Ranking the Most Unlikely NBA Finals Heroes of All Time

The Miami Heat face about as steep an uphill battle as we've seen in an NBA Finals, especially given Game 1 injuries to Goran Dragic, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

If they're going to make this series competitive, some unlikely hero will need to shatter expectations.

We've seen that happen in the past. It wasn't necessarily from an underdog each time, but during the league's history, several players have given more than many anticipated on the game's biggest stage. Some did so on more than one occasion.

The ones who produced the biggest discrepancies between expectations and individual results follow.

5. Vinnie Johnson

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Vinnie Johnson, who could heat up in a hurry, was nicknamed The Microwave for good reason. Over a seven-year stretch during his late 20s and early 30s, Johnson averaged 13.9 points in 25.9 minutes per game off the Detroit Pistons' bench.

As a member of the Bad Boys squad that won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990, though, he was on the back end of his prime. In the 1989-90 campaign, his scoring average dropped into single digits for the first time since 1981-82. He appeared to be easing into a lesser role near the close of his career.

In those two Finals, however, he turned back the clock.

In 1989, his average jumped from 13.8 points per game in the regular season to 17.0 in a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers. He was 30-of-50 from the field in those four games. A year later, he went from 9.8 points per contest in the regular season to 12.2 in the Finals. And once again, he shot well over 50 percent from the field as the Pistons beat the Portland Trail Blazers in five games. 

On a team headlined by Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars in the backcourt, as well as several bruisers inside, Johnson found a way to distinguish himself when the games mattered most.

4. Andre Iguodala

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There's no question Andre Iguodala was an indispensable role player throughout the Golden State Warriors' half-decade dynasty that included three titles and five trips to the Finals.

But almost no one could've predicted his rise to Finals MVP status in 2015.

"Back on June 3 [Stephen] Curry was the 5-8 favorite on the odds to win the NBA Finals MVP, with [LeBron] James at 17-10, and Iguodala at 125-1," OddsShark's Mark Presley wrote in 2015. "The Warriors then went on to win the NBA Finals in six games, with Iguodala beating James in the voting for the MVP award."

That regular season, Iguodala averaged 7.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 77 games off the bench. He didn't start a single contest.

In the Finals, coach Steve Kerr finally decided to tip off games with his so-called Death Lineup of Curry, Klay Thompson, Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green.

Even then, it would've been hard to imagine the newly promoted forward snagging the playoffs' highest individual honor from Curry, the recently crowned regular-season MVP.

Curry led the Warriors in scoring and assists that series, but Iguodala had a higher box plus/minus, thanks to superior defense and shooting numbers.

His one-on-one efforts against LeBron were particularly impressive. When Iguodala was on the floor, James' effective field-goal percentage dropped six points. And a stifled LeBron impacted the Cleveland Cavaliers' entire offense. When Iguodala was in, they scored 94.5 points per 100 possessions, compared to 100.7 when he sat.

Though some might still argue that Curry should've been named Finals MVP, there's no disputing that Iguodala bucked the odds and turned in a thoroughly surprising, effective performance.

3. Robert Horry

PAUL SANCYA/Associated Press

Robert Horry is 546th in NBA history in career regular-season points scored. Over his 16 seasons, he averaged 7.0 points and 0.7 threes per game while shooting 34.1 percent from deep.

By those measures alone, you'd think he was a steady role player who managed to last as long as he did by doing all the little things. And you'd be right.

But when you throw in his Finals resume, he darn-near has a Hall of Fame case (though his Hall of Fame probability sits at just 3.4 percent).

Horry is 50th in league history in career Finals points scored. His averages in 37 Finals games are 9.7 points and 1.5 threes with a 39.2 three-point percentage. The only players with more championships than Horry's seven all come from the Boston Celtics of the 1950s and 1960s, when the league had an average of around nine teams.

Now, one might chalk all this up to fortune. Horry just happened to play with Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal during their primes. While there may be an element of truth to that, it's unfair to one of the most clutch players we've ever seen.

There are entire lists dedicated to the moments when Horry came up big in the playoffs, and many of those moments were in the Finals.

By the end of his career, stellar play at the most important times was almost a given from Horry. But the level of defensive versatility and shot-making he provided was still unlikely in comparison to his solid regular-season resume.

2. Cedric Maxwell

Bill Polo/Associated Press

Much like the case for Iguodala, Cedric Maxwell isn't here because of a lack of pre-Finals importance.

In fact, in the 1980-81 season, Maxwell was the Boston Celtics' third-leading scorer with 15.2 points per game. He shot a blistering 58.8 percent from the field (league average that season was 48.6 percent) and filled out the rest of the stat sheet nicely.

But he was far from the headliner of Boston's stacked roster. Larry Bird and Robert Parish averaged more points than Maxwell in the regular season. Tiny Archibald led the team in assists. All three made the All-Star game that year.

But Maxwell was the Celtic who captured the Finals MVP after Boston upended Moses Malone and the Houston Rockets. Bird led the team in rebounding, assists and steals, but Maxwell led the way in the scoring column with 17.7 points per game. And he was far more efficient, shooting 42-of-74 from the field (56.8 percent).

"I was surprised," Celtics coach Bill Fitch said after the MVP vote, per Sports Illustrated's John Papanek. "I assumed it would be Bird."

After Game 2 of the series, it certainly looked like Maxwell was out of the running. The Rockets won the contest, and Maxwell had six points on 3-of-8 shooting. Bird, meanwhile, had 19 points, 21 rebounds, five steals and three assists.

Maxwell took over from there, though, following a stern talking-to from Fitch.

"It wasn't Fitch's chewing me out that turned me around," Maxwell said. "It was myself."

Fueled by his Game 2 struggles, Maxwell averaged 22.5 points and 11.0 rebounds over the last four games of the series while shooting 64.8 percent from the field. He went for 28 points and 15 rebounds in Game 5 alone, and the Celtics won the series in six contests.

1. John Paxson

Scott Troyanos/Associated Press

The Chicago Bulls of the 1990s were obviously Michael Jordan's team, but he had plenty of help on the way to his six championships.

After MJ, most of the acclaim understandably goes to Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Horace Grant and Toni Kukoc. Several other role players had big moments, though. None of their heroics were quite as unexpected as John Paxson's.

During the three seasons in which Paxson won titles with Chicago, he averaged 6.9 points and 0.3 threes in 22.5 minutes per game. His box plus/minus over that stretch was a below-average minus-0.8. He started the majority of those contests, but he was clearly an ancillary piece of the rotation.

In the Finals, though, Paxson found another level. His averages jumped to 9.6 points and 1.0 threes per night. His box plus/minus skyrocketed to 3.6 (borderline All-Star level).

In 1991 alone, he put up 13.4 points while shooting 65.3 percent from the field against the Lakers. And in 1993, following a regular season in which his scoring average dipped to 4.2 points (his lowest mark since his rookie campaign in 1983-84), Paxson delivered perhaps the defining moment of his career.

In Game 6 of that series, with the Bulls down 96-98 to Charles Barkley's Phoenix Suns, Pippen drove the lane in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter. When the defense collapsed, Pippen found Grant just outside the paint. He quickly kicked it out to an open Paxson, who drilled the game- and series-winning three.

"I literally think about it once a week," Suns forward Dan Majerle said in 2018. "To this day."

On a team that featured Jordan and Pippen, it was Paxson who delivered the dagger that still stings decades later.

Stats via Basketball Reference.