3. LeBron James, Miami Heat/Cleveland Cavaliers
It’s hard to argue that every team that found success in the NBA in the East throughout the mid-to-late 2000’s and the 2010’s didn’t have some type of rivalry with LeBron at some point. LeBron won multiple titles in the last decade, and made multiple NBA Finals before then, with the Miami Heat and the Cavaliers in the last two decades.
The “baby Bulls” ran into the Heat and Cavaliers in the mid-to-late 2000’s and early 2010’s. But one of those runs in with the Heat was against star shooting guard Dwyane Wade, center Shaquille O’Neal, in 2006 and 2007. One of those series against the Heat resulted in a win and one was a loss.
However, the 2010 NBA playoffs was the first time that the Bulls ran into LeBron and the Cavaliers. That resulted in a loss in the first round in just five games. This was also the first showdown between Noah D-Rose and the Bulls against LeBron and the Cavaliers. And it would start a rivalry that would last for years to come.
LeBron would meet the Bulls in the playoffs on four occasions throughout the 2010’s. Two of those playoff series came while he was with the Heat, and the other was with the Cavaliers. The closest the Bulls ever got to beating LeBron in the playoffs came in 2015, when D-Rose was really putting together his last impressive playoff series in the Windy City.
In his NBA career (with the Lakers, Cavaliers, and Heat), LeBron has played in 57 total games against the Bulls. He averaged around 29 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, in those 57 games against the Bulls. And LeBron has only played more total games against one other team than he has against the Bulls in his regular season career.