5. Karl Malone 1999, Regular Season: 23.8ppg 9.4rpg 4.1apg
Utah Jazz (37-13, 50 game lock-out season)
Eliminated: Second round 4-2 to Portland Trail Blazers (35-15)
First of all I'd like to say I think the players who finished second and third in the MVP voting (Tim Duncan, Alonzo Mourning) were probably more deserving of this award, but Malone got legacy votes. The main reason he is on this list is because this was his best chance to lead Utah to a Championship and blew it. Granted Tim Duncan and the eventual champion Spurs did go on to win another three-but Malone and the Jazz didn't even have the chance to play them. It must have been really disappointing for Utah, they have 2 incredible seasons run into the greatest player and teams of all-time, then he retires prematurely and they lose in the second round the following year.
4. LeBron James 2009 Regular Season: 28.4ppg 7.6rpg 7.2apg
Cleveland Cavaliers (66-16)
Eliminated: Eastern Conference Finals (4-2) to Orlando Magic (59-23)
Absolutely dominant regular season and undefeated till game 1 of the conference finals. LeBron played well for the most part, but not well enough. I know he hit the buzzer beater in game 2 but everyone forgets game 1 where his poor free throw shooting at the end of the game resulted in a 1 point lost and game 4 where he had 8 turnovers and bricked consecutive 3 pointers to lose in overtime.
3. Julius Erving 1981 Regular Season: 24.6ppg 8.0rpg 4.4agp
Philadelphia 76ers (62-20)
Eliminated: Eastern Conference Finals (4-3) to 3. Seeded Boston Celtics (62-20)
On paper this doesn't seem like a bad season at all. I mean they made it to the conference finals, they lost to a strong Boston Celtics team lead by on of the top 5 basketball players of all time (Larry Bird) who eventually won the title. Well ignoring the fact that Dr.J's numbers dropped from his regular season in the play-offs in each categories-they were up 3-1 on the Celtics, dropped 3 straight and were eliminated. No excuse for that.
2. LeBron James 2010 Regular Season, 29.7ppg 8.3rpg 8.6apg
Cleveland Cavaliers (61-21)
Eliminated: 2nd round (4-2) to 4th seeded Boston (50-32)
So this was supposed to be the year for LeBron. He had a great supporting cast, swept the Lakers, and posted the best record in the league for the second consecutive season. Putting up better REGULAR SEASON numbers than he ever has. Then came the play-offs, and his true colors were shown.
1. Dirk Nowitzki 2007 24.6ppg 8.9rpg 3.4apg
Dallas Mavericks (67-15)
Eliminated: 1st Round (4-2)to 8 seeded Golden State (42-40)
This may have been the biggest upset in play-offs history. The Dallas Mavericks during the regular season were untouchable. Their 67-15 record was tied for 7th all-time and Dirk was unstoppable shooting over 50% from the field. They were soon ousted in 6 games by the Warriors, and Dirk was shut down by Captain Jack Averaging nearly 5 points less than his season average and shooting 38% from the field.
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