LeBron James's Best Teammates, Ranked

10.

On the verge of another incredible achievement—winning a title with his third team and possibly becoming the first player in NBA history to earn Finals MVP honors with a three separate squads—LeBron James deserves all the praise and accolades he'll be showered with over the coming days, weeks, months, and years.

But let's not get it twisted—The King hasn't done it all by himself. He's had plenty of help winning titles in Miami, Cleveland, and now (we feel safe assuming) Los Angeles. Which made us wonder which running mate is the best LeBron has played with? Chris Bosh told us yesterday it's clearly Dwyane Wade. Some would argue otherwise. And that's what we're here to do.

Just like Michael Jordan did during his run to six titles in the 90s, James has paired up with some incredible players—including a number of current and future Hall of Famers—that aided his ascension from prodigy to the NBA's Mt. Rushmore. But who deserves the crown as LeBron's best teammate is a debate worth having now that Anthony Davis could snag MVP honors in the 2020 NBA Finals over James, LeBron spent four years balling with Wade and Bosh on South Beach, and he had some damn good sidekicks during his two stints in Cleveland.

This certainly ain't scientific, it's 100 percent subjective, and definitely will make three fan bases feel a certain way. But for better or worse, here are the nine best teammates James has played ranked in appropriate order.

9.Mo Williams

While most will remember LeBron's first run in Cleveland as a failure to win a championship and forcing his hand to go to Miami, we shouldn't forget that he had some pretty legit teammates by his side. Of course, they weren't at the level of guys he would play with later in his career, but let's appreciate Mo Williams for a second. People will forget that Williams was an All-Star, and though he wasn't a Dwyane Wade or Kyrie Irving type of player, he was still a good complementary piece next to James. Williams averaged over 15 PPG in both of his seasons with LeBron and shot over 40 percent from deep. It obviously wasn't enough to put the Cavs over the hump, but Williams did what he could. It was also quite poetic that the Cavs signed Williams in 2016 and he got a ring with that historic team. —ZF

8.Shane Battier

Some might think we’re getting a little silly putting Shane Battier on this list, but the Duke product who carved out a pretty good 13-year career in the NBA was a vital cog on three of those Big 3 Miami teams, winning two titles with LeBron. They didn’t bring Battier to Miami to light up the scoreboard so his offensive numbers suffered across the board when he got to South Beach. But they brought him in for his defense, his veteran leadership off the bench, his poise, and his ability to knock down threes. Does Miami win those two titles if they didn’t have Battier on the roster? That’s debatable. But he’s immortal in LeBron’s and Heat fans’ eyes for connecting on 15-of-26 from beyond the arc in Miami’s 2012 Finals win over Oklahoma City and his performance in Game 7 of the 2013 Finals when he hit 6-of-8 threes to help Miami defeat San Antonio. —AC

7.Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Like Mo Williams, Big Zydrunas Illgauskas is often a lost figure when thinking about James's best teammates. But let's not forget just how good Big Z was! He was not only very crafty on the offensive end, but a very good rebounder who helped shape those early LeBron teams that made an unexpected run to the Finals in 2007. But like we said, almost all of LeBron's early Cavs teammates are looked down upon because those teams didn't win a title and he ended up leaving. That shoulnd't force us not to recognize there were some good players in the fold. Big Z was one of them and it's a shame he could never get a ring, even after following LeBron to Miami for his first season with the Heat. —ZF

6.Ray Allen

The greatest 3-point shooter in NBA history (for now) teamed up with James for the final two seasons of his Hall of Fame career when he was a sharpshooter rather than the awesome athlete that entered the NBA as the fifth pick in the 1996 draft. So we’re not going to get crazy and rank Ray higher than Wade, Bosh, or Irving because Allen took his talents down to South Beach in the middle of the Big 3’s run and only won one title with James. But other than Irving, we’d argue there’s nobody LeBron has played with that he’d trust more to hit a big shot from the perimeter when it mattered most than Jesus Shuttlesworth. —AC

5.Kevin Love

Kevin Love really got the full experience of playing with LeBron James, almost like no other. Love is clearly one of the most talented players James has ever played with, but he had to endure a lot of bullshit along the way. From subtweets to trade rumors, Love's time with James was a rocky road from the very start. It's funny because Love was warned from the very beginning by Chris Bosh and others what he was in for and it really played out just as they said. For as good as Love was, he was often the most criticized of the Cavs' three stars throughout their time together. But you know what? When a championship was on the line, Love was one of the best players on the court in Game 7 against the Warriors and came up with that huge stop of Steph Curry down the stretch. Through all of the drama, they made it work. —ZF

