Could LeBron James Be the Best Ever?

Pardon me for asking, but exactly how good is LeBron James? The NBA season started last week, and already King James is adding to a highlight portfolio that will be the envy of most every player in the league. How good is he, though? It is a question worth asking. James is only in his third year in the NBA, and he is unarguably one of the three best players in the league. You could make a very solid case for LeBron as being the NBA's top player already. And to think, he can't even drink legally.

Comparisons to Michael Jordan have become so popular since he retired that they are almost worn out. So often, sports fans have cried wolf in prematurely crowning the next great player in the NBA before he has proven anything. Maybe LeBron is just another one of those, but I don't think so. If he's good enough at age 20 to dominate the league, imagine how good he will be five years down the road. For fans of great basketball, that is a wonderful image. For the rest of the NBA, it's downright scary.

His measurables are there. At 6'8, he has the size to play any position on the court. He is as strong as any small forward in the league and can jump higher than 99% of today's players, as well. Did I also mention that he can shoot the basketball a little bit? He won games for the Cleveland Cavaliers last year on three-point shooting alone. None of those things matter in the Michael Jordan comparison, though. A lot of players have come through the league with great size and shooting ability. Where Jordan set himself apart was through the flare for the dramatic. He was almost majestic in the biggest games of his career. He constantly made big plays on the grand stage. LeBron has yet to see the championship spotlight, but he seems to have all of the flare of Jordan. When LeBron goes to the basket, he does so with a power that has never been seen before. He can finish at the rim. More appropriately, like Jordan before him, James makes his living above the rim. Still, he has a long way to go and a lot to prove.

I have no problem with comparing LeBron James to Michael Jordan. The LeBron James of today would probably have taken a 20-year old Michael Jordan's lunch money in a game of one-on-one. Championships aren't won with one-on-one, though. Until James gets the chance to shine on a big-time stage, he will never be Michael Jordan. When the day comes that he does lead his Cavaliers to the big series, how he performs in those games will be the true test to determine if he is as good as or even better than the original #23. Sports fans could be lucky enough to see ultimate greatness in consecutive generations. For all of our sake, we can hope that LeBron gets his chance. For his sake, we should hope the he takes full advantage of that opportunity.