Introduction WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
The Biggest Choke Jobs in NBA History WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
Being so close to victory and still losing is one of the most devastating feelings in the world. Way off and another miss—oh my God, this was hilarious. WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History These are the biggest choke jobs in NBA history, starting with arguably the most dominant player ever.WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
Wilt Chamberlain played against Bill Russell’s Celtics eight times in the playoffs and lost seven times. Four of those series went to the deciding Game Seven, with Russell winning all four. But the total point differential was just nine points in all Game Sevens combined.WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History While Wilt was celebrated as the most dominant player ever,WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History all those losses to Russell tarnished his legacy as a winner, especially because some of the losses were straight-up choke jobs.WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
The most famous example is 1969 when the Lakers, with Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt, had a 3-2 lead in the series against an aging Bill Russell. Even after the Celtics won Game Six at home, the Lakers were still convinced they would win, so they filled up the Los Angeles Forum with thousands of balloons,WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History planning to drop them on the floor after the Lakers won the championship. Of course, the balloons stayed tied up to the roof because the Celtics won the title.WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History“They can’t beat us, but it’s going to be fun to watch them get those balloons out one at a time,” largely due to the Lakers coach refusing to
However, the 1969 balloon fiasco wasn’t Wilt’s worst loss to Russell. A year earlier, while he was still with the Philadelphia 76ers, Wilt had a 3-1 series lead against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Sixers were the defending champs, and they had Boston on the ropes once again but then completely fell apart as a team. They shot just 36% in Game Five, and in Game Six, Wilt had a horrible game, shooting 6 for 21 from the field and a catastrophic 8 for 22 from the free throw line.
And then in Game Seven, with homecourt advantage, Wilt played even worse. He took just nine shots, missed more than half his free throws, and finished the game with just 14 points in what was probably his worst playoff game ever. It was also the first time in NBA history a team had blown a 3-1 lead.WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
Two years later, Wilt and the Lakers would come back from a 3-1 deficit against the Suns. In 1979, the Bullets defeated the Spurs after trailing 3-1 in the series, and the fourth time it happened was in 1981 in one of the closest playoff series of all time. It was the Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and the 76ers.
BWORST Choke Jobs In NBA Historyehind the great play of Julius Erving, Philly had a 3-1 lead in the series. Game Five offered much of the same, as the Sixers held a double-digit lead at halftime with all evidence pointing to them winning the series. But thanks to Larry Bird, the Celtics flipped the script and won Game Five. Then in Game Six, at home, the Sixers opened up another huge gap, leading by 13 points after the first quarter, only to lose that game too. Finally, in Game Seven, WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History the Sixers had a four-point lead coming into the fourth quarter.
Legendary Collapses and NBA Meltdowns WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
But they broke down once again, and the Celtics would advance to the Finals, where Larry Bird would win his first NBA title. It was a seven-game series, and every one of them was just full of excitement.” In the final three games of the Eastern Finals, the Celtics outscored the Sixers
That series is eerily similar to the meltdown of the LA Clippers, who squandered a 3-1 lead to the Nuggets in the 2020 NBA bubble. Denver had made it out of the first round by overcoming a 3-1 deficit to the Utah Jazz.
We can’t be predictable against that team.” With Kawhi Leonard widely considered the best player in the world at the time, Paul George—another All-NBA talent—and a deep roster of serviceable role players, it seemed like the Clippers had the series in the bag, especially after holding a 12-point lead at the half of Game Five.
Heading into the fourth, Denver cut the deficit to seven, but still, the Clippers were in the driver’s seat, and nobody could predict what would happen next. LA went ice cold, making just seven of their 25 shots in the fourth quarter, while the Nuggets shot 60% from the field, making seven of their nine three-point attempts.
But these things happen—a team gets hot late, you miss a couple of easy baskets, and you lose a game. Still, nobody considered this a big deal, and the Clippers were still the heavy favorites. After the first half of Game Six, the Clippers played according to expectations with a 16-point advantage in the first half.
And then another meltdown. This time, an even bigger one. In the second half, the Nuggets outscored the Clippers 64-35, and LA looked drained, disengaged, and completely helpless in stopping the Nuggets’ avalanche.
