James still isn't "every bit on Jordan or Bryant's level," but he is obviously closing the gap. Any doubt that he is the best in the world right now, however, is simply inaccurate.

 

He'll NEVER be considered better than Jordan. Just don't see it happening.

 

I think part of that has to do with his personality. MJ was THE media darling. I think MJ invented the term 'media darling'. I've never seen any athlete coddled and protected by the media like he was and yes, for the record, no athlete has had his charisma and ability to own the media like he did.

 

Add in his basketball greatness and I don't think any player will ever be considered better than MJ regardless of what they do.

This title was a great accomplishment for LeBron. His surrounding cast was exposed in the playoffs as the piecemeal bunch of scraps that it is. Wade was hurt and spotty. This title was LeBron's victory. The question I have for the haters is did Kobe or Michael win a title with a surrounding cast as bad as the one LeBron just won with?

 

The other person whose legacy increased tremendously with this title - Spoelstra.

I take it you'll agree then that Jordan is nowhere near Bill Russel's level?

 

 

You ever notice Jordan worshipers, who are way beyond insufferable, never answer this question. Anyhow, Jordan didn't win 6 titles. the Bulls won 6 titles.

BTW, I am a Jordan fan and pulled for the Bulls to win each year and he is arguably the best to ever play...

This title was a great accomplishment for LeBron. His surrounding cast was exposed in the playoffs as the piecemeal bunch of scraps that it is. Wade was hurt and spotty. This title was LeBron's victory. The question I have for the haters is did Kobe or Michael win a title with a surrounding cast as bad as the one LeBron just won with?

 

The other person whose legacy increased tremendously with this title - Spoelstra.

 

You really think this Miami team was bad....

You really think this Miami team was bad....

 

 

 

This run obviously showed they were not as good as everyone had them talked up to be. The lack of a true post presence really hurts them and this was obvious the last two series. They can look good playing small ball against other teams who do the same, but when there is a Duncan, Hibbert, or West involved its a totally different story.

 

 

Bosh and Mike Miller both combined for 0 points last night. Wade has had a couple of good games this post season, but he's also had some bad ones. Obviously he was hurt because he was no where near the player he has been for the last 10 years. The -52 +/- he had going into last nights game says all you need to know about his impact in this series.

 

Bottom line is this team is great on paper only, the actual product on the floor hasn't lived up to the hype. A big time post presence changes everything, but without it they are very much flawed.

I don't disagree. But that doesn't mean he isn't on his level. They both won their first championship at 28. Yes, Kobe won at 22 but he also had the most dominant player in the league with him. Kobe has also lost in the finals. I don't see much of a gap at all.

 

Nor do I.

You really think this Miami team was bad....

 

Show me which Kobe or Michael championship team was worse at playoff time. And you have to factor in Wade playing at 70% at best.

Of the Kobe, MJ, and Lebron teams that have won championships Lebron has definitely had the worst teams overall.

LeBron is a different player than Kobe and Michael. It is easy to compare Kobe and Michael. LeBron is a power forward who can handle the ball and shoot 3's. LeBron can play defense on Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Neither Kobe nor Michael are players who have the size and strength to defend the post like LeBron.

 

The thing that I always saw as LeBron's weakness that would keep him from ever being in the Kobe and Michael league was his shooting. Give LeBron credit. He knows that and he has improved his shooting tremendously. He is still not on Kobe/Michael level shooting the jumper, but I think he may get close enough to make us all agree at the end of his career that he truly is the greatest ever.

 

LeBron still has hard work, improvement in his game, and championships to win for everyone to agree on that, but after this year I think he can get there. And I wouldn't have said that before this season.

Of the Kobe, MJ, and Lebron teams that have won championships Lebron has definitely had the worst teams overall.

Talent wise you could not be more wrong. Now cohesively in how they meshed, maybe not. That is a pretty darn talented roster on paper. Far superior to anyone else in the league.

Talent wise you could not be more wrong. Now cohesively in how they meshed' date=' maybe not. That is a pretty darn talented roster on paper. Far superior to anyone else in the league.[/quote']

 

On paper they are equal but how it worked out they aren't as good as those other teams. This Heat team is still really good but compared to those others I don't see how they rank better than the Laker teams.

Talent wise you could not be more wrong. Now cohesively in how they meshed, maybe not. That is a pretty darn talented roster on paper. Far superior to anyone else in the league.

 

Thank you... Took the words right out of my mouth.

LeBron is a different player than Kobe and Michael. It is easy to compare Kobe and Michael. LeBron is a power forward who can handle the ball and shoot 3's. LeBron can play defense on Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Neither Kobe nor Michael are players who have the size and strength to defend the post like LeBron. The thing that I always saw as LeBron's weakness that would keep him from ever being in the Kobe and Michael league was his shooting. Give LeBron credit. He knows that and he has improved his shooting tremendously. He is still not on Kobe/Michael level shooting the jumper, but I think he may get close enough to make us all agree at the end of his career that he truly is the greatest ever. LeBron still has hard work, improvement in his game, and championships to win for everyone to agree on that, but after this year I think he can get there. And I wouldn't have said that before this season.

RE: Shooting. I am not going to be prisoner of the moment on this one. He just had 1 game out of 7 in a row where he was not guarded at all outside the paint and finally made the other team pay for it. It has improved tremendously over his career, in particular through this season. However through the series, well, the last two series he has been bad outside the paint shooting the ball. Last night he was 9-20 outside the paint. Considering 17 of those were probably uncontested, you would hope he could hit at least a 45% clip... which he did and kudos to him for doing so. It played in to the Spurs hands indirectly because it disrupted the Heat's flow. But he made the shots he had to make and delivered. Big time.

On paper they are equal but how it worked out they aren't as good as those other teams. This Heat team is still really good but compared to those others I don't see how they rank better than the Laker teams.

 

I am just comparing rosters. For purposes of this let us say that Shaq/Kobe = Kobe/Wade. Bosh as a talent is better than anyone else on those Laker teams. He is a max guy whether he has played like it or not. The rest of the Lakers were Rick Fox, Horry, Fisher, Smaki Walker, Devean George as their main role players. I guess you could argue their role players were better, but I would give the edge to Miami.

Unfortunately, LeBron's actions off the court seem to always over shadow his greatness on. For example, his comments to the media in the locker room last night. Does he not expect the media to be in his face after game 7 of the NBA finals?