4.Chris Bosh

Chris Bosh was clearly the third-wheel during his days in Miami with LeBron and DWade and he made concessions to his game when he left Toronto for South Beach. But even though he saw his numbers dip across the board and wasn’t beasting like his days with the Raptors, Bosh was still a dynamic threat at power forward who could knock down a back-breaking three from the corner, respectably rebound, and defend. Maybe it’s because it happened roughly nine lifetimes ago for all of us, but it feels like Bosh’s contributions were criminally underrated during his four seasons playing alongside LeBron. Bosh always filled up the box score, shot the ball as efficiently as any big who has balled with LeBron, and made the All-Star team each season while James was in Miami. Put some respect on Bosh’s name. —AC

3.Kyrie Irving

As a Cavs fan, I will forever stan for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving as a great duo. While it's now clear they didn't exactly see eye-to-eye all the time, they really were electric on the court and essentially the sole reason the Cavs won their only title. There was plenty of doubters who said that Kyrie and LeBron wouldn't work when James went back to the Cavs, but they quickly proved that together they were nearly unstoppable. It was a change of pace from the LeBron/Wade duo, because no matter how good Wade was, very few guys can score the ball like Kyrie. His shooting prowess and ability to get to the rim pretty much made the Cavs offense unstoppable. Irving made it so you simply couldn't focus so much energy on LeBron because Kyrie would make you pay in a big way. Now, you could say Irving was a net-negative on the defensive side of the ball, but with how easy he could score next to LeBron, you take that tradeoff any day of the week. It's hard to argue with the results after they teamed up for one of the greatest championships in NBA history. So however the Kyrie and LeBron duo is looked at in future years, make sure you never forget how damn explosive they were together on the court. —ZF

2.Dwyane Wade

Talk about tough. We went with Anthony Davis as No. 1 on this list, but it wasn't easy because Dwyane Wade and LeBron James were so good together in Miami. They won two titles and set the basketball world on fire with highlights that still seem unbelievable today. We all figured that Wade and LeBron teaming up in Miami would lead to greatness, but I'm not sure those first three years were what anyone expected. There were the flashy, full-court passes that led to mind-altering dunks, the insane defense on the wing, the 27-game winning streak, and so much more.

Wade and LeBron perfectly complemented each other as one of the fiercest duos we've ever seen. And quite frankly, one of the big reasons why Wade is No. 2 on this list and not No. 1 is because Davis is more in his prime playing with LeBron than Wade was. Don't get us wrong, Wade was incredible those first two-ish years with LeBron, but his body started to breakdown near the end of the run with the Heat. He wasn't as much "Flash" as the Heat needed, which is probably a big reason LeBron ended up going back to Cleveland. But that shouldn't take anything away about how good these two were together. Many people, including Chris Bosh, will likely have Wade No. 1 as LeBron's best teammate ever. When you go back and watch the peak of the Heattles play, it's not an easy argument to go against. —ZF

1.Anthony Davis

Whether you pick AD or DWade as LeBron’s top running mate probably comes down to personal preference. Because Wade is easily a top five 2-guard in NBA history with a resume that Davis can’t compete with (for now) and the run Wade and James had in Miami was epic. That's because LeBron was arguably at his offensive peak in Miami and their chemistry was through the roof during their four-straight trips to the Finals. But as great as Wade was, he wasn’t as gifted a basketball player as Davis is since AD is a game-changing defender, multi-dimensional offensive threat that’s basically impossible to stop, skilled like a guard yet stands 7’, and complements James in ways Wade never did.

Wade and James had redundancies in their games. AD and James do not. AD’s an athletic power forward who rebounds, runs the floor, blocks shots, and has the slightly sexier numbers when you compare his advanced metrics like PER and BPM to Wade's The only thing that may hold back LeBron and AD from matching the two titles and four Finals appearances Wade and James teamed up for is LeBron’s advancing age. But that shouldn’t be held against Davis in this debate. AD as James's sidekick > DWade as James's sidekick. And for what it's worth, Wade agrees. —AC