But there was still Game Seven. The Clippers once again had the lead after the first half. However, in the second half, the same story repeated—another Clippers collapse. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George made just two out of 18 shots from the field, looking like shells of themselves. Paul George, who once called himself “Playoff P,” earned the nicknames “Way Off P” and “Pandemic P.”
While this was the first time for PG-13 to blow a 3-1 lead in the playoffs, for his coach Doc Rivers, it was actually the third time. The first happened in 2003 when Doc was coaching the Orlando Magic. After their third win in Game Four, Magic superstar Tracy McGrady naively proclaimed, “It feels really good to win a playoff series and advance to the second round.” Their opponents, the mighty Detroit Pistons, didn’t like that one bit.
Game Five was a blowout as the Pistons held Orlando to just 67 points. In Game Six, McGrady scored 37, but he had no help, and Detroit forced a Game Seven, where they finished the job with another big win. McGrady had to eat his words and paid the price for his cockiness. However, he indeed lost to a better team, and it was a big surprise that Orlando even won three games, considering they were the eighth seed and the Pistons were the first seed.
But in 2015, another Doc Rivers team choked in the playoffs, and this time, they weren’t any less talented—they just dropped the ball big time. It was the infamous Lob City Clippers, who had a 3-1 lead against James Harden and the Houston Rockets. After LA won Game Three by 25 and Game Four by 33 points, everybody expected another big win and for the Clippers to advance to their first Conference Finals in franchise history.
But it didn’t happen in Game Five, as the Rockets led the entire game and cruised to victory. However, in Game Six, in Los Angeles, the Clippers led by 19 late in the third and were up by 12 with eight minutes to go, so their victory seemed like a no-brainer.
And then, it’s hard to even explain the debacle that happened. With James Harden on the bench, the Rockets outscored the Clippers 40-5 in the fourth quarter, led by a combined 29 points from Corey Brewer and Josh Smith—two players off the bench.
The Clippers never recovered from the fiasco in Game Six, losing the series in Game Seven, which marked the beginning of the end of the Lob City era. However, this wasn’t the biggest meltdown of Chris Paul’s career seven years later.
The Most Humiliating Loss:
He got served the most humiliating loss of his career with the compliments of Chef Luca Donic after he led Phoenix to the 2021 finals. The Suns were even hotter in 2022, winning a franchise record 64 games, with Monty Williams winning Coach of the Year.
The Series Against the Mavericks: WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
In the second round against the Mavericks, it was an even series, each team winning three games at home and doing so in a dominant fashion. The Suns won their games with an average 19-point margin of victory, while Dallas won their home games with a 15-point cushion. But game seven was in Phoenix, and everybody expected the home team to win again. And not only did they not win, they got destroyed in the first half. Dallas had a 30-point lead, with Luka scoring the same amount of points as the entire Phoenix team. However, there have been 10 instances in NBA history where a team overcame a 30-point deficit, and there was still a glimmer of hope for the Suns fans. But it went from bad to ugly real quick, and at one point the Mavs had a 46-point lead, ultimately winning 123 to 90 in what was the most lopsided game seven in NBA history.
The Suns’ First Choke Job:
That wasn’t the Suns’ first choke job, though. That happened in 1995 with Charles Barkley still in his prime when the Suns had nearly defeated his friend Kenny Smith and the Rockets. But just like Kenny is often reminded on Inside the NBA, you have to run through the tape, and it ain’t over until it’s over. Phoenix finished the regular season with 59 wins, securing the second seed in the West. And after they swept the Blazers, it looked like it was their time to win the West again after taking a commanding 3-1 lead against the Rockets in the second round. But in game five, Charles Barkley had lost it. Whatever was going for him in the first half disappeared in the second, as he made seven of his first nine shots and then missed 11 in a row, plus a horrible 1-for-6 from the free throw line. Missed free throws in the clutch cost Phoenix the game. And after they lost game six in Houston, they returned home for game seven. It started off well—the Suns opened up a nice 13-point gap after 12 minutes, and by the end of the half, they were still up by 10. But once again, they squandered the lead, and the game was ultimately decided by a kiss of death, a series-winning dagger by Mario Elie, who blew a couple of kisses towards the Suns fans to rub it in. The Rockets would advance to the NBA Finals.
