback in the latter. Simply brutal.

To give credit where credit is due, Dirk and the Mavericks were in the middle of a playoff run in which they swept a Kobe Bryant Lakers team that was one year removed from a title, beat an Oklahoma City Thunder squad with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden on it, the toppled the Big Three. Maybe it was meant to be.

James has crafted a legacy that many will argue makes him the greatest player of all time, but his ledger does have some warts. Michael Jordan has his losses to the Pistons, while LeBron has his struggles against Dirk and the Mavericks to wrestle with.