Now that LeBron James can add the title "NBA champion" to his resume, it's time to examine where James fits among the NBA's all-time greats.
It wasn't that long ago that James was making noise (and history) in the Ohio High School Athletic Association. When James was just 16 years old, Ryan Jones of Slam Magazine said the then-sophomore might be "the best high school basketball player in America."
Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated noted the high level of praise NBA scouts doled on James as a high-school junior who already impressed with his all-around game.
Heaping that much praise on a high schooler often can be disastrous.
And James' admirers had set the bar higher than that for any high-school player before or since.
Dubbed "King James," he was also dubbed Jordan's heir apparent before he had even left the campus of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.
There was no way that this child (not even a 6'7", 225-pound man-child) could ever live up to this level of buzz, right?
Well, not exactly...
Fast forward to 2012, and James is now unquestionably the best player on the planet. Basketball minds are still raving about his versatility, and those Jordan comparisons still resonate.
Yet it's hard to say that James has lived up to the "next Jordan" moniker.
He's simply the first LeBron James.
Truth be told, James has drawn more comparisons to Magic Johnson than Jordan, but even those fail to capture the immense talent of the King.
The Johnson-James comparisons draw from a reasonable origin: Both players are 6'8" or taller with the handles, court vision and decision-making to play the point-guard position.
But as great as Johnson was, he was never the scorer nor the defender that James is.
Johnson topped the 20-point mark just four seasons in his career (his best scoring year came when he averaged 23.9 in 1986-87), while James has topped it in each of his nine seasons and has even topped the 30-point plateau in two different seasons.
As for the defensive comparisons, Johnson was lauded as a smart team defender. But he never made an all-defensive team in his NBA career.
Has LeBron James reached his peak?
Has LeBron James reached his peak?
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Yes
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No
James, meanwhile, has appeared on the past four all-defensive first teams and realistically should have an NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award by now (the only piece of NBA hardware still evading the 27-year-old).
Wait, James can score and defend? Maybe those Jordan comparisons aren't too off base.
In terms of raw talent and importance to their teams, the comparisons are warranted.
But the two played vastly different games.
Jordan was every bit the athletic specimen then that James is today, but he was not initiating former Bulls coach Phil Jackson's offense. Jordan has the edge in career scoring (30.1 to 27.6), while James has the advantage in assists (6.9 to 5.3).
Likewise, while Jordan could defend anyone on the perimeter, he simply didn't have the size to defend the bigs of his era on a nightly basis.
James is simply unlike anyone player the game has seen.
With his combination of size, strength, intelligence and athleticism, he can do everything on the basketball court.
Sports fans love to compare players across eras in order to "decide" who was the greatest or who will be the next so-and-so.
But basketball fans would be much better with that sliver of hope in searching for the next Jordan. Because there will never be another King James.
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