LeBron James has the talent to be among the best ever, that is indisputable, but does he have the drive? Will his immense talent translate to success?
There have been plenty to scrutinize James, both for his short comings as a clutch performer, and for his dubious decisions such as "The Decision." When you spurn a home town that has supported you not just for your pro career, but for your entire career, it doesn't go unnoticed by those who value loyaltyâ€"rare as it may be in sports.
But I don't want to talk about the things LeBron James has done that have caused him to be hated around the league. I don't want to dwell on how he thinks his Heat team is the sensation equivalent to the Beatles. No, that isn't important here.
What is important, however, is whether we will ever be able to consider LeBron among the best ever.
As I said, the talent level is there, as are the immense athletic skills. Some have commented that LeBron has the same build as Karl Malone, but with infinitely more athleticism. That's a fair comparison, but he may end up having more in common with The Mailman than that. Indeed, like Malone, LeBron may fail to ever win a ring.
And that stains legacies. People want to see a great player at least win a few rings, and LeBron is now zero for two in Finals appearances. Compare that to Kobe's five of seven, or even Jordan's six of six, and you're talking about a player that just fails to compareâ€"at least right now. As to whether James can get to that level, well, that remains to be seen.
He's going to have to improve several aspects of his game. Even his vocal leadership must improve, because he is viewed as one of the best in the league. It has to go beyond just leading the Heat too, he has to realize his popularity puts him under a microscope. It's an immense pressure to be sure, but James realizes his own greatness, and isn't afraid to tell others. As repulsive as it may be at times, that need to believe you are the best is universal among the best players who have ever played in the NBA.
MJ sure as heck had it. He could punch a team in the jugular going down the stretch, then nail the last nails in the coffin, as teams writhed under the pressure. Kobe Bryant does the same thing. They have impacted the game in a way James has yet to do. And I don't know that he ever will, especially if he fails to realize that he is in a situation right now that has caused even more scrutiny. If you are going to play with the best in the game, your team should win championships.
There's a lot to be said for what the Heat have done, of course. The Big Three got to the Finals in their first season together, and further developments in chemistry will help drive the engine further. They had the best Vegas odds on winning a championship going into this season at 2.5:1, and they've shown why. Their most formidable opponent may not even be the Bulls in the East, nor the Lakers in the West, but the Oklahoma City Thunder. If LeBron can prove his worth against Kevin Durant in an epic Finals show down, that would go a long ways towards beginning the building of his legacy.
I do believe that possibility is there, and because of it I have made no attempt to rule out the possibility of one day joining Bill Simmons' "Pantheon" of great players. The thing is, rings are required to get there, and right now, again, he is zero of two. Perhaps he can nail two of the next three Finals appearances and manage to walk away with a couple rings. He still has a few more years of prime basketball to do so, and maybe more, but I won't grant him extreme longevity with the amount of basketball he has played so far.
If James can put in another solid five seasons, his body of work will substantiate the inevitable Hall of Fame selection. But without the rings, he may not even be first ballot. I know that is a stretch, but rings play such a huge role in measuring greatness, whether people want to acknowledge it or not.
LeBron realizes that, and will be sure to do everything in his power to correct it, for without doing so, he'll never be mentioned in the same breath as even the players that have just won a couple championships, nevermind the likes of Kobe and MJ, who have more rings than fingers to wear them on.
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