Can James Catch Jordan’s Ghost? 

After ending a 52-year drought in the city of Cleveland, LeBron James finally fulfilled his promise to the franchise and brought them an NBA championship. While many speculated that James would skip town once again, or even stay but not have the same desire, James had one goal in mind. 

“My motivation is this ghost I’m chasing” James said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “The ghost that played in Chicago.”

The four-time MVP  is considered one of the greatest players to ever step on the basketball court, but Michael Jordan is known as the best to ever play. With that being said, is it realistic for James to catch Michael Jordan’s legacy?

The obvious first note is that Jordan has six titles, as opposed to James’ three titles. Jordan also never joined a “super team” at any point in his career, whereas James left and won three titles with the Miami Heat just a few years back. 

B.J. Armstrong, a teammate of Jordan’s in the 90’s, even stated in his own interview that in order for a player to pass Jordan, they need to get rid of all comparisons. 

“This is to LeBron James: If you want to be the best, get rid of the comparisons,” Armstrong said. “Get rid of all the comparisons that are out there. That’s what Michael Jordan did. Jordan realized that in order to be the best, you had to get rid of all the comparisons.”

James is without a doubt going to go down as a top 10 player ever in the NBA, but at this stage, can you even consider him a top 5? 

Taking roster comparisons and taking how the NBA was played in certain eras, I still say that LeBron has a few more championship runs to go before he is taken seriously. 

It isn’t necessarily a diss towards James, but you can’t expect to be the greatest ever without having the numbers and rings to back it up.