re: Did mj ever make 5 finals in a row?

How about we just line them both up:

Michael Jordan
1985 (Career Year 1, Age 21) - LOST in First Round (Career Series Record: 0-1)
1986 (Career Year 2, Age 22) - LOST in First Round (0-2)
1987 (Career Year 3, Age 23) - LOST in First Round (0-3)
1988 (Career Year 4, Age 24, MVP) - LOST in Conference Semifinals (1-4)
1989 (Career Year 5, Age 25) - LOST in Conference Finals (3-5)
1990 (Career Year 6, Age 26) - LOST in Conference Finals (5-6)
1991 (Career Year 7, Age 27, MVP) - WON NBA Finals (9-6), Finals MVP
1992 (Career Year 8, Age 28, MVP) - WON NBA Finals (12-6), Finals MVP
1993 (Career Year 9, Age 29) - WON NBA Finals (16-6), Finals MVP
1995 (Career Year 10, Age 31) - LOST in Conference Semifinals (17-7)
1996 (Career Year 11, Age 32, MVP) - WON NBA Finals (21-7), Finals MVP -- not to mention also winning 72 regular season games
1997 (Career Year 12, Age 33) - WON NBA Finals (25-7), Finals MVP
1998 (Career Year 13, Age 34, MVP) - WON NBA Finals (29-7), Finals MVP
2002 (Career Year 14, Age 38) - Did Not Make Playoffs
2003 (Career Year 15, Age 39) - Did Not Make Playoffs

TOTALS:
2 Seasons - Did Not Make Playoffs
3 Seasons - Lost in 1st Round
2 Seasons - Lost in Conference Seminfinals
2 Seasons - Lost in Conference Finals
6 Seasons - Won NBA Title
6 NBA Finals MVP Awards
5 NBA MVP Awards

Made playoffs in all of first 13 years of career; only missed playoffs in his 2 years with Washington.

Lebron James
2004 (Career Year 1, Age 19) - Did Not Make Playoffs
2005 (Career Year 2, Age 20) - Did Not Make Playoffs
2006 (Career Year 3, Age 21) - LOST in Conference Semifinals (1-1)
2007 (Career Year 4, Age 22) - LOST in NBA Finals (4-2)
2008 (Career Year 5, Age 23) - LOST in Conference Semifinals (5-3)
2009 (Career Year 6, Age 24, MVP) - LOST in Conference Finals (7-4)
2010 (Career Year 7, Age 25, MVP) - LOST in Conference Semifinals (8-5)
2011 (Career Year 8, Age 26) - LOST in NBA Finals (11-6)
2012 (Career Year 9, Age 27, MVP) - WON NBA Finals (15-6), Finals MVP
2013 (Career Year 10, Age 28, MVP) - WON NBA Finals (19-6), Finals MVP
2014 (Career Year 11, Age 29) - LOST in NBA Finals (22-7)
2015 (Career Year 12, Age 30) - TBD - in NBA Finals (25-7)

TOTALS:
2 Seasons - Did Not Make Playoffs
0 Seasons - Lost in 1st Round
3 Seasons - Lost in Conference Semifinals
1 Season - Lost in Conference Finals
3 Seasons - Lost in NBA Finals
2 Seasons - Won NBA Title
1 Season - TBD, Made NBA finals
2 NBA Finals MVP Awards
4 NBA MVP Awards

Similarities --
- When they entered the league, neither had success leading a team anywhere. Jordan couldn't get out of the first round for 3 years; Lebron couldn't make it to the playoffs for 2.
- Both of them won a title in the 7th trip to the playoffs (this was in MJ's 7th season, Lebron's 9th)
- Both of them have won their conference 6 times.

Differences --
- After MJ's first finals appearance, he went to the NBA finals 5 out of his next 6 seasons. After Lebron's first finals appearance, it took 4 years to get back and 5 years to win it.
- Lebron has taken a team to 5 straight finals appearances. MJ never did more than 3 in a row, despite some claiming that is a technicality (YES, MJ took the Bulls to 6 straight finals appearances across 6 full seasons of play, but he did return and go to the conference semis in 1995).
- MJ never lost an NBA Finals appearance. Lebron has lost 3.
- If you look at full seasons, MJ is 6-9 in terms of winning championships vs not winning championships. Lebron is 2-9, and will either be 3-9 or 2-10 after this season. In other words, Lebron has already had as many seasons of "failure" as MJ had in his career, despite only playing 3 years more.

I know there are other similarities and differences; but these are all of the key pieces of info as it relates to the Lebron vs MJ battle being waged in reference to their playoff successes.