Nick Anderson’s Infamous Choke: WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
In the NBA Finals, one player choked even worse than Charles Barkley—it was Nick Anderson, who famously bricked four consecutive free throws that would have secured a win for the Magic if he had only made one. Orlando would have won, but he didn’t. After Kenny Smith hit the game-winning buzzer-beating three-pointer, the game went into overtime, and Houston won. After this game, the Magic fell apart, never recovering their confidence, and they got swept in the Finals. But Nick Anderson hardly had the worst choke in NBA history.
Dennis Johnson’s Game Seven Disaster:
Dennis Johnson or John Starks, who cost their teams NBA titles in the 1978 Finals between Washington and Seattle, could be argued as having worse chokes. Dennis Johnson entered game seven as the best scorer on the SuperSonics, averaging 19 points per game. But then, in game seven, Johnson had the worst shooting performance in NBA Finals history, missing all of his 14 shots and finishing with more turnovers than assists
John Starks’ Struggles in the 1994 Finals:
Almost identically to Johnson, John Starks entered game seven of the 1994 Finals as the best scorer on the Knicks, averaging 19 points per game. But in the deciding game, Starks shot an abysmal 2-for-18, including 0-for-11 from three, and the Knicks lost the game by six points.
LeBron’s 2011 Finals Struggles: WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
However, the most criticized Finals choke ever wasn’t Nick Anderson, Dennis Johnson, or John Starks. It happened arguably to the most scrutinized player in NBA history—LeBron James in the 2011 Finals against the Mavs. LeBron played by far the worst playoff series of his career in the 54 series he’s played so far. He never averaged less than 22 points per game in a series, except for that one time, where he averaged 17.8 points against the Mavs and was only the fifth-best scorer in the Finals. This was the equivalent of an NBA panic attack, going blind under the pressure. Now, to be fair to the Mavs, they guarded the Heat perfectly, exploiting Miami’s lack of shooting and playing a hybrid zone to take away LeBron’s driving game. The Mavs also slowed down Kobe and Durant during their Championship run. But that doesn’t mask the fact that LeBron played horribly, reluctant to take shots in the fourth quarter, looking uncomfortable with the ball. This was the worst version of LeBron we’ve ever seen, and haters like Skip Bayless had the right to call his performance a choke job. But this was the only time that could be said about LeBron because most of the other times, he was the one celebrating while the other team was getting criticized for choking.
LeBronto: The Raptors’ Heartbreaks:
And nobody choked harder than the Toronto Raptors, who famously got nicknamed LeBronto after 2018. See, the Raptors lost to LeBron in the playoffs in 2016 and 2017, but 2018 was supposed to be their year. They won a franchise record 59 games and had the best record in the East, and the Cavs were weaker than before, playing without Kyrie and going through a big mess at the trade deadline. The Raptors had a deeper team, more rest, and most importantly, the home court advantage. For the majority of game one, the Raptors were the better opponent, but they managed to squander a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. Toronto never trailed once for 48 minutes, but LeBron’s clutch turnaround jumper in the last minute tied the score and sent the game to overtime. In the OT, the Raptors seemed to do everything in their power to lose the game, their players choked and kept missing wide-open shots. So the Cavs escaped with a victory. Game two was close at the half but quickly turned into a blowout. LeBron dominated in a 128-110 victory, finishing with 43 points and 14 assists. Before the fourth quarter, the Raptor announcer joked and said, “We’ll be back to LeBronto for the fourth quarter after this.” In game three, the Raptors were close to victory again, but this time LeBron hit an insane running floater for the win, which snatched the Raptors’ souls. Game four then became just a formality, and the Raptors choked again. Afterward, they traded DeRozan and fired Dwayne Casey, a week after he was named Coach of the Year.
The Portland Trailblazers’ 2001 Meltdown: WORST Choke Jobs In NBA History
But in 2001, a team suffered an even bigger meltdown in the Conference Finals. That year, the Portland Trail Blazers had arguably the deepest and most talented team in the NBA. They won 59 games and had the second-best record in the league. In the West Finals, they played against the team…
