NBA History: 25 greatest performances in NBA Finals history

Michael Jordan (L) of the Chicago Bulls tries to get around Mookie Blaylock 10 May during the second half of game three of their Eastern Conferecne Semifinals game at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta Georgia. The Bulls won the game 100-80 to lead the series two game to one. AFP PHOTO Steve SCHAEFER (Photo by STEVE SCHAEFER / AFP) (Photo by STEVE SCHAEFER/AFP via Getty Images) /

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Kobe Bryant & Shaquille O’Neal (Photo by – / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images) /

The NBA Finals have seen just about every great player come across the hardwood. From Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell to Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Most of all-time greats have made it onto the biggest stage of them all.

With countless great showings by them all, whose performance under the brightest of lights was the most memorable?

To help answer that, we’ve gone through countless hours of game tape to pinpoint who in fact showed up when their team needed them most. In this scenario, throw the wins and losses out the window. Countless players have gone to war with significantly compromised rosters and as a result, they put up gaudy numbers but more times than not didn’t pick up the win.

We won’t be casting any aspersions on those who came up short in the win column, instead, we’re simply taking a look at the performance. With that said, winning counts for something and while not a select few on this list didn’t put up monster stats, they were a clear driving force when it came to bringing home either a title or putting a stranglehold on a series.

Speaking of a player who didn’t set the boxscore on fire, our first player on this list fits that description perfectly. He may have been a liability on the court for most of the series but in Game 7, he essentially took the game over.

Come on, let’s talk about Metta Ford-Artest.