Research: When LeBron lost, he did it against stronger opposition than any other NBA legend

Last week, we looked up 25 NBA superstars to determine the combined winning percentages of the opponents they defeated in the playoffs.

This week, we’re taking a peek at those same superstars, but this time, looking at the winning percentages of the opponents that they lost to in the postseason.

The first thing that jumps out is that although LeBron James beat weaker competition than most legends on average, he also lost to stronger squads than anybody else, mostly due to all of those Finals series against juggernaut Golden State Warriors teams.

The teams who defeated LeBron James in the playoffs combined for a whopping 608-212 regular-season record, good for a winning percentage of 74.1 percent.

One player who isn’t far off from LeBron on our list is Kevin Durant. If you ever wondered why the Oklahoma City Thunder came up painfully short so many times leading to Durant’s controversial departure, just look at the brutal competition they had to face, including the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs in the West, and the Miami Heat in the East during the 2012 Finals.

Overall, it’s clear that it took a lot to beat these guys. Out of the 25 superstars we examined, 21 only lost to opponents who had greater than a 66 percent win percentage, meaning they could only be taken down by the best of the very best.

For more info on the caliber of opponents the 23 other superstars lost to who we didn’t go in-depth on, just check out the gallery above.