LeBron James is widely regarded as one of the greatest playoff performers in NBA history. His resume boasts four championships, ten NBA Finals appearances, and countless iconic postseason moments. However, his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers is starting to look like the most underwhelming playoff stretch of his storied career.
After the Lakers’ first-round elimination at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games, LeBron is now 2–12 in his last 14 playoff games—an astonishing figure for someone whose legacy was once built on deep postseason runs and dominance in elimination games.
– 2018-19 – Missed Playoffs (37-45)
– 2019-20 – Champion (52-19, Beat Miami Heat 4-2)
– 2020-21 – First Round Exit (42-30, Lost To Phoenix Suns 4-2)
– 2021-22 – Missed Playoffs (33-49)
– 2022-23 – Western Conference Finals (43-39, Lost To Denver Nuggets 4-0)
– 2023-24 – First Round Exit (47-35, Lost To Denver Nuggets 4-1)
– 2024-25 – First Round Exit (50-32, Lost To Minnesota Timberwolves 4-1)
To understand the magnitude of this decline, it’s important to look at the broader context. LeBron’s Lakers tenure began in 2018–19, a season where the team missed the playoffs entirely with a 37–45 record, as LeBron dealt with injuries and a young core failed to mesh.
In 2020, the team bounced back in the COVID-shortened season, finishing 52–19 and winning the NBA championship in the Orlando bubble. That title remains the brightest spot in LeBron’s Lakers chapter.
Since then, though, it’s been a steady downward trajectory. In 2021, the Lakers were bounced in the first round by the Phoenix Suns, marking the first first-round exit of LeBron’s career.
A year later, the team didn’t even qualify for the play-in tournament, going 33–49 in a disastrous 2022 campaign. The 2023 season brought some hope with a Cinderella run to the Western Conference Finals, only for LeBron and the Lakers to get swept by the Denver Nuggets.
That sweep began the current 2–12 skid. It continued into the 2024 playoffs, where the Lakers again faced the Nuggets, this time in the first round, and were eliminated in just five games. The 2025 postseason delivered more of the same. Despite acquiring Luka Doncic in a midseason blockbuster, the Lakers flamed out again in five games, this time to Anthony Edwards and the surging Timberwolves.
In the seven seasons since joining the Lakers, LeBron has only one championship and one additional conference finals appearance. By contrast, in his 15 seasons between Miami and Cleveland, he made the NBA Finals nine times and won three titles.
His Miami Heat tenure alone delivered four straight Finals appearances and back-to-back championships. With the Cavaliers, he carried rosters to five Finals and brought the Cleveland Cavaliers their first-ever NBA title in 2016.
Perhaps most telling is the erosion of his consistency in the early rounds. Prior to joining the Lakers, LeBron had never suffered a first-round playoff exit in his entire career. With the Lakers, he’s now been knocked out in the first round three times in the last five postseasons.
At 40 years old, LeBron James remains an elite player statistically, but the playoff results no longer reflect the same level of impact. Whether it’s due to aging, roster construction, or the rising strength of the Western Conference, LeBron’s Lakers run is threatening to end not with a bang, but with a quiet fade into postseason irrelevance.
