LeBron James is the king of the Eastern Conference having made six straight NBA Finals and seven in total. 

The road to the finals in the east always goes through LBJ and in recent years that road has been difficult to navigate for many players. 

If you're a player in the east, the easiest way to make the finals is to join LeBron and not go against him, as the likes of Chris Bosh and Kyrie Irving found out. 

James has stood in the way of some talented All-Star players over the years, here are the five best players to have never made the finals as a result:

Paul George

The four-time All-Star had two Eastern Conference finals battles with King James while he was with the Miami Heat and came up short on both occasions despite making a name for himself in those series. He also lost in the second round to the King prior to that.

The Pacers even secured the number one seed in the 2014/15 season and went up 1-0 after game one. But James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade and the Heat proved too strong for PG and Indy and he is still waiting to get that close and it's unlikely to happen this year because of you know who. 

Indiana is currently down 3-0 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. James inspired the Cavs to overcome the largest halftime deficit in playoffs history to beat the Pacers from down 26. The wait goes on for George. 

Derrick Rose

The Chicago Bulls were the number one seed in the east in 2010/11 and Rose was named as the youngest MVP in NBA history after a fabulous season. As everybody wanted, the Bulls and LeBron's Heat met in the conference finals.

Despite Rose's record-breaking season, LBJ was a barrier he couldn't get through and the Heat won the series in five games and set up a finals date with the Dallas Mavericks in the first year of the big three.

Injuries have cost Rose an opportunity to challenge James and it's unlikely he'll have that chance again in the near future.

Paul Millsap

The big man has been an All-Star in every year he's been with the Atlanta Hawks since signing with them as a free agent in 2013. He was part of the Hawks team that ended the 2014/15 campaign with an impressive 60-22 record which saw them finish atop the east.

Atlanta progressed to the conference finals and became the latest challengers to LeBron's quest to reach the finals again.

Disappointingly, the Hawks didn't put up much of a contest and they were duly swept by the Cavs. As if that wasn't bad enough, the two sides met again last season in the second round and the outcome was exactly the same.

DeMar DeRozan 

The three-time All-Star led the Toronto Raptors to his and the franchise's first conference finals appearance last season. Standing in his way was, of course, LeBron with his star-studded Cleveland Cavaliers lineup which feature Irving and Kevin Love. 

After the Cavs easily won the first two games, DeRozan and the Raptors protected their home court and brought the series level at 2-2 but that's as good as it would get for DeRozan and the Raps.

The King and the Cavs wrapped the series up in five and advanced to their second consecutive finals berth where they won a maiden championship.

Kyle Lowry

The dynamic point guard was the backcourt partner of DeRozan's in the Raptors team and despite being an All-Star and having a terrific regular season, he struggled throughout the postseason and was disappointing against the Cavaliers.

If they are able to overcome the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto will have another crack at LeBron and the Cavs in the second round this year and Lowry will definitely have a point to prove. 

If ever there was a year when the Cleveland superstar's finals place was in jeopardy, it's now after the Wine and Gold faltered in the second half of the campaign and with their defence looking ponderous.